Bondelev
11-10-2003, 06:02 PM
We need your help urgently for one final appeal to the MPAA!!!
Dear Friends:
While the mountain of press around the MPAA ban on screeners seems to have slowed, the voices in opposition have hardly quieted. We are most likely in the final 36 hours that will set the course for this year’s awards season, and we’re appealing to you to help spread the word directly to Jack Valenti and the heads of the studios.
The MPAA heard your vocal and discomforting calls the first time around when you called for the ban on “for your consideration” screeners to be rescinded. Through the calls, letters and the ads in the trades, there was movement on their part, but not enough. The ban has been lifted partially; Academy members will be able to access screeners, but no other awards or critics group will be provided with the same consideration. As of late last week, nearly 4,000 out of the 5,800 members of the Academy returned their signed pledge stating “I agree to ensure that I know, at all
times, the whereabouts of all screeners sent to me under this agreement.”
Mr. Valenti met last Thursday with many different organizations, ranging from the IFPs, the Hollywood Foreign Press, BAFTA, LA film critics and the National Society of Film Critics, all voicing their pleas to rescind the ban. We learned a few things from our meeting:
- Hearing directly from the creative community is making a difference in this battle. Valenti cited the number of prominent filmmakers on the ad we helped place in the trades from directors calling for a rollback on the ban. He also mentioned repeatedly the number of personal friends who went on the record in opposition to the ban.
- Some of the most articulate moments in our meeting were the first-hand accounts by people like Bill Condon and his encapsulation of how essential the critics awards were for building a groundswell of support prior to his ultimate win of an Academy Award for Gods and Monsters.
- Mr. Valenti indicated that
he would speak with the heads of the studios and get back to all of the groups by Tuesday, November 11th. He clearly did not make any promises that the ban would be lifted. With this in mind, the time to act is now.
Everyone recognizes the necessity of screeners to gain recognition and momentum for various year-end award and critic tallies. It is a very real threat to our culture that if specialized films don't get the critical and industry accolades, they will not get made. And with one-third of the Academy’s membership still to sign their pledges, it’s shaping up to be one of the most unbalanced awards seasons in years with respect to accessing all worthy talent among the filmmaking community.
As the initial campaign to Ban The Ban indicated, change is possible. Your email, letter, and/or call to Jack Valenti urging him to repeal the ban fully for this year, and allow all award and critic organizations to receive screeners provided they sign the same sort of pledge that
Academy Members have been requested to, will have a very real effect. But time is short. You must write in the next 24 hours.
We urge you to air your views directly to Mr. Valenti. (Jack_Valenti@mpaa.org; fax: 202/452-9823)
Please forward this email to every filmmaker you know and urge them to write, email, and call Mr. Valenti. Please feel free to copy us on the letter if you want your views known more widely in the press.
Sincerely,
Michelle Byrd and Dawn Hudson
Executive Directors, respectively, IFP/New York and IFP/Los Angeles
-dB
Dear Friends:
While the mountain of press around the MPAA ban on screeners seems to have slowed, the voices in opposition have hardly quieted. We are most likely in the final 36 hours that will set the course for this year’s awards season, and we’re appealing to you to help spread the word directly to Jack Valenti and the heads of the studios.
The MPAA heard your vocal and discomforting calls the first time around when you called for the ban on “for your consideration” screeners to be rescinded. Through the calls, letters and the ads in the trades, there was movement on their part, but not enough. The ban has been lifted partially; Academy members will be able to access screeners, but no other awards or critics group will be provided with the same consideration. As of late last week, nearly 4,000 out of the 5,800 members of the Academy returned their signed pledge stating “I agree to ensure that I know, at all
times, the whereabouts of all screeners sent to me under this agreement.”
Mr. Valenti met last Thursday with many different organizations, ranging from the IFPs, the Hollywood Foreign Press, BAFTA, LA film critics and the National Society of Film Critics, all voicing their pleas to rescind the ban. We learned a few things from our meeting:
- Hearing directly from the creative community is making a difference in this battle. Valenti cited the number of prominent filmmakers on the ad we helped place in the trades from directors calling for a rollback on the ban. He also mentioned repeatedly the number of personal friends who went on the record in opposition to the ban.
- Some of the most articulate moments in our meeting were the first-hand accounts by people like Bill Condon and his encapsulation of how essential the critics awards were for building a groundswell of support prior to his ultimate win of an Academy Award for Gods and Monsters.
- Mr. Valenti indicated that
he would speak with the heads of the studios and get back to all of the groups by Tuesday, November 11th. He clearly did not make any promises that the ban would be lifted. With this in mind, the time to act is now.
Everyone recognizes the necessity of screeners to gain recognition and momentum for various year-end award and critic tallies. It is a very real threat to our culture that if specialized films don't get the critical and industry accolades, they will not get made. And with one-third of the Academy’s membership still to sign their pledges, it’s shaping up to be one of the most unbalanced awards seasons in years with respect to accessing all worthy talent among the filmmaking community.
As the initial campaign to Ban The Ban indicated, change is possible. Your email, letter, and/or call to Jack Valenti urging him to repeal the ban fully for this year, and allow all award and critic organizations to receive screeners provided they sign the same sort of pledge that
Academy Members have been requested to, will have a very real effect. But time is short. You must write in the next 24 hours.
We urge you to air your views directly to Mr. Valenti. (Jack_Valenti@mpaa.org; fax: 202/452-9823)
Please forward this email to every filmmaker you know and urge them to write, email, and call Mr. Valenti. Please feel free to copy us on the letter if you want your views known more widely in the press.
Sincerely,
Michelle Byrd and Dawn Hudson
Executive Directors, respectively, IFP/New York and IFP/Los Angeles
-dB