Bring Me the Head of Jack Valenti!!! -- Rhinotainment

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Date Posted: 17:43:07 10/02/03 Thu
Author: The Rhino
Subject: Bring Me the Head of Jack Valenti!!!

Who is Jack Valenti, you ask? He's the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. He's the man that gives the ratings, he's the producer of the Oscars and the coordinator of the awards, he's the man who controls the movie industry and he has one horrible God complex because of it.

Good Ol' Jack has seen it upon himself to try and nip movie piracy in the bud. Yes, it seems that every year around Oscar time, a lot of films that are under consideration for the big awards end up being distributed illegally in Asia and for download on some back-alley websites. The prime suspects of this dirty deed are the Oscar voters themselves, aka movie directors, producers, studio owners and actors. You would think they would know better, no?

There are videos and DVD's of these hopeful films that are given to the voters for their consideration called "screeners" and the greedy voters looking to make some cash on the side call up their people on the other side of the world to get the ball rolling.

Well, this year, Good Samaritan Jack has decided that there will be no screeners distributed amongst the voters to help control piracy. In theory, that's not a bad idea, that is if the fate of many independent films wasn't at hand.

Many times with independent films, they may get a limited run in major markets because they cannot afford to run mass market. A good example of this would be last year's The Quiet American, which was nominated for a couple of Oscars but had to be released in a theater before it could be considered for nomination. Thus, without screeners, many voters may not get to see these limited release films and their chances of consideration become very bleak. It's safe to say that many voters will not seek these films out because there are hundreds of films to be seen and not all of them can be seen. It's also too expensive for these independent studios to hold private screenings for the voters, so that is out the window as well.

So basically, by doing away with screeners, many independent films and studios will sink like a stone without the Oscar buzz and attention keeping them afloat. They will have to rely on festival buzz (Cannes, Sundance, Toronto) and websites like Ain't It Cool News and CHUD to spread the good word. Films that are major blockbusters (ie Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Finding Nemo) come out on top and mom and pop studios are out of business.

Valenti is an old man and he can't carry on this reign of tyrany much longer. Let's hope his successor has more balls and brains than Valenti to keep important films alive.

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Maybe they're trying to reintroduce the old Studio System. -- Silk, 04:44:12 10/11/03 Sat