TheSherminator couldn't believe it - an article on Fox News, "That grabbed my attention enough to read the rest of it. I was mostly surprised just because it is a mass media outlet."

And he's right. It's a really nice piece of writing which makes its point clearly and with power.

So here's another of those rare occasions when we cut-and-paste an entire article so you can get the full, rich flavour.

Now read on >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sony Chief Stringer Takes Stand in Oscar Battle

Tuesday, October 07, 2003
By Roger Friedman

You're reading about this tempest in a teapot concerning the Oscars and a new rule forbidding studios to send tapes or DVDs of films to the voters.

You're wondering: What's up with this? Who cares?

The big studios say it's to stop piracy. But you know better. And so do I.

When the edict came down from Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, it was swift and unexpected. In fact, Sir Howard Stringer, the head of Sony Entertainment in America, tells me that he was the last studio head the MPAA called.

He was furious about it when I ran into him at Lincoln Center on Friday night for the opening of the New York Film Festival. To underscore his position, Stringer was with his Sony Pictures Classics chief Michael Barker. SPC's Oscar chances could be damaged by the decision to ban "screeners."

"I am totally against the end of screeners," Stringer said. And he has good reason: He oversees Sony Pictures Classics, which has given us Oscar-bountiful independent movies by Pedro Almodóvar and Ang Lee as well as "Winged Migration."

These films would not have made it to the final cut if not for older Academy members being able to watch them at home.

"And I am pretty upset about the way this was done," Stringer added.

The seven major studios very quietly signed an agreement not to send out screeners this year, closing out everyone who they thought wanted to be part of the Oscars from the process. Stringer says Sony/Columbia had signed the letter before he knew what had happened.

Stringer is a rarity among the studio chiefs. He operates out of New York. He is not wedded to the Beverly Hills/Bel Air/Malibu way of life. His is not part of the permanent government in the American entertainment business.

But the other studio chiefs are. Just like their Emmy Award counterparts, the ones who fight against having HBO shows like "The Sopranos" steal the thunder from broadcast shows like "The West Wing," the West Coast movie business has had it with the East Coast making them look like fools every year at Oscar time.

You may have wondered why the Academy refuses to let even part of the Oscars be telecast from New York. Duh!

Everything about the DVD-screener debate can be summed up by looking at two years in Oscar history: 1986 and 1996. It's called a generational shift, and this is what happened.

First, 1986. Look at the best-picture nominees. Does anyone remember a Roland Joffé film called "The Mission" starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons?

A Warner Bros. release, "The Mission" got mostly terrible reviews. It cost a fortune to make, but it employed lots of Hollywood cast and crew. It was considered a prestige picture. It got a bunch of Oscar nominations.

It served a purpose as so many Hollywood epics had in prior years. It was like a piece of veal cordon bleu served with a cream sauce in a fancy French-like American restaurant. It was stuffed with cheese, so it was supposed to be good.

"The Mission" has since sunk to the bottom of the ocean of cinematic history like a stone.

Flash forward to 1996: The cheese is gone. To coin a phrase from a recent bestselling book, it's been moved.

In 1996, the Oscar-nominee list came from a bunch of indies, all from New York or places other than Hollywood. The days of "The Mission" were over.

"Fargo," "Shine," "The English Patient" and "Secrets and Lies" all came from the black lagoon of non-Hollywood. Only Columbia's "Jerry Maguire," starring Hollywood's No. 1 attraction, Tom Cruise, made the list. And it lost.

The following year, 1997, "Good Will Hunting," "The Full Monty" and "L.A. Confidential" (a Warners studio picture that was treated like an evil stepchild) almost toppled the ultimate big-studio picture, "Titanic."

In 1998, "Shakespeare in Love," "Life Is Beautiful," "Elizabeth" and "The Thin Red Line" (another studio film held at arm's length) trumped the West Coast sensibilities represented by "Saving Private Ryan."

The Hollywood establishment has been slowly losing ground for many years. Starting in 1989 with "My Left Foot," Miramax, i.e., indie films from New York, made alarming inroads at the Oscars.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker actually won. Daniel Day-who? Brenda what? They weren't glamorous or well known. They were the kind of people who used to maybe get a supporting nomination. It was only the beginning.

By 1993, Anna Paquin — an 11-year-old from New Zealand — won best supporting actress in "The Piano." She accepted her award wearing what looked like a Dust Buster on her head.

This was probably the point at which Valenti knew there was a problem. The studio gate had been picked open.

Maybe it's not a conspiracy, but if people from another part of the country imperiled my livelihood, I'd do everything I could to stop them. Wouldn't you?

It's not just Miramax that threatens the Warner-Paramount-Universal-Columbia-Disney-20th way of life. Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Searchlight, Universal's Focus, Fine Line and a host of smaller firms (Lions Gate, ThinkFilms, Newmarket, Artisan, Strand, Cowboy, Magnolia) now churn out the films smart people want to see. The big guys have been relegated to manufacturing derided cinematic theme parks masquerading as films.

Valenti might have had a good point about piracy had he not followed his declaration with news that studios can't even distribute existing DVDs or tapes that are already in stores. Huh?

Right there he seemed to negate his whole anti-piracy platform. If a tape/disc is available in a retail store, how can sending it to someone for free make it vulnerable to massive fraudulent copying?

The answer is, it can't. Frankly, the whole piracy debate smells like a stalking horse anyway. Movies are still not downloadable the way music is. Valenti is acting as if there are huge lines to buy the kind of in-theatre videos Kramer wanted to make on "Seinfeld," with people's heads bobbing up in the picture, or with grainy, milky images.

So the move is on to cut off the independents and restore Hollywood power to its proper places. Valenti says that screening rooms will be doubled to accommodate Oscar voters, but the truth is that won't happen.

Both Los Angeles and New York lack the number of private screens necessary for this. In automobile-dependent L.A., older voters don't get around much at night anyway. It's the screeners that make it possible for them to see smaller films.

Get ready, I suppose, for studio fare like "The Italian Job" and "Matchstick Men" to be in the running for best picture. How about The Rock for best actor? Just hold on. Look at today's election. Anything is possible.

Also, music you can listen to anywhere, and it will be the same. Movies however, are best seen in theatres(the good ones anyways).

****ing morons....

Incredible, totally incredible. I Guess Mr. Valenti still remembers the good ol days of the big studio bosses and actors signed to lifetime contracts. sounds like they're trying to bring it back. also, The Rock for best Actor?? He's a great action hero but........

as a matter of fact i can't remember the last time i seen a movie i liked bye

Warner-Paramount-Universal-Columbia-Disney-20th

Lions Gate, ThinkFilms, Newmarket, Artisan, Strand, Cowboy, Magnolia
Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Searchlight, Universal's Focus, Fine Line

but my all time favoret film companey is Miramax thay put out the jay and silent bob movies :0P

good article. but one thing bugs me is it only the big 5 that are no longer doing screeners or is it the big five forcing its will so no screeners are seen period?

i meant to say from hear down i liked hehehehe

Lions Gate, ThinkFilms, Newmarket, Artisan, Strand, Cowboy, Magnolia
Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Searchlight, Universal's Focus, Fine Line

no screeners period i bleave is how jack worded it

Those screeners still aren't piracy...I mean honestly,I didn't even want to see the Hulk,so why would I spend three hours downloading it on something like Kazaa?If I really want to see a movie,I watch it in theaters.
Too bad for them I'm boycotting RIAA owned CDs,and MPAA represented movies.

Adding to the things I can't believe: The size of Jack Valenti's head. Click the link. It's like a gray-haired cantelope with a big chin.

don't forget View Askew productions.
This hurts the Directors like Kevin Smith.
Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, DOGMA, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. All beautiful indie.

i agree with tasadar24 and most of the other people i've talked to.. you just dont get the same experience by watching a movie off the internet than buy actually watching it in theaters... LOTR..SWAT.. none of them are anywhere near the same by watching them from a computer chair than a nice reclining theater chair.. it just doesn't compare...

I'm not much of a movie person. I don't watch many movies that haven't been on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and those aren't exactly cinematic masterpieces.

/shameless plug
PS - screw you, Jack

Jack is very very old and corrupted beyond belief. Nobody will morn his passing which will hopefully be very soon.

Screw you Jack and all big business pricks... I've already boycotted the theater because i don't feel like paying 8 bucks to see a crapola movie then pay another 20 in refreshments alone. Sorry, but along with everyone else that actually has some common sense, I do not like being ripped off!!

I can't remember the last time I went to the picture show. I think it was that one with the magic tree, fountain of youth thing that kept that family from growing old or something. A couple of years ago, anyway. New movies suck.

I think the last time I saw a movie was the time I got dragged in to see the Crocodile Hunter movie. That alone is what led me to download the only movie I've ever downloaded: Rein of Fire and that's only 'cause I wanted to see it and not the Crocodile Hunter.

Maybe we'll wake up tomorrow and find out Jack kicked the bucket. Then maybe someone whose less of a crackhead will come in and clean up his mess.

I think those of the Academy that were denied this privelige of viewing movies to vote on ought to do one of two things; either DON'T VOTE AT ALL, or vote for the worst movie they can think of. Here again is another example of a corporation or organization taking MONOPOLISTIC actions and disguising them as actions to prevent copyright infringement (yes I use the proper term, not 'piracy'). So, is our Justice Department going to do anything about this one? Not likely, they can't even figure out that the sue 'em all campaign and the campaign to close Peer to Peer is clearly a method to eliminate independent competition! It all makes me want to puke.

off topic a bit but it may be relevant. california has a new governor (who will most likely be little more than a mouthpiece for the mpaa and the riaa). the good news is that some of these other idiots should take note.. nobody is bulletproof-if you piss off the voters bad enough you can be thrown out of offfice.

i'm falling asleep but from what i've just gathered this article seems to hit the mark.

it's funny, the riaa claimed they'd sue 75 ppl a day or something like hat, but in the last months they've only sued 1500 or so. anyone else find that odd? considering now it's an excuse for them to prohibit screeners, locking their own movies in for all the awards?

have a good night all. i'm falling asleep

not you jack valenti i hope you die of some massive and VERY painful heart-attack. i hope they strap your ass to a hospital bed and force you to stay alive while your pain gets worse and you wither away. you're the epitome of human garbage and in fact i'll probably spit on your grave should i ever happen to be within driving distance of it. stupid ****ing bastard.

ok that woke me up a bit.

i think that the voters for the awards should simply announce to the news that they won't vote. period. let's see hitler's protege explain that. old washed up piece of ****

Off topic, but I thought this was interesting. I see that the "do not call list" is going forward for the time being. One of the judges responsible said "We conclude that the public does have strong privacy and expectation interests"
Hmmmm......privacy. I think people should get a clue. Just because your PC doesn't "ring" doesn't mean your privacy isn't be invaded. What about a "no monitor/spying" list for internet users?
Sorry for the off topic remark, but it didn't seem to fit with any of the current posts!

it all makes sense now....ban the screeners so you can force feed the manufactured "blockbuster" release to your customers.....and while you are at it why dont you file a suit against birds because they fly in the same airspace as planes do and surely someone somewhere has lost revenue over that

Mpaa just wants to shut out indie films made for thinking people so they get no exposure the same way RIAA shuts out indie music made for people who think so they can force feed the masses all their manufactured soulless garbage. Their methods vary but the goal is the same. Take away free-thinking inspiring pieces of work ( that they can never seem to come up wth) so nobody has a truly good piece of work to compare to their junk.

for those who think you can't enjoy a downloaded movie are not keping up with technology. If you download an unconmpressed mpeg-2 file(which is what a DVD is), and you have a video out connection on your PC, then what you see on your TV is no different than what you would see with a purchased DVD played on your DVD player. Add to this the giant plasma TV's and killer surround sound systems available, it makes for an awesome showing in your own little home theater.

for those who think you can't enjoy a downloaded movie are not keping up with technology. If you download an unconmpressed mpeg-2 file(which is what a DVD is), and you have a video out connection on your PC, then what you see on your TV is no different than what you would see with a purchased DVD played on your DVD player. Add to this the giant plasma TV's and killer surround sound systems available, it makes for an awesome showing in your own little home theater

So when can we expect an "replacement" for the Oscars? They keep their movie screeners and be left out of the process. Sounds fair to me! Wonder how long it is before the major actors see that they are not getting those Oscars and decide that maybe they need to be with some other movie studio.