Screen Junkies » MPAA

Hypocrisy in Hollywood (Infographic)

Jame Gumb — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:31:59 +0000

Hollywood sure does like to bitch about copyright violations. On the one hand, I see their point, because no matter what anyone tries to tell you, illegally downloading movies online is stealing. Spin it anyway you like, but at the end of the day, piracy is no different than shoplifting.

But on the other hand, I just don’t give a damn. That’s not to say I condone piracy, but it’s hard for me to get worked up about movie studios losing money. When it comes to things I’m supposed to care about, the damage caused by movie piracy ranks just above my carbon footprint, and just below factory farms. And this infographic explaining the roots of the Hollywood system isn’t helping matters. Sure, there are worse things in this world than hypocrites, but at the same time, blatant hypocrisy makes it extremely easy to dismiss legitimate concerns. Sorry, Hollywood.

Created by: Paralegal

Joseph Farrell Invented The Movie Trailer, But Now He’s Dead

Penn Collins — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:05:31 +0000

Joseph Farrell, a Hollywood market research professional, died yesterday at the age of 76. Few, if any, movie fans knew his name, but he did more to shape the modern theatergoing experience than any other member of the film industry.

Farrell created the movie trailer.

In a world where movies started on time, and future projects were woefully under-marketed…One man would stop at nothing to advertise upcoming films before the feature presentation.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like trailers. Try to find another invention that NO ONE dislikes. This guy managed to create a form of advertising that people pay to watch and hate to miss.

Farrell worked for, then ran, the National Research Group, Hollywood’s biggest marketing consultancy. Not only did he come up with the notion of showing movie teasers before features, but he also introduced such industry staples as tracking and test screenings. Did you ever wonder how you can read about a film’s weekend box office take on a Saturday afternoon? That’s tracking, and Joseph Farrell innovated and utilized it before anyone else did.

Recently, Farrell got into production with a first-look deal at Disney, but his real legacy will be what he did on the marketing side of things. He helped shape the practices of the entire entertainment industry. And that’s pretty cool.

WB And MPAA Mysteriously Yank ‘Hangover 2′ Trailer From Theaters

Joseph Gibson — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:34:18 +0000

The trailer for The Hangover Part II didn’t seem to have any egregiously controversial material in it. Sure, there was a scene of a monkey fondling a guy’s crotch with a water bottle shoved in his pants (the guy’s pants, not the monkey’s), but this is pretty typical Saturday morning material nowadays. So it’s pretty much a mystery why Warner Brothers and the MPAA sent out a notice to movie theaters across America asking them to delete the trailer from their servers. You can see a photo of the notice below that comes from /Film, and you’ll notice that no reason is given. Perhaps an explanation will be provided at some point in the future, but until then, I’m just going to assume it was the monkey handjob.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the late-night phone call that led to this: “Our people just checked out the Hangover 2 trailer. My god, there’s a monkey handjob in it! Send out the fliers, stat!” And it was done. Life as a movie executive is hard.

The Search Is Over: Chris Dodd Named Head Of MPAA!

Dave Horwitz — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:40:42 +0000

Bring out the party hats, because the MPAA has a new chairman and CEO. Former Democratic senator Chris Dodd is taking over the position after leaving the senate last year. He was elected in 1980 (CT) and ran for President in 2008. While he has little experience actually working in the entertainment industry, he has been an ardent supporter of the MPAA for years, and wrote a banking law just last year involving stopping a futures market in movies. Barry Meyer, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros had great things to say about Dodd:

“Chris Dodd not only has the political instincts and experience, but he’s the right person to lead the film industry through its toughest challenges regarding content protection and piracy on a domestic and global scale.”

Hear that, jerks? Chris Dodd is coming after you with guns blazing. You better wipe that copy of The Social Network off your har drive and fast unless you want to feel the almighty wrath of Dodd. You’ve been warned. (Hollywood Reporter)