Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA), along with the seven major studios and Dreamworks SKG, agreed last week to stop sending the Academy Awards' voters free screeners of contending movies for fear of the screeners being illegally copied and sold. The Guardian reports that, "From now on, Academy members who want to see the dozens of films competing, will have ot seek them out at cinemas or specially organised screenings." The problem is that the MPAA and the studios know that this hurts independent films, but they don't care. The studio pictures play on more screens, therefore the voters will have a much easier time finding those pictures then they will smaller features that play less screens nationally. Perhaps, piracy was the perfect excuse for the studio systems to use to try and hold back the independents that have been so popular at the Academy Awards for the past decade. Many Hollywood insiders see this move "as a way for the big studios to consolidate the power of their expensive blockbusters."
The good thing is that, according to Reuters, a who's who list of Hollywood directors, 142 of them, have signed an open letter to Jack Valenti expressing their outrage at this decision. In the letter, which was published this week in all the prominent Hollywood trade papers, the filmmakers stated, "Many great films, and in particular films that take risks, rely on critical acclaim and, when the film is fortunate enough, Academy consideration to reach a broad audience. The MPAA decision to ban screeners irreparably damages the chances of such films."
This letter must have gotten Mr. Valenti's attention because by the end of the week the New York Times was reporting that he was considering lifting the ban on videotapes, by way of electronically marking the videotapes, and sending them to Academy voters via certified mail. The ban would still remain on DVD's.