Word: screeners
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Last fall the big studios and their "independent" affiliates, such as Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight, lost an additional month when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) barred the sending out of screeners, the videos and DVDs that Oscar voters use to catch up on unseen films. Outrage ensued. One studio had some publicity material returned to it with notes reading "No screener, no vote" and "I'm only voting for independent movies...
...like this year's Best Picture nominee Seabiscuit, or in May, like 2001's top prizewinner, Gladiator. That way, the DVDs and videos (which account for an imposing 60% of movie revenue) would be in the stores and available to Academy voters even if the MPAA reinstates its no-screener policy next year...
...Christmas Eve, another copy of Samurai appeared online and was traced back to a screener that had been sent to Oscar voters. Since Warner Bros. gave out only VHS copies, the bootleg was not of great quality. But its existence is an embarrassment after a year of high-profile debate over the risks of screeners--a beloved industry perk. Valenti of the M.P.A.A. had pushed hard to fight piracy by banning all screeners outright. But independent studios complained the ban would penalize small movies trying to get award nominations. In December the U.S. district court overturned the ban. Last week...
...online pirated films came from weak links within the movie business itself--from Academy members to critics to cinema projectionists. The report was criticized by studio execs, who found its definition of movie insiders overly broad. Nevertheless, this past year, some studios have started quietly inserting hidden markers in screeners that identify the owners. Under a new pledge, which 80% of Academy members have signed, anyone found to have leaked a screener can be kicked out of the Academy...
...Warner Bros. has traced thousands of online Samurai copies and 25 bootlegs from 12 countries to one screener and two camcorder copies. That is not a lot of leaks. But it takes only one. As downloading speeds increase and camcorder technology continues to improve, studios will be forced to put down the night-vision goggles and invent a new business model for a new world. "Nobody believes you're going to dissuade people from downloading," says Garland of BigChampagne. "It's all about co-opting that content and building businesses around...