no more screeners

[muff_top10]

I wonder if they are going to quit sending them to video stores to be used as purchasing tools. I think a few companies have already. :goodjob

[notbob]

http://salon.com/ent/wire/2003/09/30/screener/index.html

Screener copies banned for Oscar voting


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By David Germain



Sept. 30, 2003 | LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Academy Awards voters will have to catch most of their movies on the big screen after Hollywood implemented a plan Tuesday to ban special DVDs and videotapes of Oscar contenders.

Fearing that ``screener'' copies could be used by video bootleggers to mass produce pirated DVDs and tapes, the major studios and their trade group, the Motion Picture Association of America, worked out an agreement.

``We know these screeners are a small part of piracy, but I aim to close every kind of hole in the dike I can find on piracy,'' Jack Valenti, head of the MPAA, told The Associated Press.

The agreement would include MPAA's seven studio members _ Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and MGM _ plus their affiliates such as New Line, Miramax, Focus Features and Sony Pictures Classics. DreamWorks, though not an MPAA member, also agreed to the screener ban.

Critics _ mainly executives for studio-owned film banners that distribute smaller, independent-minded pictures such as recent Oscar winners ``The Pianist'' and ``Pollock'' _ say the plan will cripple awards prospects for their movies.

Videotapes and DVDs of potential Oscar films have become commonplace during awards season as studios try to make sure as many of the 5,600 Oscar voters as possible see their movies.

Opponents of the ban say screener copies help level the playing field between high-profile studio flicks and smaller movies that lack big budgets for theatrical screenings aimed at Oscar voters and ads in Hollywood trade papers to promote the films.

The plan also would benefit truly independent distributors such as Lions Gate, Newmarket or IFC Films, which have no corporate links to MPAA studios and are not bound by the ban.

``If implemented the way it's being discussed, it will be one of the greatest boons to some of the more freelance companies,'' said James Schamus, co-president of Focus Features, the Universal banner that released ``The Pianist."

[Malicious Intent]

Only a small part of piracy? Not a small part of p2p. Perhaps this will lead to an increase in cam jobs. At least cam jobs are improving in quality. I watched a film a couple of nights ago which I thought was a poor DVD-rip until a little head bobbed up at the front!
I also didn't know Dreamworks was independent. It dosn't bother though, as they are a guilty as everyone else for holding back film release dates.

[shawners]

Those Oscar voters have been releasing DVDS and screeners for years.. I believe by time they get to the voters they are already ripped by the delivery guy.

[P4L]

If they had any brains, they would keep making them. Still with the scrolling on the bottom. And put a different code in every one they sent out. Keep track of who they sent the code to. And then when they find one on the net. Trace it back to the person they sent that copy to. But they aren't as smart as me so why should we expect this from them.

[lizardsforall]

P4L: That's a "digital watermark".

it is probably those of us who got the screener for TFOTR, TTT, and other big hit films. I guess they're seeing an abundance of screeners on p2p networks. what they forget is that they send screeners to places like circuit city, and the people there have the knowledge base to make a shareable dvdrip.

[CCSDUDE]

testing..

I've always hated screeners anyway... I can wait till someone steals a DFP print... mwahhahah

[DudeAsInCool]

its a really stupid policy. the academy members, the bulk of who are actors, arent ripping copies. most of them dont even know how to use the internet, let alone a dvd burner.

all this policy does is aggravate the members--they are not gonna drive and see all the films. this means they will not be able to make educated votes.

and the little films are gonna get hurt

[shawners]

Did Jack valenti just say, "I like to close every hole in that dike?"

[DudeAsInCool]

Did Jack valenti just say, "I like to close every hole in that dike?"

lol that would take him a while in this town