2007.02.06: February 6, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Bolivia: Movies: Hollywood: New York Times: Taylor Hackford opposes bootleg DVD's
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2007.02.06: February 6, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Bolivia: Movies: Hollywood: New York Times: Taylor Hackford opposes bootleg DVD's
Taylor Hackford opposes bootleg DVD's
Hackford told in detail of his fourteen-year effort to make the movie biography of Ray Charles. “IP is a wonderful term, but what it comes down to is our work, what we create.” Having been turned down by every Hollywood studio, Hackford found a multimillionaire who loved Ray Charles’ music to invest $35 million. “But he wanted his money back, of course. It isn’t called the ‘movie art form’, it’s called the ‘movie business.’” Movie Producer Taylor Hackford ("Ray," "An Officer and a Gentleman") served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia in the 1960's.
Taylor Hackford opposes bootleg DVD's
Hollywood Takes Its Concerns About Piracy and Taxes to Washington
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 — Hollywood has often been a whipping boy here, but with a new Congress in session, the heads of the major movie studios converged on the capital Tuesday to pitch their industry in the unaccustomed role of good guy: boon to the trade balance, engine of economic growth, polisher of the nation’s image and employer of a big, uncelebrated, middle-class work force.
[Excerpt]
And Taylor Hackford, the director of “Ray,” in establishing his credentials, added: “I’m working class.”
The conversation often turned to piracy, the existential issue that dominates the association’s agenda. Mr. Hackford, who spent more than a decade developing “Ray,” told of finding a bootleg DVD of the movie on the day of its theatrical release, and said 42 million illicit copies were sold within five months.
That meant millions of dollars in lost revenue — “and DVDs is how people get their money back,” he said of movie financiers. “If they don’t, will I be able to sell a hard-to-sell picture like ‘Ray’? No.”
Film’s IP Jewel In Peril, US Motion Picture Association Panelists Say
The other theme was the detrimental effect of movie piracy on that growth. The reason for this MPAA symposium, said film director Taylor Hackford, was that there is fear in Hollywood. “You can feel it. Everyone is worried as to whether there will be even a business plan in the near future.”
Hackford told in detail of his fourteen-year effort to make the movie biography of Ray Charles. “IP is a wonderful term, but what it comes down to is our work, what we create.” Having been turned down by every Hollywood studio, Hackford found a multimillionaire who loved Ray Charles’ music to invest $35 million. “But he wanted his money back, of course. It isn’t called the ‘movie art form’, it’s called the ‘movie business.’”
After the film was made, only one studio – Universal - offered to distribute it. Hackford recalled walking down Canal Street the day his movie Ray opened in New York City and finding DVDs of the movie, made from a camcorder used in a theatre, being sold off a stand for $15 each. Ray made $75 million and could have earned a lot more, Hackford said, if it had been allowed to play in the theatres up until the day of the Academy Award ceremony. But the executives at Universal wanted to rush the DVDs into release to combat the piracy. “If the investor is afraid of even being able to earn his money back because of the detrimental effects of piracy, then we won’t be able to get financing for independent films like Ray,” Hackford said.
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Headlines: February, 2007; RPCV Taylor Hackford (Bolivia); Figures; Peace Corps Bolivia; Directory of Bolivia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Bolivia RPCVs; Movies; Hollywood
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Story Source: New York Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Bolivia; Movies; Hollywood
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