Studios Mull Screener Compromise

The Great Hollywood Screener Ban Uproar of 2003 may finally be winding down.

In what looks like a conciliatory move, representatives from the major studios huddled with Motion Picture Association of America president Jack Valenti for a 90-minute, closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss the fate of the controversial ban on Oscar screeners that has gotten Tinseltown types in a tizzy.

For the first time, Valenti, who had been unrelenting in his decision to uphold the ban, which he says will stem movie piracy, seems willing to budge--although no action has been taken yet.

"Deliberations continue. There will be future conversations and meetings and if at some point we have something to announce, we'll go ahead and do that," said MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor, offering no further comment.

At issue is the majors' desire to fight piracy by restricting the use of screeners--those VHS and DVD copies of flicks sent out to movie-award voters--and the studios' own art-house divisions, filmmakers and actor who believe such a ban would hurt their Oscar chances and threaten the diversity of independent films.

Last week, more than 140 of the Industry's most esteemed directors, among them Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci and Francis Ford Coppola, signed an open letter criticizing the MPAA's edict and calling on the organization to come up with alternatives to halt piracy.

The directors were joined this week by more than 300 Hollywood actors and actresses, including Sean Penn, Holly Hunter, Jodie Foster, Nick Nolte and Francese McDormand, who John Hancocked their own letter bashing the ban and calling for its repeal.

While Thursday's meeting made for good PR, it was invite-only, and that meant just studio bigwigs and Valenti, none of the opposition. Still, insiders privy to the talks said execs hoped to find middle ground in the dispute.

"The goal is to fight piracy," said one source familiar with the talks. "We want to respond to concerns. Our goal is not to have people be angry or upset. It's to protect the Industry and the product that our livelihood depends on and that remains unchanged."

One proposal reportedly on the table and gaining traction is a suggestion to allow the limited distribution of watermarked VHS tapes--as opposed to easily copied DVDs--that would allow studios to trace pirated copies back to an individual source.

Such a move is an expensive proposition, however, and could still make it difficult for indie film companies with miniscule budgets to get their movies out to voters.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, another suggestion raised would be for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to assume sole responsibility of sending out screeners to its members.

However, this proposal met with some resistance. Not only has the Academy shied away from the controversy (it has only said it prefers voters to see movies on the big screen), but studio reps fear such a move would leave other voting groups, like the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (which selects the Golden Globes) and BAFTA, out in the cold. It could also prove too costly a burden for the Academy.

Then there's the so-called Sofia Coppola Rule, which would have studios send out screeners only for those films in fewer than 800. The plan came about after Focus Features expressed fears that Coppola's lauded Lost in Translation would be overlooked come Oscar time if Focus were barred from mailing out screeners. Lost in Translation played in 882 theaters last weekend, meaning Focus wouldn't be able to send out tapes if the ban continues.

The Focus sentiment is shared by most specialty distributors, who feel the ban does little to solve the issue of piracy and is little more than a conspiracy by the studios to shut out artier fare at the Academy Awards.

Nevertheless, one unnamed executive at a specialty division told the Reporter the meeting was a hopeful sign and predicted a settlement will soon be in the offing.

"I would wager that they will come out with something that will compromise [the ban]."