response and it was pretty negative late last night. It was from a well known online film reviewer/screenwriter and he said that I had "missed the point" and that "Courtney Solomon (After Dark Films Executive) just made things harder for you as a horror filmmaker, and your defense of him is wrong-headed because you insist on pretending it's a free-speech issue. It's not."
After getting this response I was first taken aback at, but then read it several more times and decided to dig deeper. I had only read the one editorial from "The First Post" which in turn had prompted me to write my recent beef about this whole MPAA/After Dark Films fiasco over the billboards etc. In retrospect, I should have sifted through a variety of sources before I wrote this editorial and I didn't. But unlike some current politicians, I will stand up and say, "I made a mistake."
Saying that, I stayed up to the early morning hours reading the MPAA newly posted rules and regulations. I read this reviewer's own editorial about all of this. I read the Variety article, the Hollywood Reporter articles, various blogs and comments from film fans. I even read everyday joe's to try and understand where I misstep in my editorial.
This is what I discovered.
The MPAA is saying that After Dark had submitted material for promotional use and then turned around and decided to use
unauthorized promo material and had the billboards made anyway, basically thumbing their nose up at the system.
After Dark Executive Courtney Solomon says that his company had "no idea" that the wrong promotional material had gone to the printers and that they were shocked when they started to get emails and phone calls from disgruntled parents, etc.
Give me a break...
You're telling me that After Dark didn't know that the wrong print material went to the printer until it was too late? Now granted I don't own my own studio, but I do have a production company and I have worked in the industry long enough to know that this type of thing virtually never really happens. There are so many people involved for it to get to the final phase that it had to have been checked by someone. It's career suicide to think that After Dark just did it to screw with the MPAA. They knew the consequences, but hey, it is Hollywood and anything can happen.
Now let's say for argument's sake, let's say the MPAA did ok this artwork and when the billboards hit town all hell broke loose. Once Joe public started bitching, the MPAA steps back going, "Woah, we fucked up." And instead of coming clean saying that they had made a mistake authorizing this artwork, they went after the little fish, and took a big 'ol fat bite out of them to cover their own ass.
Now I have no idea what happened and frankly I don't care who did what or who didn't do what. I was trying to make a point in my editorial about the lunacy we find ourselves in bitching about the wrong things. If you want to penalize a company for a mistake, fine and if they actually pulled a bullshit move like that then please smack the shit out of them.
These posters below are in your theaters and on your billboards and they are equally as offensive so stop complaining.
I'm a horror filmmaker and I don't want tighter restrictions believe me, it's hard enough getting a film made let alone going through the ratings system. Hell the posters you find on this page and my websites are equally offensive. As I said in my previous post, we just have to guide our anger towards the bigger picture.
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