Hollywood is not a red-carpet industry, but a blue-collar industry, new MPAA Chairman and CEO Chris Dodd said Tuesday in an address to the Media Institute, a nonprofit research foundation specializing in communications policy issues.
As a result, he said, issues like piracy affect not only the Hollywood elite. "Threats to the content of the film industry are direct threats to those hard working middle-class families, as well," he said. “A major part of my job as head of the MPAA during this new chapter in my life is to passionately fight back not only for the industry, but for all the people who make their living in this industry,”
Seven weeks into the job, Dodd said that plans to meet with the U.S. trade representative to discuss efforts to curb international piracy as well as work with the Federal Communications Commission.
Nearly one-quarter of the bandwidth on the global Internet is used to traffic stolen content, he said. "That’s a lot of stolen movies."
He particularly cited the recent Fox/Blue Sky release, "Rio." The same day the animated film debuted, a stolen copy of the film, camcorded from a 3D preview in Russia the day before, showed up on the internet, he said.
"When millions of people hijack and steal a product like 'Rio,' I call that looting. And that’s exactly what’s happening at this very hour we are gathered here, and it is in our collective interests to join together in common efforts to stop it."
If Blue Sky Studios made stereos instead of movies, he said, "I doubt many people would feel comfortable about those who would walk into their store and make off with their inventory."
But he did not limit his remarks to piracy. He also touched on the technology explosion happening in Hollywood.
"There are some who insist and falsely believe that the motion picture and television industry consists of a leadership that acts like dinosaurs, afraid of new technology and stubbornly refuses to evolve," he said.
"As I’ve met with the visionaries and innovators who are at the heart of our business, I’ve seen an industry on the cutting edge — not only in developing new artistic and commercial content, but in finding new ways to deliver that content to consumers."
Among innovations he cited are the doubling of digital screens, the increase of 3D and the increasingly wide range of delivery systems, "from computer screens and televisions to iPhones and iPads."
Here are Dodd's full remarks:
In the seven weeks since I joined the MPAA, I’ve learned a great deal about the American film industry—how important it is to the American economy, how many hard working people bring the creative visions of this profession and industry to life; how much of an opportunity there is for the film industry to grow and prosper in the future; and lastly how fragile that prosperity can be if we don’t protect the content of the film product.
