Sen. Chris Dodd, the movie industry’s top lobbyist, said Tuesday that legitimate access to Hollywood content would spur creativity and economic growth in the U.S., and he pointed to the MPAA’s Where To Watch program as an important tool to provide it.
The chief executive and chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America made the remarks in his annual State of the Industry address at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
WhereToWatch.com is the MPAA’s one-stop search tool that makes it easier for consumers to find content online or in theaters, while also supporting the nearly two million workers in the American motion picture and TV industry.
“We believe WhereToWatch.com is an important opportunity for our industry to directly engage with your customers and, at the same time, support creators by driving audiences to legal sources of content — both in your movie theaters and online,” Sen. Dodd said to the audience of theater owners and industry executive.
“On a broader level, this effort is also a crucial recognition of the changing technological landscape, and the need to continue evolving to meet the demands of our consumers,” he said. “That will mean finding new ways to enable audiences to see movies where and how they want, while maintaining the magic and unrivaled appeal of the theater-going experience that has been this industry’s driving force for well over a century.”
The remarks come just a few days before the MPAA hosts the third Creativity Conference, which kicks off Friday at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., in partnership with ABC News and Microsoft. The conference will focus on global competitiveness: innovation and creativity.