Indie producers skirt ban; SAG panel gets screeners
Screeners to SAG
Nov 24, 2003
The MPAA's modified screener ban has been breached.
Members of the SAG nominating committee have been sent video screeners of "Monsier Ibrahim," which Sony Pictures Classics is releasing in the United States beginning Dec. 5.
The move appears to be the first instance of a film distributed by an MPAA member company finding its way to a group other than the sanctioned Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Under the terms of the current screener ban, SPC, a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, may not send out screeners for its films to anyone but members of the Academy who have signed the screener agreement, but in this case, the screeners are being issued not by SPC but by the film's French producers, the husband and wife team of Laurent Petin and Michele Halberstadt Petin, who produced the $5 million-$6 million film through their ARP Prods. in association with France 3 Cinema and Canal+. SPC acquired domestic distribution rights to the film last May.
"We asked (SPC) if it could distribute (the screeners), and they said no," Halberstadt Petin said. "They knew (that we would be sending out the screeners) but didn't do anything. This was our doing. They understood our position, but we own the copyright to this film, and we are entitled to (send out screeners ourselves)."
"I heard she was going to do that," SPC co-president Michael Barker confirmed Friday. SPC co-president Tom Bernard added, "This was an action that one of our partners took. It was done from Europe and is out of our hands."
The French producers' decision to send out screeners exploits a loophole in the screener ban that execs at the various studio-owned specialty films companies have been discussing for some weeks. Since the specialty companies often acquire films or partner on projects with foreign companies and producers, the possibility existed that the limits of the ban could be tested if someone other than the specialty film companies themselves sent out screeners.
"I don't know if we have too many recourses if a producer decided to send out screeners," one exec at a rival specialty films company said.
In explaining the ban, MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti has admitted that it is a voluntary action on the part of the MPAA companies. It has been left up to up to the individual companies to enforce the ban.
A representative for Sony, SPC's parent company, had no comment when told of the latest development.
"We have no comment at this time," said MPAA spokeman Rich Taylor. "When we learn more of the facts, we may have a comment then."
SAG, which has criticized the ban, welcomed the screener, which its members will be receiving this week.
"We are delighted that the importance of the Screen Actors Guild Awards is increasingly recognized internationally as well as domestically. We are pleased that 'Monsieur Ibrahim' will be available on VHS for members of the SAG Awards Nominating Committee to view for consideration," said Kathy Connell, producer of the SAG Awards.
A SAG awards representative added that a confidentiality agreement was being prepared for 2,300 members of the SAG awards committee similar to that signed by Academy members securing pledges to safeguard the screeners.
A French-language film directed by Francois Dupeyron, "Monsieur Ibrahim" is set in the Pigalle district of Paris in the 1960s and concerns the friendship between a young Jewish boy, played by Pierre Boulanger, and an older Arab shopkeeper, played by Omar Sharif.
SPC is promoting Sharif, who received a best supporting actor Academy Award nomination in 1963 for "Lawrence of Arabia," for best supporting actor honors for the role.
Speaking from France, Halberstadt Petin said the decision to send out the screeners was inspired by Sharif's performance. "Even if it is a supporting part, it is the heart of the film, and SAG is an important group for an actor," she said. "We have admired him since 'Lawrence of Arabia,' and we owe it to him for what he gave to us in the film."
Members of the SAG nominating committee have been sent video screeners of "Monsier Ibrahim," which Sony Pictures Classics is releasing in the United States beginning Dec. 5.
The move appears to be the first instance of a film distributed by an MPAA member company finding its way to a group other than the sanctioned Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Under the terms of the current screener ban, SPC, a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, may not send out screeners for its films to anyone but members of the Academy who have signed the screener agreement, but in this case, the screeners are being issued not by SPC but by the film's French producers, the husband and wife team of Laurent Petin and Michele Halberstadt Petin, who produced the $5 million-$6 million film through their ARP Prods. in association with France 3 Cinema and Canal+. SPC acquired domestic distribution rights to the film last May.
"We asked (SPC) if it could distribute (the screeners), and they said no," Halberstadt Petin said. "They knew (that we would be sending out the screeners) but didn't do anything. This was our doing. They understood our position, but we own the copyright to this film, and we are entitled to (send out screeners ourselves)."
"I heard she was going to do that," SPC co-president Michael Barker confirmed Friday. SPC co-president Tom Bernard added, "This was an action that one of our partners took. It was done from Europe and is out of our hands."
The French producers' decision to send out screeners exploits a loophole in the screener ban that execs at the various studio-owned specialty films companies have been discussing for some weeks. Since the specialty companies often acquire films or partner on projects with foreign companies and producers, the possibility existed that the limits of the ban could be tested if someone other than the specialty film companies themselves sent out screeners.
"I don't know if we have too many recourses if a producer decided to send out screeners," one exec at a rival specialty films company said.
In explaining the ban, MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti has admitted that it is a voluntary action on the part of the MPAA companies. It has been left up to up to the individual companies to enforce the ban.
A representative for Sony, SPC's parent company, had no comment when told of the latest development.
"We have no comment at this time," said MPAA spokeman Rich Taylor. "When we learn more of the facts, we may have a comment then."
SAG, which has criticized the ban, welcomed the screener, which its members will be receiving this week.
"We are delighted that the importance of the Screen Actors Guild Awards is increasingly recognized internationally as well as domestically. We are pleased that 'Monsieur Ibrahim' will be available on VHS for members of the SAG Awards Nominating Committee to view for consideration," said Kathy Connell, producer of the SAG Awards.
A SAG awards representative added that a confidentiality agreement was being prepared for 2,300 members of the SAG awards committee similar to that signed by Academy members securing pledges to safeguard the screeners.
A French-language film directed by Francois Dupeyron, "Monsieur Ibrahim" is set in the Pigalle district of Paris in the 1960s and concerns the friendship between a young Jewish boy, played by Pierre Boulanger, and an older Arab shopkeeper, played by Omar Sharif.
SPC is promoting Sharif, who received a best supporting actor Academy Award nomination in 1963 for "Lawrence of Arabia," for best supporting actor honors for the role.
Speaking from France, Halberstadt Petin said the decision to send out the screeners was inspired by Sharif's performance. "Even if it is a supporting part, it is the heart of the film, and SAG is an important group for an actor," she said. "We have admired him since 'Lawrence of Arabia,' and we owe it to him for what he gave to us in the film."
Share on LinkedIn
