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[Nic Suzor <nic AT suzor.com>]

Judith.Bannister AT flinders.edu.au [Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 09:58:34AM +0930]:
> The link to the following Media release is not working (blank). Can you 
> help?

The text of the Media release follows:

    Media Release

    AFC provides no Sanctuary for Australian performers

    "A performer with the head of a goat, spruiking for the Trotskyist
    party on a pro-abortion platform, it.s all just part of the future
    of film encouraged by the Australian Film Commission (AFC)", says
    Simon Whipp, National Director, Media, Entertainment and Arts
    Alliance.

    "With Australian box office at historic lows of 1.3% of total film
    box office, it seems that the AFC has some pretty strange ideas on
    how to build box office," he said.

    The Australian Film Commission has indicated it intends to fund
    Sanctuary a .so-called. re-mixable film intended for theatrical
    release, DVD and the Internet. It is being produced under a creative
    commons licence, which means that the film can be modified, adapted
    and reused by third parties without performer or producer consent or
    payment.

    "This means that a film that starts out with a performer in a
    specific role could end up spliced and diced into a pornographic
    scenario a million miles away from what the performer agreed to or
    would feel comfortable with", Whipp said.

    "You.ve got to wonder if this is how Government money should be used
    in promoting the local film industry," he said.

    "By funding this film the AFC will be party to the exploitation of
    performers. In other jurisdictions performers as well as writers and
    directors are protected from this exploitation by moral rights
    laws."

    In Australia all performers have to rely upon is the agreement
    negotiated by their union, and the producer of this film has said it
    will not use the union.s standard Feature Film Agreement, which
    would prevent this exploitation.

    "The US Screen Actors Guild (SAG) have endorsed our stance on
    Sanctuary and stated that their members will not sign to any
    productions, either on film, tape or digital, made under a creative
    commons licence," Whipp said.

    "The AFC have got is wrong on this production and it is Australian
    performers who will suffer the consequences of their decision,"
    Whipp predicted.

    "The local film industry is precious to all Australians, and the
    federal Government should have a long hard think about whether it
    wants to fund our home grown performers digitally manipulated to
    sound like aliens with heads of farmyard geese, talking about sex
    with donkeys as they perform terrorist acts on the Sydney CBD."


    Media enquiries: Simon Whipp 0413 153 059