WASHINGTON - Dan Glickman, secretary of agriculture in theClinton administration, was named president of the Motion PictureAssociation of America, replacing Jack Valenti as the top lobbyistfor Hollywood studios such as Walt Disney Co. and Universal Pictures.
Glickman is a former Democratic member of Congress from Kansas andnow is senior partner of the Washington law firm Akin Gump StraussHauer & Feld. He's also director of the Institute of Politics atHarvard's Kennedy School of Government. He takes over the motionpicture job in Washington on Sept. 1, as Congress has begun torespond to Valenti's efforts to fight film piracy.
The illegal copying of motion pictures costs studios about $3billion a year, Valenti has said. Over 50 movies were secretly filmedwith camcorders in theaters in the year ended May 2003. Most areshipped to Russia to be copied and distributed worldwide, he hassaid.
"Piracy and protecting the intellectual property rights ofcreative works has got to be the number one priority, both at homeand overseas," Glickman, 59, said at a Washington press conference."There's got to be a multifaceted approach: enforcement, litigationand education."
Glickman, who will be paid more than $1 million a year at themovie association, was chosen from more than 25 candidates selectedby the Spencer Stuart Inc. executive recruiting firm in a five-monthsearch, Valenti said.
Another leading candidate was former Pentagon spokeswoman VictoriaClarke, according to the Los Angeles Times. Valenti didn't disputethat report yesterday at a news conference in Washington to nameGlickman.
The seven members of the movie association include Disney, TimeWarner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures,General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures, News Corp.'s 20th CenturyFox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Sony Corp.'s Sony PicturesEntertainment.
Valenti, 82, was a press secretary to President Lyndon Johnson andhas held the association position since 1966. He established themovie ratings system and has actively lobbied Congress to fightillegal copying of films on home video and the Internet.
The Senate last week unanimously passed a bill cracking down onmovie piracy.
"The state of the industry is very good," said Valenti, who hassaid his favorite movie is "A Man for All Seasons," the 1966biographical drama about Sir Thomas More. Valenti predicted continuedsales growth for digital video discs and high-definition televisionand said Internet users would soon be able to view any of 20,000films at any time they choose. Digital cinema, he said, "is just overthe horizon."
An advertising executive in Texas before coming to Washington towork for Johnson, Valenti was a bit player in the drama surroundingthe assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Johnson'sassumption of power.
Valenti was on Air Force One when it carried Kennedy from Dallasto Washington, and he appears in the background of the famousphotograph taken of Johnson's swearing-in next to a blood-spatteredJacqueline Kennedy.
Valenti's work ethic and colorful personality helped raise theprofile of the movie association in Washington, industry observerssaid, and he was known for his often florid speaking style.
Valenti said yesterday the association was "visibly andrelentlessly impressed" with Glickman's understanding of Congress andhis international experience.
Glickman served in the House of Representatives for 18 years andwas chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and amember of the Judiciary Committee. He then served as PresidentClinton's secretary of agriculture from 1995 until January 2001.
Glickman's son, Jonathan, is president of Spyglass EntertainmentGroup, a Los Angeles film production company. Glickman said hisfavorite movies include "The Godfather," "E.T.," "Animal House" and"Schindler's List."
"The biggest challenge for Glickman will be crafting the properstrategy to combat legalized piracy on the Internet," said TomPollock, a film producer and former Hollywood lawyer who was head ofUniversal Pictures from 1986 to 1995.
One possible strategy, similar to the campaign pursued by themusic business's Recording Industry Association of America, would beto sue individuals who swap movies on the Internet, Pollock said.Another approach would be to support competitive legal onlineservices that sell movies, similar to Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunesfor music.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, has pressedlobbying groups to hire more Republican lobbyists. Glickman yesterdaysought to put those concerns to rest. "It's important to me to reachout to both parties, but particularly to Republicans on Capitol Hill,so they're comfortable this isn't a platform for partisan activity,which it won't be," Glickman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment