At National Press Club Speakers Luncheon, Senator Dodd Discusses Why Movies Matter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2013
AT NATIONAL PRESS CLUB SPEAKERS LUNCHEON, SENATOR DODD DISCUSSES WHY MOVIES MATTER
In keynote remarks, MPAA Chairman and CEO highlights the innovation and creativity that drive the film and television industry
WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) was the keynote speaker at the National Press Club Speakers Luncheon. In his address, Senator Dodd provided an overview of the many successes and key challenges currently facing the film and television industry. Dodd highlighted the innovation and creativity that is changing filmmaking and content delivery around the world and discussed the critical importance of a vibrant entertainment industry to a healthy economy.
“Movies matter because of the human emotions they excite: they entertain, they frighten, they comfort, they amuse, they educate,” Dodd said. “The best motion pictures also elevate and enrich the cultural landscape. They dare us to think differently, and they can make us walk — often uncomfortably — in another person’s shoes. But most of all, movies tell stories. Stories that help us make sense of our world —and ourselves.”
Dodd underscored the important impact that the film and television industry has on the American economy.
“Every work day, more than 2.1 million of our fellow citizens go to work at a job that either directly or indirectly that depends on movies and TV,” Dodd said.
“These jobs involve producing, marketing, manufacturing, and distributing movies and TV shows and related movie and TV businesses — nearly 700,000 direct jobs in all. Many of them are part of a network of 95,000 small businesses located all across this country. And let me add, the film and television industry does more than simply create jobs — it creates careers. And many of these careers do not require a college degree or advanced education. A high school diploma and several years of technical training and you are off and running in the movie and TV business, earning a good living — one that pays on average more than $62,000 a year.”
He also addressed the importance of protecting intellectual property while also protecting an internet that works for everyone.
“We can and must have an Internet that works for everyone, and protection for the creative industry’s genius that intellectual property represents,” said Dodd.
“There should be no confusion. For the more than two million Americans whose jobs depend on the motion picture and television industry ‘free and open’ cannot be synonymous with ‘working for free.'”
For the full text of Senator Dodd’s remarks as prepared for delivery, please click HERE.
About the MPAA:
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members include: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
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For more information, contact:
MPAA Washington, D.C.
Kate Bedingfield
(202) 293-1966
Kate_Bedingfield@motionpictures.org