Slave Trade

That lurid back page ad in Tuesday’s Hollywood Reporter raised more than ad revenues--it raised hackles. And even some Reporter staffers are upset. Said one: “The mood is very strange (here).”

The full-pager, touting Heritage Entertainment’s “Slave: A True Story” project, pictures a young woman in shredded clothes hanging helpless by her bound wrists, silenced by a blood-red rubber ball jammed into her mouth.

A spokesperson for the trade paper acknowledged, “We’ve been getting quite a few calls (about the ad).” We were transferred to the office of publisher/editor Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, where another rep began, “We’re asking readers to please put their complaints in writing. . . .”

Kassel hadn’t returned our calls at press time. Editor Teri Ritzer, in her office when we called, refused to talk with us.

Lynne Segal, director of marketing and sales, was out of town when the ad came in and told us, “If I’d been here, the ad probably wouldn’t have manifested itself the way it did.” It was aimed at American Film Market buyers, she added. “Just because the Reporter ran the ad doesn’t mean we approve of the movie.”

(Weekly Variety ran a black-and-white version of the ad on an inside page.)

The organization Women in Film--which Kassel founded in 1973--also got angry calls about the ad. “We can’t respond to it officially, as an organization, until our board meets on the 14th (of this month),” said a staffer, who added that she was personally “depressed” over the ad.

“Slave” co-producer Alan Sacks called the ad “an attention-getter” and said the project has generated interest from Japan, Italy, Germany and other foreign markets.

It’s written by Clair Noto (“Clan of the Cave Bear”) and budgeted at $2.5-$3 million for a hoped-for summer start. “Slave” is based on the true story of Colleen Stan, who was held in bondage for seven years by a Northern California couple who kept her boxed beneath their bed.

“This is a prestigious project,” Sacks insisted. “It’s a psychological drama and we have spent a tremendous amount of time researching. This is not an exploitation film.”