Movie Executives Offer to Curb Some Marketing to Kids

Admitting to “competitive zeal” in marketing violent movies to children, eight film executives offered varying acts of contrition to a Senate committee Wednesday but were divided over whether to end the practice.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) pointedly asked each of the film leaders lined up at a witness table before him: “Will you or will you not market movies rated R to children under 17?”

Four executives provided a firm commitment to stop such marketing. They represented the Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks SKG, Fox and Warner Bros.

The refusal by executives representing Universal, Paramount, Sony and MGM to go along troubled McCain and other members of the Senate Commerce Committee. McCain and other senators put the studios on notice that the result could be more scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, which reported earlier this month that the entertainment industry deliberately targets children and teenagers with advertising for R-rated films, as well as using them in focus groups to test such movies.

The lack of unanimity among the studios underscored the complexity of reining in an industry that no longer speaks with one voice.

“Some segments of the industry have made more progress than others,” McCain said. “The FTC will continue monitoring what goes on and we will be working with the FTC. . . . The future of your business lies in your hands.”

The hearing was largely devoid of theatrics, with McCain eliminating the opening statements often used by senators to scold recalcitrant corporate chiefs or government bureaucrats. An obscure Senate rule limited the length of all hearings Wednesday, so McCain devoted the available two hours to hear from the film executives.

Reading from prepared statements, they pledged to curtail at least and to stop at best advertising adult-rated movies to schools, 4-H Clubs and other youth groups, as well as on television shows, Web sites and in magazines with primary audiences under age 17.

They also agreed to expand their rating systems to help parents better evaluate films, with Warner Bros. planning to add the designations L for profane language, S for sex and V for violence. And all the executives said that their studios had stopped using children in focus groups for R-rated films, unless accompanied by adults.

The involvement of children in such market research was one of the most notable findings in the recent FTC study and new details emerged from a news story based on confidential studio documents turned over to the agency as part of its inquiry. According to a New York Times story cited by McCain during the hearing, the documents showed that MGM/United Artists had tested commercials for the horror film “Disturbing Behavior” on children as young as 12, while using children 9 to 11 to research ideas for a sequel to “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” about an icehook-wielding serial killer.

The marketing changes were outlined earlier this week in a plan that the studio leaders hoped would show the senators their good faith in trying to meet the government half way. But McCain complained that the plan was “filled with loopholes” and pressed the companies to toughen their efforts.

As a result, virtually all of the studios agreed to expand their new policies to include PG-13 rated films. But, asked to adopt Disney’s new policy of barring ads for R-rated films before 9 p.m. on its ABC television network, none of the other movie-makers would agree.

Only Fox came close with what it termed a “family friendly” plan to restrict such advertising during family programs, which the company defined as those with an under-17 audience of at least 35%.

Nor was a consensus reached on advertising on Internet Web sites frequented by teenagers. Some of the executives pointed to films such as “Amistad,” the story of a slave ship in the early 1800s, as an example of an R-rated movie with historical value that might be appropriately marketed to an under-17 audience.

“There may be some R-rated films that we would take to a teen site,” said Universal Chairwoman Stacy Snider.

The studio officials also declined to commit to industry-wide sanctions for companies that stray from the new initiatives, with Alan Horn of Warner Bros. saying only that executives would be terminated for breaches within his company. Neither would the executives commit to sanctions for theaters that repeatedly violate ratings rules by admitting those under 17 without an accompanying adult.

Those companies that seemed most willing to accommodate Congress, coincidentally or not, also have some of the most pressing business pending before lawmakers, such as the AOL-Time Warner merger, which Warner Bros. favors and Disney opposes.

Though Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a vocal industry critic, lost the opportunity to confront the movie moguls with examples of their most gruesome work, he staged his own mini-film festival after the hearing to underscore his call for an industry-wide code of conduct.

A screen set up in a small Capitol Hill meeting room lit up with a scene from “Scream,” where a bloody young woman looks on as two men stab each other. She comments in disgust: “You’ve seen way too many movies.” To which one man replies: “Don’t blame the movies. Movies don’t create psychos.”

At one point, Brownback fast-forwarded to the end of another clip as one of those attending, a noticeably uncomfortable Lynne Cheney--wife of Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney--said: “Maybe that’s enough.”

Undaunted, Brownback showed trailers for “Urban Legend” and “Way of the Gun,” noting that motion picture companies had formerly shown the advertisements for the R-rated films before G-rated movies.

“Ultimately, if [the studios] continue in marketing R-rated fare [in such ways], they will invite further probing by Congress,” Brownback warned.

The studio executives, while failing to agree to more substantive remedies, acknowledged errors in discussing the internal marketing tactics brought to light by the FTC.

“There were times when we allowed competitive zeal to overwhelm sound judgment and appropriate standards in the marketing of some of our R-rated films,” said Robert Iger, Disney president.

The sentiment was echoed by Walter Parkes, co-chairman of DreamWorks: “We have not always been as careful as we could have been.”

The executives had been reluctant witnesses--the studios snubbed a Commerce Committee hearing two weeks ago when the FTC report was released. That prompted an angry McCain to schedule Wednesday’s session focused solely on the movie industry.

When the hearing was over, the executives seemed to agree that the experience had not been unpleasant. Some even said that they would come back again. But all left with a clear sense that the battle between Hollywood and Washington over pop culture is not finished yet.

“The senators made it clear they are going to keep an eye out, which would not surprise us,” said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount’s motion picture group.

But he added that the industry still answers to a higher master. “It’s more important that the public pays attention and that they are happy. They are the ultimate gauge of how we are doing our jobs.”

Inevitably, the hearing spilled over to the campaign trail. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, said that the studios were making an “end run around the parents of America” by refusing to make more significant changes in their marketing strategies.

“They haven’t really said they’d stop it,” he said while campaigning in Wisconsin.

Lieberman in recent years has been one of the most vocal Democratic critics of excessive depictions of violence and sex in popular culture. But since becoming Al Gore’s running mate, some Republicans have accused him of soft-pedaling his comments about the entertainment industry.

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Times staff writers Dana Calvo in Milwaukee and Melissa Lambert in Washington contributed to this story.

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Kids Speak Out on Movies

“I thought (“Scary Movie”) was going to be funny, but we went in and afterwards my parents told me that we probably were not going to see another rated R movie in a long, long time...I wouldn’t want to see it again.” llease Green.

“The previews only show short scenes so in reality it’s only a small part of what the movie is about.” William Buchanan

“I understand they are trying to make money, but they have a lot of influence. And so why don’t they make a positive influence on things instead of negative? (Rappers) call women every name except women of young lady.” Ml’Cae; Bell

“Even though (the movie) might be (for audiences) over 17, it doesn’t really matter because it will come on home video and so the theater people think: ‘I might as well make my money or Blockbuster will.” Corinne Prudhomme

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How the Kids See It

We went to New Roads Middle School in Los Angeles to talk with children about the Senate hearings. Here’s what to had to say.

For more, turn to A14

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“I wanted to go see (R-rated) ‘Kings of Comedy’ because I thought they were just funny guys. I didn’t know they were going to have all that swearing because they didn’t show that in previews.” Dilynne Camp Posey, 12

“‘I thought it was going to be a funny movie but ... (R-rated ‘Scary Movie’) didn’t seem so funny because there was some sex and ... people jumping on people and slicing people’s heads off.” Ben Seagle, 12