Valenti Retiring, Or Will He Keep Tilting At Hollywood's Windmills?

Rumors, Conspiracies, etc.

from the you-never-know... dept

While the NY Post is reporting that Jack Valenti is about to step down from running the MPAA, the NY Times has a huge profile of Valenti suggesting he may stick around for a while longer. While he claims he wants to go out “at the top of [his] game” some would say he’s rapidly pushing new lows – such as the recent mess over DVD screeners and his new plan to brainwash school children. Of course, others may suggest he’s been at the bottom of his game for at least the past twenty years, since his infamous “Boston strangler” quote saying that the VCR would destroy the movie industry. The home video market now represents a huge portion of Hollywood’s revenue, and is often credited with “saving” Hollywood. To some, it’s been quite amazing that Valenti has been able to keep his job through all of this. The NY Post story suggests that Valenti will be replaced by current congressman Billy Tauzin, meaning that there will be little change in how the MPAA views things. They won’t be looking for ways to actually embrace new technologies to expand their business, but will, instead, fight on against the wrong things, wasting money the entire way. The movie industry needs to realize that going to the movies is a social experience, and they should work on making that aspect more enjoyable, rather than worrying about a few folks downloading movies. Update: Keven Werbach thinks Tauzin would be a good replacement for two reasons. One, it gets him away from the House Commerce Committee where he’s been a big supporter of established telecom companies, and because he simply wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective as Valenti.