Cinema Lloyd's Platform Campaign Announcement Biography Pictures Lloyd's Books Links

Campaign Announcement

Download Word Document (2.4MB)

 

Dear IFTA member:

 

            For the past two years, I have had the honor of serving as your Chairman and am grateful for the opportunity to have done so. I now ask you to re-elect me for a final two-year term.

 

            During my first term, your Alliance has been more open and more interactive with more members than ever before. Our non-U.S. members have played a greater role and there are a number of excellent new, forward looking Board members who have added to the constructive diversity of IFTA voices.

 

            This could not come at a more appropriate time. During turbulent times such as these, it is of supreme importance that we gather our forces, stick together, exchange information with each other and with the IFTA staff, and devise strategies to help members stay at least a few steps ahead of our common problems.

 

            The last two years also have seen a heavy ramp-up of timely member services from IFTA, including:

• Ongoing reporting on new technologies and licensing concerns, such as the Video on Demand Surveys, New Media and Licensing Guides, and Copyright Protection Guides;
• The new, online format for the Buyer Review Forum, which has encouraged more members to participate and thus increased the flow of relevant information.
• Territory Reports, developed with input from individual Board members, giving us access to up to date data with direct relevance to our sales activities.
• IFTA Collections has remitted over $12 million to members in just two years and new services have been launched to give our members easy access to worldwide registration numbers (and metadata) which will impact our online licensing potential.

           Your association has heard your concerns about piracy of intellectual property and is actively seeking remedies. Our association has not chosen (nor could it afford) to act as a police force. Instead, IFTA has looked to market-based solutions including seeking out new technologies which might be the answer to protecting our work and exploring new revenue potential in the online environment. Also, we are using our political capital to drive the various government agencies around the world to enact and then to enforce anti-piracy laws, working both alone and in coalition with other copyright groups.

 

           Not finally, the last two years have made evident that there is now another voice besides the MPAA representing the entertainment-media industry. IFTA’s opinion is now sought out and even listened to in a multitude of forums, not just in Washington but also by regulatory agencies in a number of countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Community.

 

           Over the next few years, the rules are going to be set and business models established that will likely stay in place for a generation. As the media world evolves, we must evolve with it. That is why, during my first term as your Chairman, I have reached out to meet with as many of you as possible to hear your needs, advice and opinions.

 

           We must continue to fight together to protect and serve independent art on film, TV, DVD, the Internet, in brain implants---wherever! If we continue to join forces and fight together, we, the innovators - the engines of new ideas -the discoverers of earth-changing talent - the supreme risk takers and job creators - we, the true lovers of the moving image art form, will not only survive but will prosper.

 

           I hope that you will see fit to grant me another term as your Chairman. More importantly, I hope that all of you will make your voices heard so that IFTA can fight the good fight for Independent Art and Commerce with all the brilliant backing possible.