Filmmakers and Others Petition Against Smithsonian's Showtime Deal

FILMMAKERS AND OTHERS PETITION AGAINST SMITHSONIAN'S SHOWTIME DEAL
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Lorne Manly]
As the recent coupling between the Smithsonian Institution and Showtime Networks continues to roil the documentary film world, more than 215 filmmakers, television executives and academics have signed a letter demanding that the Smithsonian, a publicly financed museum, not only reveal financial details of the joint venture but also abandon it. The signers of the letter, delivered yesterday to a Smithsonian official, include the filmmakers Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11"), R. J. Cutler ("The War Room") and Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"); the actress and writer Anna Deavere Smith ("Twilight: Los Angeles"); the law professor Lawrence Lessig; and Jacoba Atlas, a senior PBS executive. The uproar was set off last month when Showtime and the Smithsonian announced the creation of Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture for original television programming on scientific, cultural and historical subjects whose first service would be an on-demand cable channel beginning this December. As part of the deal, Smithsonian Networks was to get the right of first refusal on commercial documentaries that relied significantly on the museum's archives, curators or scientists. The underfinanced Smithsonian has argued that while the agreement might restrict some commercial filmmakers from selling their handiwork elsewhere, it would affect only a limited number of projects. A Smithsonian official has said that incidental use -- a lone interview with a staff member or a few minutes displaying the riches of the Smithsonian collections — would not mandate offering that particular project to Showtime. But the idea of a public institution's granting preferential treatment to a commercial entity has alarmed many in the documentary and academic worlds, who worry that the venture will discourage independent filmmakers from taking their projects to other outlets or from putting their work on the Internet on a noncommercial basis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/arts/television/18smit.html
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* See a draft of the letter at: http://public.resource.org/sunshine_letter.pdf
* Smithsonian Asked to End Showtime Deal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701820.html