CLEANING UP THE MOVIES (PART 2)

BY KIETH MERRILL / April 16, 2006
Meridian Magazine

Hollywood loves money. Greenback blood is the sustaining life force of the good, the bad and the ugly. But even Hollywood is puzzled by people willing to pay TWICE as much for a movie all "cleaned up".

To be honest, so am I. But as discussed in Part 1, a remarkable number of conservative consumers sustain an equally surprising number of companies that "re-edit" customer's videos and DVDs. The buyer pays twice. Once to buy the movie. Twice to have the "bad stuff" taken out.

Some circumvent the double pay proposition with "membership rentals". It's a good service but the economics are essentially ths same. The consumer pays a premium, only it comes in the form of membership. There are lots of issues. The technical tap dances the re-editors go through may ultimately not be enough to rescue their controversial chorus line of copyright questions from the alligator-invested swamp where they are dancing - no wait, those smiling jagged jaws are Hollywood attorneys.

Some argue that Hollywood has missed the boat. The DVD technology that enables Hollywood to put "all that other stuff" on the disc also allows them to include alternative versions. They could - if they wanted - include a ratings reduced version so you could watch Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List , Patriot and even Training Day ( R-rated one and all) with your kids and mother-in-law, Laverkin. Hollywood could easily give you PG versions of their R-rated films. Remarkably they don't. Technically it is easy. Politically it is practically impossible.

"Impossible" for an industry as complex and cumbersome as Hollywood spells "o p p o r t u n I t y" for the unfettered and nimble entrepreneur. Two small companies have created a "clean up the movies" alternative to the "Re-editing" services.

As promised, I am talking about "DIGITAL FILTERING". DF is more complex and technically sophisticated than simple digital editing, the technique now used by most of the re-editing services . The current limitation is that it only works with DVD. These are not red flags of warning but banners of celebration. Digital Filtering offers significantly more control and ultimately promises a more enduring and cost-effective solution.

What? You say. Digital filtering only works with DVD?

If there is anyone out there who has not switched to DVD -- clinging somehow to the notion that VHS video cassettes will survive -- I would like to sell you my vast laser disc collection. Technology changes. Some change with it. Some people still shoot hi-8 video, own vinyl records and listen to the Beach Boys on 8-track tape players.

The truth is that DVDs are chasing video tape off the retail shelves. Circuit City has announced that it is dropping movie videos in VHS format. Frank Ahrens and Dina ElBoghdady writing in the Washington Post call it "the death knell for videotape and the VCR which has been the dominant form of home video entertainment for almost two decades." [Ahrens, Frank, ElBoghdady, Dina, Dvds Are Pushing Videotapes Off Retailers' Shelves, The Washington Post, June 21, 2002.]

Blockbuster is spending $365 million to replace 25% of videotape rental inventory with DVD movies and games. DVD rentals jumped 176% in one year at the nation's largest video rental store. Despite that 95 % of Americans have a VCR sitting on the top of their TV, they are headed for obsolescence. It is a slow death but inevitable extinction. When VCRs were introduced in 1978, they cost $800.00 Today you can buy a VRC for $60.00. [but only if you hurry and go somewhere besides Circuit City.]

The digital revolution in home entertainment is not a fad. DVD is here to stay - at least until the inevitable new technology comes along. According to Ahrens and ElBoghdady , "The slow extinction of VCRs could at least temporarily leave viewers with fewer entertainment options and wedge them between two warring titans - electronics makers and Hollywood studios,"

There is a war going on. In the midst of the battle, a few entrepreneurs move stealthily among titanic enemies taking technical and tactical advantage of what each seems willing to neglect-- a vast population of conservative consumers who would like to clean up the movies.

Those bright people with the technical talent to tap into the digital domain promise an amazing future of consumer control.

When you watch a movie, the last thing you care about is how in the heck those beautiful images and incredible sound got from that flimsy little disc called DVD [Digital Versatile Disc.] and onto your screen OR how they got on the DVD in the fist place.

Suffice it to say the movie, originally shot on 35 mm motion picture film -- unless it was Attack of the Clones -- was converted to digital code at a lab in Hollywood and compressed into something called MPEG 2 then burned onto a DVD - a million DVDs. Your computer or DVD player comes with software that can read - decode - the compressed digital information and translate it into moving pictures and dynamic sound. Understanding decoders and DVD drivers is important to understanding the process and control of quality.

TWO DIGITAL FILTERING SOLUTIONS

I contacted both companies that lay claim to Digital Filtering solutions. They are ClearPlay and Movie Mask.

Mr. Bil Aho, CEO of ClearPlay, and Mr. Breck Rice, Founder and COO, of Trilogy Studio. creator of Movie Mask, were both extremely cooperative, candid and explicit about their companies and commitments. It is important for you to remember that I have relied on their comments, information and opinions about their respective companies and products and about each other. I am not an investigative reporter, software engineer nor clairvoyant. What they said is what you get. My comments are the Elmer's glue.

I wanted to test drive both ClearPlay and MovieMask. ClearPlay is the only company offering digital filtering that has been up, active and operating for any period of time. MovieMask has announced release of its masking software this month.

CLEAR PLAY

I started with ClearPlay. My first impression was very positive. The ClearPlay site is clean, crisp and appealing. I was struck by a quote by Michael Medved - who happens to be one of my heroes.

"Movie fans who have been worried about excesses in violence, sexuality, and language can now enjoy their favorite films with a sense of security and satisfaction." Michael Medved.

I signed up for the 30-day free trial and paid for an additional 30 days in the spirit of fair play. To my dismay, I discovered that ClearPlay does not support Macintosh.

MOVIE MASK

I went immediately to Movie Mask. I downloaded the Beta-test version of Movie Mask with the special password supplied by Mr. Rice. Dang it ! The Beta-test version of Movie Mask does not support Mac either.

My instinct was to forget about writing Cleaning Up the Movies Part 2 and write about something much more right brained. [And by the way I promise, no more "techy" articles, OK?]

With out the ability to actually "test drive" the sites, I felt a bit disadvantaged. But then it occurred to me that you can test drive both sites and send your feedback to Meridian or the respective companies. ( www.moviemask.com, www.clearplay.com,]

At one level, both companies do the same thing. They offer digital filters via the Internet called respectively, "ClearPlay Guides" or "Movie Masks". As of this writing, each company offers a product that essentially skips or mutes objectionable images or ideas.

The big difference in the companies seems to be where it is going and what is possible. Movie Mask has a vision of a more complex and sophisticated technology that will allow, among other things, digital replacement of images. ClearPlay does not even contemplate going there, or, as Aho stated, "he does not believes that such technology will exist in the near future." According to Movie Mask they are only months away and already have Alpha prototypes.

Neither product works with stand-alone DVD players. ClearPlay informed me that they are optimistic that by the end of the year the product will come installed on at least one -- and maybe 2 -- DVD consoles from major manufacturers. "In time for Christmas, we hope," Bill Aho told me. ClearPlay has not yet announced the specifics of the deal, but let's hope it happens. It is a huge step.

If ClearPlay is successfully bundled with existing DVD players it moves digital filtering to the next logical level - from the personal computer to the set top box. The difference in the numbers of people who watch movies on computers - even computers hooked to their television - and the hordes that watch movies on dedicated DVD players is enormous.

Breck Rice informed me that Movie Mask is also in negotiation with manufacturers of stand alone console DVD players to install the Movie Mask decoder as part of -- or in place of -- the current drivers.

MARKET FOR CLEAN MOVIES

According to Bill Aho, "There is a mountain of data confirming the desire for "cleaned-up" movies. Everyone knows that G and PG movies do better at the box office. That Hollywood doesn't seem to "get this" is one of the great mysteries of entertainment.
Great care is taken and thoughtful effort made at ClearPlay to ensure that although a scene or word is removed, the continuity of the story is maintained, and the presentation retains its entertainment value. Many say the end result is similar to an airline or television presentation of the movie.
ClearPlay has created "Guides" for over 250 titles. The list of titles on the website is impressive and growing rapidly, if the list of popular "new releases" is any indicator. It is pretty much the list of the movies you want to see. "Of the new major releases we try to do anything of substance at the box office. There are some movies that can't be cleaned up such as Eyes Wide Shut or American Pie. On the other hand not many of our customers have any interest in movies about teenage sex."

"We really don't make a call on what is offensive or appropriate," said Aho. "That's a matter of discretion, values, taste and age. What we do is create Guides according to a ClearPlay standard. Right now, that involves removing all profanity, nudity and graphic violence. You can go to the ClearPlay website and get a feel for what the theatrical version of the movie is like, and how the experience will be when it is ClearPlayed.

We have collectively set our standards. In the end, one of our editors makes the judgment and the executives of the company review it. The film, Patriot, as example takes out the scene of the boy being shot, but we don't remove all the blood. When it comes to violence it is difficult to specifically articulate . It depends on the level of carnage. "Graphic" is the key word. Customers can go to the web site and get information regarding the edits before and after."

Aho acknowledged that, "the ClearPlay market tends to skew to people with family values and sensitivities across the Midwest, Intermountain States and Bible Belt." He said that ClearPlay "is national for the most part, in about every state", but was unwilling to give me any statistics regarding numbers of subscribers, hits or other "confidential" market information.

One of the great challenges for anyone attempting to "clean up the movies" is that tastes and sensitivities can be vastly different, even among otherwise homogenous conservative demographics. ClearPlay offers only one "guide" per film. People more offended by sex than violence or not offended by language do not have options. Still, Aho reports that "Customer satisfaction is very high. In discussing the "one ClearPlay Guide standard", Aho told me, "in the future there will be customized ClearPlay filters."

Access to ClearPlay Guides is via a membership which costs $99.00 a year ($59.00 for Meridian readers) or $10.00 per month. The membership offers unlimited downloads of Guides to the over 250 titles. The steps are easy. 1. Join ClearPlay. 2. Buy a DVD. 3. Go on line and download all the current moves [250 plus titles]. 4. Put the movie into the DVD player on your computer. 5. ClearPlay interface comes up. 6. Press play. 7. Watch the "cleaned up" movie.

The edits created by the digital filters - the ClearPlay Guides-- are limited to skip and mute. There is no replacement of images or words. When the guide calls for mute, the sound track goes silent. Aho emphasized that the editors made an effort to go for the solution that cleans up the scene with the least disruption to the flow of the story.

A challenge faced by ClearPlay is that their 3rd party decoders are not always frame accurate. That means for all the care taken by the editor, a command to mute or skip a few frames may in fact end up skipping more. The editor's instructions in the ClearPlay Guide is only able to put the edit "the region" not always on the precise frame.

Because ClearPlay doesn't run on Mac - and I am unwilling to taint my fingers on a windows machine - I have not personally tested Clear Play.

Aho told me that ClearPlay was working on a frame accurate decoder product of its own due with the next release. Both ClearPlay and Movie Mask agree that there is a need for better accuracy in the decoder software. The first release of Movie Mask includes its own proprietary decoder that is perfectly frame accurate according to Move Mask engineers.

THE VISION OF MOVIE MASK

Movie Mask is a product of Trilogy Studios. The company grew out of the gaming industry when the founding partner and chief computer programmer, David Clayton, decided to use his vast knowledge of digital imaging to do something positive - like cleaning up the movies.

Movie Mask has been in development two years and has come to market just this month. You can access and test drive Version I at www.moviemask.com

"Movie Mask has been slow coming to market," Breck Rice explained, "because of the very complex programming behind the product and the technical sophistication of the Director Software used to create the Movie Masks.

"Movie Mask Version 1.0, released July 4, 2002, is a skip and mute program very similar to the product that ClearPlay has on the market but with a couple of important differences.

"For one thing, "explains Rice, " Movie Mask has its own frame accurate decoder that is being released with the product now. This allows a more finely tuned edit. In the opening of Saving Private Ryan, for example, we have 32 edits. They are frame accurate. It is more complex, but in the end allows us to take out the gore without being subject to the sloppy work of the standard decoders that might whack out 3 unexpected seconds."

Subsequent releases of Movie Mask, Rice explained, will include replacement of images and words without noticeable interruption in the sound tracks. Virtual clothing, lip manipulation and other special effects will be added as the product is enhanced.

The vigorously discussed and popular demonstration of future capability includes the infamous scene from Titanic where actress, Kate Winslet, poses nude for her artist boy friend, Leonardo DiCaprio. Remarkably, the movie was given a PG-13 rating, but because of full upper body nudity the scene remains controversial. Removing the scene [Skip] arguably interferes with the progression of their relationship. Movie Mask promises the ability to cover Kate with a modest corset -- or a blue GAP shirt it you want -- and it is this that the demonstration illustrates. (To see this demonstration you can contact Movie Mask through their website.)

Movie Mask is only one of the products coming from Trilogy Studios. Movie Mask Director, the sophisticated software developed to create the masks [digital filters] that not only skips and mutes but covers, augments and replaces, promises to be, according to Rice, "a graphics tool that combines the best features of programs like Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and After Effects into a single, simple to use program. And it does it on the fly."

Aho claims that he seen the demonstration for Movie Mask and argues that the "technology is a long ways away."

"Not so", insists Rice. "We are very, very close."

"While ClearPlay has only one filter per movie, -- a kind of one standard fits all approach -- " explains Rice, "Movie Mask allows the consumer many more options . Viewers can drop violence but keep the language or visa versa. "It will be possible to "dial in" the movie you want at precisely your own standard and tastes," explains Rice.

Access to Movie Mask is via the web. A consumer goes on line (www.moviemask.com) and downloads trilogy studio proprietary software which includes decoders and DVD player drivers. All of the existing mask files are included. Movie Mask has 150 titles prepared to date and expect 500 by the end of the summer.

Rice emphasized that each movie title has multiple mask versions so consumers can customize the movie to their own tastes and standards. Consumer can actually adjust - so the language, sex and violence can all be at different levels. -

Movie Masks has created its own rating system. The "G, PG, PG-13 and R" ratings guides used by the MPAA are copyrighted and fiercely protected. Movie Mask ratings are based on age and include, M-8, M-12, M-16, M-19. M=movie mask. The numbers are appropriate age..

Trilogy is very supportive of what ClearPlay is doing according to Rice. " Trilogy Studio is in full support of ClearPlay's solution. We hope they are wildly successful because they are educating and building a market for consumer choice in media and entertainment. Because of our different technologies and expanded options we don't really consider ClearPlay a direct competitor but look upon them as an ally in the market place."

Trilogy Studio is still open to select strategic and financial partners. Company credibility surged ahead a year ago when CNN host Larry King and his wife, Shawn, joined the Board of Directors and became outspoken supporters in promotional videos. Beloved entertainer and child advocate, Marie Osmond, is also a member of Trilogy Board of Directors.

Looking ahead Rice said, "We know our initial target markets - we are creating an entertainment application for the DVD ROM followed by the 16 million Next Generation DVD players [X-Box, Play Station 2 etc.]. We know our mid range objective. We have been commissioned by two Movie Studio executives to get Movie Mask drivers and software embedded into consumer electronic hardware."

Next month, as part of its broad vision of digital entertainment Trilogy will launch the Digital Media Institute at the Larry H. Miller Entrepreneurial Center. This new institute involves several universities in and outside of the United States. Trilogy hopes to create "the Juilliard of Digital Media, " says Rice.

I confronted Trilogy - Movie Mask founder, David Clayton, with the criticism that Movie Mask demos are "pie in the sky" and that the technology is "no where near". He smiled to himself. There is no lack of confidence here. Clayton agreed to leave his computer long enough for an interview.

"The hard stuff is done," Clayton said. "The root is there and we know it works and now it is about expanding that base and throwing a lot more people at it. The important thing is that from the beginning we have been doing it right. Designing the architecture. Building the base. Securing the framework. We are a company of vision. We can see where all of this is going. We don't see another solution. We have not focused on the quick or simple fix. Skip and Mute are crude first steps compared to where we are headed. We have been building strong and solid stepping stones to bigger and better things. We are patterning our software and company to win a war and not just a little battle - we are here for the long haul"

ClearPlay is here now. They are good people, doing the right thing for the right reason. They have a good product and a great web site. They have an expanding list of "cleaned up" titles and a growing consumer base nation-wide. Check them out at www.clearplay.com.

Movie Mask is the new kid on the block offering rudimentary skip and mute like ClearPlay in their Version 1.0. But mostly they exude confidence and enthusiasm about the next generation of consumer control with Movie Mask options that range from virtual clothing to buying a copy of Julia Robert's dress on line while watching Runaway Bride. Check them out at www.moviemask.com

CLEANING UP THE MOVIES (PART 1)

BY KIETH MERRILL / April 15, 2006
Meridian Magazine

"It's a great movie!"
"But it's R-rated."
"Ya, but there are only a couple of bad scenes."

Sound familiar? Ever caught yourself reciting this dialogue? Ever been caught in a compromise between 102 minutes of really great cinema and 2 minutes of trash?

The list of otherwise excellent films polluted by a few minutes -and sometimes seconds—of unworthy images, actions, words and ideas is longer than you think. The notion that "there are no good movies anymore," simply isn't true. There are a remarkable number of good films, and a few great ones, rendered "no good" [or at least "inappropriate" by LDS standards] by a brief inclusion of sex, profanity and/or graphic violence.

Remarkably, these offensive moments are most often not essential to the story, the characters or the impact of the film.

Frank Capra, the wonderful director of A Wonderful Life, said, " Only the morally courageous are worthy of speaking to their fellow men for two hours in the dark." But social morality changes and "morally courageous" in our topsy-turvy world is too often twisted into "politically correct" and tainted by a perverted notion of "normal."

GIVING OUR SELVES TO THE WIZARDS BEHIND THE CURTAIN

When we go to a movie, we choose to spend two hours in the dark with the mind and morality of the "wizards behind the curtain." They manipulate our emotions and etch ideas in our sub-conscious. They consume us with the absorbing power of images and sounds to which we willingly connect our senses. We are wired to a little black box not always certain what's inside or whose hand is on the switch.

If we choose to see a movie in the theater, we see it the way that it was intended to be seen. The way the director wants us to see it. The way the producers and distributors believe it will earn the greatest profits. Their sensitivities are often different than our own.

If the movie contains scenes that offend us, our only line of defense is closing our eyes, covering our ears and humming loudly to ourselves. If you have ever been in a movie and actually seen a woman doing this, it was probably my wife. "Mothers," she explains, "do not need to go to movies to have emotional experiences. Our whole life is a vicarious roller coaster ride. Why buy a ticket for another?"

After raising and surviving 8 kids, Dagny has NO interest in paying money to be anxious, nervous, frightened, startled, emotionally engaged, vicariously empathetic or for goodness sakes offended.

As a voting member of the Motion Picture Academy, I watched 76 films last year. Dagny watched 5 of them with me. She covered her eyes and went HMMMMMM in only 2.

Dagny feels safer watching movies at home with her finger on fast-forward and the mute button near by. Home theater is changing the way we watch movies. Hollywood Video, Blockbuster and the mini-market around the corner have walls covered with video movies for rent. Large screen TV, surround sound, and elaborate home entertainment centers have made watching movies at home a major entertainment event.

A significant force driving the home movie market is a miraculous little four and a half inch disc, called DVD. Digital images, digital sound and all kinds of extra stuff make movies on DVD the best bargain of the new millennium. The "v" stands for "versatile". We have only begun to see the possibilities.

A GREAT BARGIN

Movies at home are a great bargain. Think about it. If they go out a family of six packs up for a night at the movies to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Mom and Dad pay $8.50. Kids pay $5.00. Babe in arms is free. You gotta have popcorn and drinks. [Dad was willing to smuggle cheap treats in under his coat. Mom said "no way". ] Mom loves butter. Dad is watching his cholesterol but likes a lot of salt. The kids have to share an extra large 'cause the refill is free. That's $24.25 for "the goodies" and $32.00 for the tickets. The Family Home Evening night with Harry Potter costs a whooping $56.25; not counting gas, inconvenience, and the fact Mom missed the best scene because she was out changing the baby.

At home the baby is asleep. The popcorn costs less than a buck. Dad gets salt. Mom gets butter. The kids each get their own bowl of popcorn. The drinks are made from powdered lemonade and you get all you want. Even if you spill you get another one.

The DVD rents from Hollywood Video for $4.30 for five days or you can buy it brand new at Amazon.com for $19.95. If you do six family movie nights a year and invest the $49.00 you save in a good hedge fund, by the time the 6 year old is ready for college, you've racked up $2,500 dollars - and all from watching the movie at home.

Among the movies I've made are a pile of IMAX films. For me bigger is better. I love watching movies on the big screen, stadium seats and immersion in digital sound. But when it comes to Hollywood movies a night in the theater comes at a PRICE and it comes with some RISK.

We've talked about the price. Let's talk about the risk.

Relying on ratings from MPAA may not always protect you from exposure to inappropriate language, images and ideas. PG-13 may be the most dangerous movie zone of all. On the other hand, some truly great films are rated R. What's a person to do?

Taking Hollywood movies home saves money but the risk of exposure to unwanted scenes remains. Not any more! We may never have to close our eyes and cover our ears and hum a loud church hymn again.

A REVOLUTION IN VIEWER CONTROL

A revolution in viewer control for home theaters and computer based DVD players has arrived. It surfed in on the wake of the same technology largely responsible for the surge in personal home entertainment options in the first place. Half a dozen young companies have bubbled up in the churning foam. They offer conservative consumers some fascinating options to remove nudity, sex, profanity and violence from Hollywood movies viewed at home or on personal computers.

The dialogue can be rewritten now.
"It's a great movie!"
"It's R-rated."
"There are only a couple of bad scenes."
"In that case I'll watch it in a "cleaned up" version.

"Cleaned-up" movies are available from several sources. The promotion of these products is straightforward but the process remains a mystery to most. The Mom who wants to watch a cleaned-up R-rated Brave Heart with her family with adolescent children doesn't really care how it happens. She doesn't care about companies, controversies or copyrights, but a look inside this business is fascinating.

Each of the various companies distinguish themselves in one way or another, but in the end there are two basic ways that Hollywood Movies are being "cleaned up." The business is too young to have generic nomenclature to describe the process, so I'll choose my own. I will identify the two basic approaches to "cleaning up the movies" thus: (1) DIGITAL FILTERING and (2) RE-EDITING.

DIGITAL FILTERING is a technically complex option with almost endless possibilities. It deserves its own page. I will explore this fascinating solution and the primary companies doing it - Clear Play and Movie Mask- in Part II of this 2-Part article. Digital Filtering offers remarkably sophisticated solutions to sanitizing content. I can promise you a fascinating read in Part II.

RE-EDITING is by far the most common technique used to "clean up" Hollywood movies. You may already be familiar with the companies doing it and the products they produce. The clever and explicit names of the companies offering "editing services" and access to re-edited films leave little doubt about purpose, products or perspective.

In preparing this article, I contacted the principles of most of the companies noted above. Most were cooperative, helpful and willing to provide background, personal motivations and perspectives on the industry and their role in it.

My intent is NOT to evaluate or compare services or products, but rather make you aware of the options available to you to take control of the way you watch Hollywood movies at home.

OPTIONS FOR CLEANING UP

[ A tremendous source of information is The Viewer Freedom Foundation. Founder. Merrill Hansen has set forth the mission statement; " We promote and enable the freedom of choice to avoid offensive content in videos. We build win-win-win solutions for the viewers, artists and production companies." For an excellent overview of the movement and links to all the players, I suggest you visit them on the web at http://viewerfreedom.org.]

While each re-editing company emphasizes their "unique differences" all of them have two things in common. 1) They were started by people who enjoy films but don't want to be exposed to "the garbag,e" and 2) In one way or another they edit out nudity, sex, violence and mute or cut out profanity, then make these "edited versions" of the movies available to their costumers.

Clean Flicks was started by Ray Line who began by editing movies for family and friends. "I enjoy movies but I got tired of sitting in theaters saying, if only they had left that one scene out." Ray has been on the front lines of the rising controversy over companies who take it upon themselves to re-edit Hollywood's sacred treasures. Ray has been invited to appear on the Today Show, Fox News and has been the target of Jay Leno's sardonic humor. Today Clean Flicks have 70 stores in 6 states. [10 wholly owned, 60 franchises]

Edit-My-Movies was created as an additional service of Jared Martin and Terry Hale whose company was already offering TV Guardian, TV Time Manager, Internet Filtering and Channel Blocker to provide families with all kinds of solutions for managing entertainment and media in the home. As the product line expanded, the name of the company was changed to Family Safe Media.

Family Fix is the brainchild of a husband and wife team, Terry and Sandra Teraci. "We were motivated to start this company when we just grew tired of the extra trash that the Hollywood producers write into the movies. After watching every Disney Movie, at least twice, we decided to do something."

The MPAA, which rates Hollywood motion pictures, claims that the film ratings come "from parents just like you." You only have to watch a couple of PG-13 movies to know that whoever decided it was appropriate for young teenagers is NOT a parent who shares our values and concerns.

My personal conversations with the men and women editing Hollywood films to make them family friendly are-on the other hand-what MPAA promises, "parents just like us." {Whether or not they are actually parents.] The conservative standards they use to "clean up" Hollywood movies are much more in line with Middle America than the nameless, faceless few living within 50 miles of Encino California who rate movies for MPAA.

Company to company, the business model varies only slightly. The customer buys a movie on VHS video or DVD. The customer sends the movie to the company. The company edits the customer's movie by taking out nudity, profanity, graphic violence and profanity.

THE DELICATE TAP DANCE

This rather cumbersome process is in place for practical reasons. By only editing movies owned by their customers, the companies argue that there is no violation of copyright. In their vigorous defense of this approach they make an interesting point. By requiring their customers to purchase films that they might not otherwise purchase, it adds revenue to Hollywood. (which may explain why Hollywood is unhappy but leaving them alone.) The added cost of editing is for service, not "a version or a copy" of the film so their delicate tap dance on the tight wire of copyright is fiscally sound if not technically accurate.

I say "delicate tap dance" because while the theory of the process seems defensible, in practice there are some practical short cuts. For starters, you don't have to buy your movie at Wall Mart or the local video store and send it to the re-edit company. You can buy your movie online from the company itself so the "ownership" is at that point a digital notation in cyberspace. But in the electronic world of information, the old adage that "possession is 9/10 of the law" is meaningless. This is no different from buying at Amazon.com so this convenience changes nothing and the theory is in tact. [If you like tangible commodities, you can also buy them at the store and have them shipped to where the editing takes place.]

So now the customer's VHS or DVD is at the company along with an order to "edit out the bad stuff." At this point, the actual process begins to slip away from the purity of theory. None of the companies actually edit the physical original video tape or DVD purchased by the consumer. It would be impossible for any of these companies to survive if in fact they disassembled the VHS tape, threaded it up on an editing system to cut and splice the videotape. Moreover, DVDs are digital and can only be edited when the digital information is dumped into a computer. In practice, the editing takes place electronically, but only once for every title, not discretely for each and every customer.

Before your or I ever order our "cleaned up" version of The Patriot, the company has already purchased it in DVD* , dumped it into a computer, and dropped the graphic violence. [* Not all of the companies have DVD available. When selecting a service be sure to check if DVD is your medium of choice as it is mine.]

THE REALM OF CONTROVERSY

We have now enter the realms of controversy. Let me state for the record that I believe in the right of consumers to have control over the content of entertainment exhibited in their home. These companies offer a positive solution. My goal here is to provide information, not pass judgment.

The editing of a Hollywood film requires that the DVD [or video] be digitized. DVDs are encrypted to prevent piracy. None of the people interviewed were willing to discuss the details of the technology they used to digitize the DVD. Those willing to discuss it at all assured me that, "We don't crack encryption, but have other ways of getting it into the digital domain."

Since I believe in the rights of consumers to see movies the way they want — and this is one of the ways that is possible - I am disinclined to become Sherlock Holmes on this issue.

With the movie inside the computer - usually a high-end Macintosh with Final Cut Pro 3 - the movie can be completely re-edited. But the only edits of interest are the ones that eliminate nudity, sex, profanity and graphic violence.

The result of the edit is a digital master of the movie - or edits - on hard drive. It is this "version" — a word none of the re-editing service companies like very much — that becomes the target of those who believe the process is a violation of copyright. This re-edited digital copy, opponents claim, creates "a derivative work" which is a pivotal concept of copyright law.

It is interesting to note of course that this "derivative work" - if that is what it is— is never sold "in stead of" an original copy of the movie. It is sold as a "replacement of" a movie already purchased. A copy of this digital master is returned to the costumer. What the customer actually receives is NOT a re-edit of the actual DVD or VHS purchased by them, but a re-edit of the same movie used to replace it.

"Replacement " is very interesting. If the movie purchased by the consumer is on VHS, the copy of the edited digital master is recorded onto and OVER the customer's original VHS tape.The original video, purchased by the consumer is returned to them on the same piece of video tape and in the same package, even though the movie has been erased and replaced by a copy of the edited digital master.

If the movie purchased by the consumer is on DVD it is not possible to erase and over-record. In this case the digital master is used to burn a new DVD-R, which is returned to the customer, together with the original DVD. Some of the companies disable the original DVD to diminish any claim that the process creates a pirated copy and deprives Hollywood of revenue.

There are variations on a theme. Play It Clean Company operates a membership co-op. When you become a member, you "co-own the videos with the company and share them with other owners." Some argue that this approach deprives Hollywood of rental income from their films. With only 6 stores the impact of Play It Clean product does not merit the focus of Hollywood legal eagles at $450 per hour. At least not yet.

Copyright is the big discussion. Revenue is the big issue. I know enough about copyright law and re-editing process to believe a case can be made for copyright infringement. That said, I agree with Richard Teraci, Family Flix, who said "As far as copyright issues, they have been in existence for over one hundred years, and we take them seriously. I think because editing movies is such a fairly new thing, there is no definitive case law to determine legality. I truly believe it's really a win-win situation. We purchase every movie that we edit, so we are creating a whole new market of buyers. It's a whole new area."

When the New York Times did a story on Clean Flicks in January, 2002, they interviewed MPAA president, Jack Valenti. He went on record to say that he didn't like what they were doing. Clean Flicks called Valenti and explained, "that this is a win-win. Every time we edit a movie the cash register goes "Ca'Jing". Every time we do a movie we have to buy a movie. We are making you more money because more Mormons are watching R-rated movies."

Valenti was silent for 3-months. Finally an attorney called from Washington "on behalf of Jack Valenti's attorney" to offer a formal response. "We don't like what you are doing. We feel it is a violation of copy right, but to be honest with you this is not a priority with the studios right now."

The bottom line may ultimately have nothing to do with copyright. It may only have to do with the bottom line. Movie making is a business. The art of Hollywood is making money. The fact that all of the companies with whom I discussed the revolution in viewer choice go to great length to insure that for every edited version of a Hollywood film made from their resident digital masters, a new copy of the film must be purchased by a consumer. Curiously, they do not participate in the profit of the purchase of the original movie. That revenue - and to a large extent new revenue - belongs to Hollywood.

The issue is a simple one. Even if there is a technical copyright infringement, how has Hollywood been disadvantaged? As long as the companies continue to demand that their customers buy a new copy of any film they wish to "clean up", Hollywood makes money. The moment any of them decide to sell their "cleaned up" versions on any other basis, they become media pirates and will end up in jail.

It stands to reason that people willing to commit themselves to "cleaning up" Hollywood movies are men and women of values, principle and integrity. That was certainly my conclusion as I listened to the strenuous efforts made to insure that nothing being done to deprive Hollywood of revenue. It may be self-serving and essential to survival, but I opt to believe that they have simply taken the higher ground.

Impressed with such fundamental integrity, I was surprised to discover that some of the smaller operations — not mentioned in this article — have allegedly been "ripping off" their larger competitors by making copies of the copies. One of the most successful of the editing companies told me, "The sad part is that most of the competitors are break-offs from our company and they basically have taken all of our movies and copied them. They buy one copy and dupe them and sell them in their own stores."

Industrial espionage aside, I have been impressed by the moral integrity I encountered in my interviews and conversations. The people I met in this curious new industry are motivated by a genuine desire to offer products that expand entertainment options without polluting personal lives. In most cases the founders remain in charge of editing choices. The choices are not easy.

Ray Line said, "PG-13 has as much sexual innuendo as R would ever have because it is based on comedy. It is very difficult to edit out because it changes the tone and story of the film. It is almost always more difficult to edit PG-13 for sexual content than an R. In an R movie sex and nudity is easy to get out."

Richard Teraci explained, "One of the most difficult edits was Erin Brockovich because of the amount of language used and the way she dressed. This movie is clearly on the border of what Family Flix edits. We obviously could not edit out her clothing attire with the low-cut, push-up bra scenes. She dropped the "F" bomb numerous times. That required more time to carefully cut-away the language but leave the story intact. The movie required over 100 edits. By comparison, The Patriot required minimal editing. There was virtually no language, no nudity, but a few graphic scenes."

For all of the clean-up-Hollywood crusaders, the moral thermometer is simple and consistent. No nudity. No sex. No graphic violence. No profanity.

The rising popularity of re-edited Hollywood movies, the increasing number of stores, and growing number of people willing to pay a premium for re-edited Hollywood movies suggest that "cleaned-up" movies are not a fade but an orphan child of the entertainment industry that must be taken seriously.