IT'S A TOUGH JOB, BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT

BY TRAVIS MORGAN / Nov 21, 2002
Brigham Young University’s Daily Universe

Nothing seems to soothe semester-end stress like a great scary movie. Unfortunately, every time I see a commercial for a perfectly disturbing film, it seems to be rated 'R for violence, content, language' or some other indiscretion. Come now, can't film producers create more disturbing and distressing films for my PG-13 eyes?

Enter Clean Flicks.

Here in Utah Valley, we have another alternative to satisfy our hankering for mind-numbing motion pictures. Suddenly, all those naughty words and unsettling scenes magically disappear with the snip of a pair of digital editing scissors. Clean Flicks president, John Dixon, reassured me that movies are not edited "so much that you can't figure out what's happened."

So, you can still watch all those popular satanic and troubling films without the swear words. But don't fret, the underlying messages of doom and gloom should remain fully intact.

With the holiday season soon approaching, scores of inappropriate movies should be hitting movie theaters any time now. I hear Eminem's new movie is sprinkled with enough colorful language to keep movie editors clipping for hours on end. But within a few short months, you should be able to watch his rise to rapper greatness without his pesky rapper tongue. You may need to find a good organist, however, because the film may end up as a 1920s-style silent movie.

I've always wondered who edits out all those naughty parts of the films. Can just anybody get into the movie-slicing business? I thought I would do some investigating to see if they are looking for any extra help. It turns out that Clean Flicks already has a very competent movie editing staff, based out of Payson, Utah County. And apparently, they already get offers from a few prospective smut-slashers. "Sometimes we get people who offer to edit from their homes for us, but we don't need that," Dixon told me.

I can almost hear the conversations of potential edit-from-home applicants: "I already told you, honey, I'm not watching rated-R movies in our living room, I'm editing rated-R movies. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it."

The sacrifices people are willing to make for the good of the rest of us!

I thank you eager and dedicated stay-at-home movie editing hopefuls for offering your souls in exchange for my salvation. I will never watch the edited Exorcist again without thinking of your generosity on my behalf.

Image courtesy of Divine Comedy, BYU's award winning comedy troupe.

CLEAN FLICKS SUES TO KEEP EDITING MOVIES

BY JOSEPH HADFIELD / Sept 4, 2002
Brigham Young University’s Daily Universe

A Clean Flicks franchise is suing 16 renowned directors over the right to remove sex, profanity and violence from movies for rent or sale. But the action could turn against them.

The suit, filed Aug. 30 by a Colorado franchise of Clean Flicks, asks the courts to rule their editing practices do not violate copyright laws. But the president of the Utah-based company, John Dixon, said fighting filmmakers in court is not the best approach for the business. "Those guys are big, the best thing to do is to sit down and go over this with them," said John Dixon. "A lawsuit isn't the way to go."

Representatives from the Directors Guild of America said they are confident they will win in court. "Obviously, we think they are violating copyright law," said Andrew Levy, special assignments executive for the Guild. "They are taking an artistic work, the efforts of a lot of creative people, and changing it on their whims."

Clean Flicks is headquartered in Pleasant Grove and has 36 Utah stores. If the court rules against Clean Flicks, all franchises could be forced to stop editing films. "Our whole plan was to work with Hollywood on this," Dixon said.

The business has found regular customers at BYU, where student housing guidelines do not permit viewing of indecent material. "If they could see the kind of market we see," Dixon said. "The public wants edited movies, or even just clean movies."

One such customer is BYU senior Dave Baer, who has been a member of Clean Flicks for eight months. "Artistic freedom can go too far," said Baer, a 23-year old neurobiology major from Littleton, Colorado. "They are too caught up in their freedom rather than in making a better society."

One movie Clean Flicks edited and rents is Saving Private Ryan, a film depicting fighting in World War II. Levy said the removed parts are critical to the film. "The whole purpose is to show the horror of the Normandy landing," Levy said. "To sanitize it, is to me abhorrent."

The most surprising part of the lawsuit is that it names directors as defendants in the case, Levy said. "Directors do their films, get paid, but at the end of the day, the actual owner of the film is the studio," Levy said.

Dixon said he hopes to negotiate with studios to settle the issue, citing other instances where similar editing is currently allowed. "We want to say, 'Hey, you already do it for airlines, television and third world countries with strong religious beliefs,'" Dixon said.

When films are edited for airlines, Levy said, they are often done with the input of the director. "There is a difference between authorized editing and unauthorized editing," Levy said. "Whether the studios want to start marketing those airline videos is up to them."