NightShade used our newssubmit to tell us about an article on The Register:
Today we hear from Good Valenti, the guy who happily leads the cheers for his constituents, which is basically his job. According to a story by MSNBC, Good Valenti is delighted to report that Hollywood raked in record revenues on the domestic market in 2001.
Theater admissions were the highest since 1959, we're told; and revenues are higher than ever in human history. An incredible eighty-two per cent of moviegoers attended at least twelve films, one a month, last year. Production costs per flick have fallen from $54.8 million in 2000 to $47.7 in 2001. And there are fewer screens in operation, meaning better margins for theater operators.
2001's US box office receipts added up to a staggering $8.41 billion American. And there's more: licensing fees on cable and broadcast TV, video and DVD sales and rentals, and of course the foreign markets for all that as well, will have added a gargantuan pile of cash on top.
But all this is in direct contradiction to assertions Evil Valenti has made under oath before Congress on scores of occasions, most recently during a Congressional love-in last week.
"Only two in ten films ever retrieve their production and marketing investment from domestic theatrical exhibition," Evil Valenti whined in a recent op-ed piece for the Washington Post.
Surely this is inconsistent with the rosy financial picture Good Valenti has been disseminating. So clearly we must have two different people here, or a schizophrenic, or a case of demonic possession.
Or all three...
Well this kind of behaviour can be expected from a person like Mr. Valenti: Piracy is sé³é³é³é³ bad and we (the music industry) have to suffer sé³é³é³é³ much... Yeah right..
You can read the full story here.
Source: The Register
