I hate to say this, but I was actually expecting this to happen. The vulgar and unrated internet teaser trailer for Zack and Miri Make a Prono has been removed from the interwebs by the MPAA (cue Darth Vader’s theme “The Imperial March”).
“The MPAA called and said we had to take it down. Weinstein Co., like most studios, is a signatory of the MPAA,” explains Smith. “As such, there are protocols involving trailers that we failed to follow. As with features, all trailers get rated get rated by the MPAA. The majority of them are for general audiences (Green Band trailers), but trailers packed with adult content (like our teaser) earns you what’s called a Red Band trailer. … Well, we didn’t go through this process - simply because, we felt, that since the teaser didn’t contain any footage from the actual flick, it wasn’t technically a trailer. Boy, was I wrong.”
ALL promotional material for any film financed and/or distributed by a signatory of the MPAA has to be MPAA approved, including internet-only materials.
“I never realized this, as it’d never been a problem in the past: we’ve been doing ‘net-only teasers since “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and nobody ever raised a red flag before, not even on the last flick, for which we also put up two ‘net-only teasers in advance of the rated trailer. But I guess since the teaser was so, shall we say, racy… a rating was in order.”
Smith has now officially submitted the teaser to the MPAA for rating, and will putt he trailer back online if they approve it. It’s an unfortunate situation and its only bound to get worse in the coming years as the MPAA attempts to police all movie related content on the internet.
source: NewsAskew
June 6th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Laaaaaaaaaaaame.
Fuck the MPAA. In the face.
Or in the bleached assholes.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
The MPAA are irrelevant fucktards.
If the teaser had stuff from the movie, then fair play… But it has NOTHING IN IT!
So out of interest, if, say Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks had done this on their own without Smiths’ involvement, would this have caused the same thing?
Idiocy.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I wonder if Rogan and Banks sweded portions of “Zack and Mari” on a cheap consumer camera and uploaded it on youtube would that be considered for MPAA rating…
Honestly, I think MPAA should stick with theater and television, not internet.
I’d like to believe the internet is free game. I guess it’s not anymore.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Fuck ‘em.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:29 am
I’m with Hunter, Thumb, and the unwashed masses that let borderline apathy run their lives.
Fuck the MPAA…the self-appointed taste police.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:28 am
LOL - Those Associations with their “understanding” of “Arts”… Fuck them.
June 6th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Fuck the MPAA bunch of asshats!
June 6th, 2008 at 5:20 am
This is why nobody likes the MPAA. I mean… Is there anyone who actually lkes those tyrants? Anyone?
June 6th, 2008 at 7:56 am
so…uh… can someone give me the link to the “pulled” viral?
June 6th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Smith knew this full well, and did it to drum up publicity. I guess it worked.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:34 am
It being about “making a porno” that would stand to reason.
Use this as promotion and keep it movin’
June 6th, 2008 at 9:31 am
There are a lot of internet sites that have much worst things than Kevin’s trailer had. I did not think that the MPAA had domain over what is on the internet, but I guess since its related to a movie they do. But it seems like all the meddling they do is not really helpful. Its up to parents and adults to make sure there kids don’t watch Kevin’s dirty trailers. Yeah Kevin!
June 6th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Ahem…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nTUbhtZMhz8
Take that, MPAA. Fuck off.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am
MPAA is headed for death. Or it should be.
It’s atrocious that we have censoring going on in this day and age.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:08 am
The studios should start looking at how software companies are abandoning the ESA and think about ditching the dead weight that is the MPAA. They’re pretty much a money hole at this point and just a hinderance to the editing process.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I say fuck Kevin Smith (as well as the MPAA). He sucks and his movies are shit.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:18 am
@Hunter Stephenson
Seconded.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Why do they have any juristiction over the net? That’s just wrong.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Fuck the MPAA.
Tear it down.
Down to the ground.
Not just for Smith, but every free thinking persons sake.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
More like, fuck you hippies. And fuck Kevin Smith. Gee, I’m not funny anymore - I know, I’ll make a vulgar sex ‘comedy’ with that unfunny loser Seth Rogen! But how can I get attention … I know, make a trailer that I know the MPAA will pull so I can get a bunch of 13-year-old Internet posters thinking I’m some rebel bucking the system! $$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!
June 6th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
As if the MPAA doesn’t have enough control. I can’t
wrap my head around they work…it’s absolutely ridiculous.
Their power trips are insanely bias.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
WHAY THE FUCK DO WE NEED THESE FUCKTARDS Approval for everything? Who the fuck do these bitches think they are? FUCK YOU MPAA!
June 6th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The somewhat recent documentary “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” really proved what a sham the MPAA is.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I don’t know if this is correct. Is the MPAA saying that ANY VIDEO Smith puts on his website promoting Zack and Miri must be subject to their approval???
Because I can tell you, the answer according to them is YES. And ain’t nobody following that shit. No-body.
I think Smith has been mislead. His trailer doesn’t contain footage from the movie? Call it a “bonus video” and not a trailer. Does that then mean the MPAA will still say they must review it?
Something about this story doesn’t add up. Maybe a reporter will pick up the story because I’d like to find out the answers.
June 7th, 2008 at 9:05 am
And when all is said and done, the hype for the film once it’s released will be massive because of this event. Everyone and his dog will want to see what all the fuss was about ,so every p2p and newsgroup will be choc-a-bloc with copies.
/begin $marketing
We did it boys! Most popular film this year because of one little trailer getting pulled - well done!
/end $marketing
June 8th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
What’s funny about this is that on the very site that says it has been removed from the web, you can still see the teaser. lol. just go to the “related stories” section.
June 8th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Tempest in a teapot, folks. This stuff with the MPAA is a far cry from censorship, and the pull quotes from me were merely from a response post to a question on our message board about why the teaser disappeared.
http://viewaskew.com/theboard/viewtopic.php?p=3008733#3008733
This wasn’t a marketing scheme; I was just used to putting teasers online without rating them. I now know better. End of story.