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Date Posted: 12:19:04 11/16/04 Tue
Author: By City News Service
Subject: Studios press junkets prompts lawsuit

Studios press junkets prompts lawsuit
By City News Service
............................................
A group of consumers filed 10 proposed class action lawsuits against the major movie studios, questioning whether it is ethical to put together "press junkets" for film reviewers.
The lawsuits, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, are aimed at stopping the studios from picking up the tab for reviewers, which includes paying for hotel and airfare, arranging for reporters to meet the "talent," and giving away merchandise.

The plaintiffs, who include the Citizens for Truth in Movie Advertising, allege the studios provide such perquisites in exchange for the reviewers' endorsements of the film.

"Does anybody really believe that somebody saw Battlefield Earth and thought it was as good as Star Wars?" plaintiffs attorney Anthony Sonnett said. "Give me a break!"

He called the practice Hollywood's "dirty little secret."

Named as defendants are Sony Corp. of America, Viacom Inc., Artisan Entertainment, AOL Time Warner, The Walt Disney Co., Vivendi Universal U.S. Holding Co., DreamWorks SKG, Lions Gate Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

No one with the studios could be reached for comment late Monday.

The plaintiffs are "just ordinary Joes who are particularly aggravated with relying on movie advertisements that they thought were honest," Sonnett said.

He said the lawsuits, in a way, are tied to Sony Pictures Entertainment's use of self-serving movie review quotes from "David Manning."

The fictitious critic, who supposedly worked for an actual Connecticut paper called The Ridgefield Press, gave glowing reviews for several SPE movies, including A Knight's Tale and The Animal.

Sony suspended two advertising executives for 30 days following an in-house investigation.

Manning's case takes the use of "press junkets" a step further, Sonnett said.

"They know what the people are going to write anyway," he said. "Why not just go and make it up?"

Sonnett said that, "ultimately, what we're interested in is changing the way movie companies do their advertising."

The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages.

They also want court orders barring the defendants from making "false, misleading and deceptive advertising;" requiring the studios to provide warnings, corrective advertising or public notice of their alleged violations; requiring the defendants to correct their ads; and establishing a legal duty to disclose to the public the benefits the reviewer received.

LOS ANGELES, July 3, 2001

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