Encino, California, is home to the Motion Picture Association of America, commonly known as the MPAA.

In the room of the Rating Committee within the Film Association, a rating discussion about "Saw Horror" is underway.

"There are a lot of scenes of extreme violence in this film. ”

Sitting on the side of the oval room, Matt Mendes made it very clear: "Graphic and violent footage is extremely detrimental to the mental health of teenagers and can have many negative effects. ”

Matt Mendes, one of the oldest judges on the rating committee, has a lot of weight.

Some of the other judges in the room were nodding, some were lost in thought.

According to the MPAA, the judges of the rating committee must be parents of children between the ages of 5 and 17 for a maximum term of seven years, but Matt Mendes has been on the rating committee for nine years, and the child has long passed the legal age of majority.

His position in the MPAA remains untouchable, as he is the face of Walt Disney on the jury panel.

In the matter, many judges, like Matt Mendes, have long been out of compliance with the MPAA, and some even have no children, but still serve as judges.

Because the rating committee is a "hidden" organization that does not disclose the identities of the judges, it is the voice of the six members of the film association committee on the rating committee.

Clement, the least senior of the Big Six, joined the rating board when his predecessor retired, and agreed with Sony Columbia Pictures.

Matt makes a lot of sense. Lindelof then spoke: "Extremely violent, not suitable for teenagers. ”

Clement smiled slightly, and Universal Pictures stepped forward.

Then, with Twentieth Century Fox standing behind him, Fellman said, "This is the most violent movie I've seen this year, and it has to be restricted." ”

The agent of Paramount Pictures stood up directly and said, "This "Saw Horror" has exceeded the limit of the R-rating. ”

Warner Bros. agent Catro said directly: "I suggest, NC-17 grading. ”

Clement glanced at him, it is said that Warner Bros. has a close cooperation with Relativity Entertainment, and it seems that while cooperating, it will not be soft when it is time to press it.

They had not consulted beforehand, but there was a silent tacit understanding.

This tacit understanding actually existed last year, but it has not found a suitable opportunity to show it, the rating committee can indeed be used as a weapon, but many standards and rules are clearly placed, even if the six major ones cannot be overdone, otherwise it will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

For some films, if they are rashly upgraded by one level, such as fully meeting the R standard, but receiving an NC-17 rating, the authority and credibility of the MPAA and the rating committee may be damaged.

The rules of the MPAA have been in operation for decades, and many actions can only be side-played.

They have been waiting for these ratings for a long time, and finally waited for a "Chainsaw Horror" with an extremely violent scale, and the tacit understanding of the six major ones does not need to be communicated in advance at all.

Although it can be modified and re-classified, the time and effort delayed in it may disrupt the deployment and rhythm of the studio.

"What about you?" someone asked, "what do you think?"

Clement smiled and said directly, "I think NC-17 is suitable. ”

"Second!" someone chimed in.

All judges unanimously passed the NC-17 grading.

Matt Mendes formulaically said: "Saw Horror, NC-17 rating, unanimously passed. ”

According to the prescribed process, the day after the classification was determined, the MPAA notified Shahai Entertainment, and then the news was quickly fed back to Ronan.

George Clint, who got the news, immediately came to Relativity Entertainment with director James Win.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Anderson. James Wing was a little apprehensive: "I didn't do my job well. ”

Ronan shook his head: "This matter has nothing to do with you, don't do it, James." The final finished version is what I'm sure of, and I'm a little bit of a compromiser. ”

In the past two years, Relativity Entertainment has developed smoothly, DreamWorks is still at the front, and Ronan is more or less relaxed.

It's human nature, and it's impossible to keep a thread in your head tight.

George Clint was a little angry: "We submitted the film to the rating committee very early, but they didn't agree on the rating of Saw until the end of the deadline, which was clearly aimed at us. The rating committee's rating has always been cyan and light on violence, and there are many R-rated films under the Big Six that are more violent than "Chainsaw", but they don't have any opinions!"

Ronan smiled: "George, this shows that we are a very powerful company." ”

"Uh......" George Clint was stunned for a moment, then understood what Ronan meant, and said, "That's true." ”

Ronan sighed and said, "Such a situation may arise in the future, you prepare some preparatory plans." ”

George Clint scratched his head: "The Big Six are really the same as always, using the old methods. ”

"This is not the sixties and seventies. Ronan said: "The Big Six themselves have competition, and they can't really be united, they use all the means within the rules of the game, but we can't take it lightly, those fallen film companies are a lesson from the past." ”

Just a means that conform to the rules of the game, many companies can't survive, such as DreamWorks, the Big Six have not used any methods outside the rules of the game, and they can't even see that the Big Six have suppressed DreamWorks on the surface, but DreamWorks finally fell apart and never had the opportunity to challenge Hollywood's top players.

DreamWorks itself is problematic and of course a key factor.

Because even if the six companies have a tacit understanding, they are competitors themselves, and it is impossible to truly unite.

James Wing is still a pure director, a bit of a delirium.

"What should we do?" he asked.

Ronan quickly made a decision: "James, you re-edit as soon as possible, and the scale is appropriately smaller." ”

James Wynn always felt that he was not doing his job well and said, "Give me three days." ”

George Clint answered: "When the re-editing is complete, I will immediately submit it to the rating committee for re-evaluation!"

Ronan nodded: "That's all for now." ”

As soon as he said it, James Wing didn't delay a minute, immediately said goodbye and left, and gathered his staff to go to the post-production studio of Warner Studios to re-edit "Chainsaw".

In his office, George Clint said, "I was notified that I had stopped the copy print, and at least 1,000 copies were unusable, wasting more than $1 million." ”

Ronan was also a little angry, but there was no good way to be angry for the time being, unless he didn't go to the MPAA classification.

Under current U.S. law, no one forces producers to submit their films to the MPAA for rating, but the vast majority of producers and distributors still submit their films for rating, because when a film is graded, it is equivalent to a certification of the film, which is equivalent to a mark affixed after being evaluated by the MPAA Association.

The vast majority of media outlets demand that the film be graded before it is allowed to be advertised in that medium, otherwise it will be protested by other advertisers or popular groups.

And if it is not classified, "Saw Horror" can be released in hundreds of theaters at most.

It may even be boycotted by the teachers' parents' association.

These non-governmental organizations are not good-looking mascots, and their influence should not be underestimated.

Ronan shook his head and said, "For the time being, it can only be like this." George, take this matter seriously and formulate corresponding countermeasures. On the side of the MPAA rating committee, it is not something we can solve in the short term. ”

Relativity Entertainment entered the industry too late, and the power cake of the top players has long been carved up.

In fact, the MPAA's grading system is generally reliable, but the judges are not necessarily reliable.

Some media once said that the MPAA's rating committee is the only secret committee in the United States other than the CIA.

Because the identities of the judges are all kept secret and not disclosed, even the grading process is also kept secret and not public.

The MPAA clearly states that no group or individual can influence the rating process.

How many people would fully believe this provision?

Since MGM lost its qualifications, there are now only six members left in the MPAA, that is, the six major Hollywood companies, and it is not an impossible task for a new company to join the MPAAA, but there is no chance.

For example, DreamWorks, several efforts, all of which were vetoed.

The members of the MPAA have already agreed that important decisions such as the admission of new members must be unanimously agreed by the six members.

In other words, similar to the Security Council, any company in the six major countries has a veto power.

It was possible to convince one of them, two or even three or four, but the big six nodded unanimously......

You can imagine what choice your competitors will make when they come to you to discuss and want to share the interests and power in your hands?

The Big Six are not Our Lady.

It's not that the Big Six films have been upgraded, but after the rating is completed, the rating committee directly tells the producers belonging to the Big Six which scenes need to be deleted so that they can be downgraded when they are re-evaluated, while the fate of other movies like "Chainsaw" is that they only tell you the film rating, and you need to change it if you want to get the corresponding level, without specifying where the changes are.

If the final rating is one level higher, such as PG-13 becomes R, R becomes NC-17, one level higher can mean millions or even tens of millions of dollars in losses.

It's okay to say that a company as powerful as Relativity Entertainment is, but for independent films, it basically means it's over.

This incident also made Ronan realize that Relativity Entertainment may have entered the sight of the six major companies, crossed the psychological bottom line called no threat, and was seen as a powerful competitor.

Ronan also knew that he might be able to deal with some troubles from the Big Six at any time in the future.

But no amount of trouble can be an obstacle to the development of relativistic entertainment.

This time "Saw Horror" was in trouble, but it did not become an obstacle to the release within the rules of the game, and after James Win's re-editing, George Clint submitted a rating reconsideration, without giving the rating committee a chance to pick a thorn, and successfully received an R rating.

The film was also successfully released!

The success of "Saw Horror" is the best response!