DGA says revamp ratings

Joe Schlosser -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/18/2000

Responding to the Federal Trade Commission report on violence marketing, The Directors Guild of America has called for an overhaul of the Motion Picture Association of America's TV/movie ratings system.

The DGA also called for the film industry to devise a "code of conduct" for marketing films. "The DGA and its members understand the concerns of parents regarding violence in the media. Indeed, many of us are parents and grandparents ourselves," said DGA President Jack Shea at a press conference last week. "We believe in freedom of speech and expression as social values of the highest order. At the same time, as responsible members of the community, we believe that there are steps we as an industry can take to ensure that our movies are seen only by the audiences for whom they are intended."

Part of the DGA plan is to come up with a "more useful" ratings system that would allow parents and consumers the "most detailed" information on films or TV shows. "The DGA and its members are pleased that the FTC Commission Report recognizes that the First Amendment requires that creative decisions about content be left to artists and their distributors," a DGA statement said.