Some of you may remember that, a few months back, I posted, "Anna Without the Hype," an informal review of the DVD Anna’s Army. I thought it was a great effort by first-time filmmakers, Philip Johnston and Peter Geisler. But just the other day, I got a troublesome e-mail from Phil concerning the troubles they’ve experienced trying to distribute their film. Phil wrote:
After reading the story in the PBP, I found myself amazed that IMG would have gone to such lengths to suppress the distribution of a film that seems so benign, and so much more informative and worthwhile than most of the garbage churned out by the firm’s faceless, “yes, but how will it sell in Japan?” partners in spin.
I’m no legal expert, but if Anna’s Army violates Sharapova or her rights in any way, then I should be taken out back, blindfolded, and shot (I know some of you think that an entirely reasonable idea, but never mind that for now) for the things I’ve written. The material the moviemakers gathered was all garnered legitimately, during their investigation into Russian women's tennis.
If you can’t use film footage of Sharapova (or anyone else) legitimately collected during the creative process, you may just as well declare the creative process null and void, and make everyone watch music videos (they being the most insipid use to which film has ever been put) all day.
I talked with Phil today and this appears to be what happened: IMG, rankled by the fact that Anna’s Army might beat its own Maria-endorsed Sharapova DVD out of the gate in Japan (thanks to an earlier release date), figured that if it just threw enough money and lawyers at the little guys (Johnston, Geisler, and their start-up firm, Byzantium Productions, Inc.), it could intimidate the Japanese distributors into freezing out Byzantium.
And that’s exactly what happened, according to Johnston. He got a letter from his Japanese partners, saying they couldn't distribute his filim. When the distributor came down with cold feet, Johnston lost any chance to get a jump on IMG in the lucrative Japanese market.
Johnston's assessment: “IMG interfered with our business relations {in Japan} to prevent our DVD from coming out on our Dec. 9th release date. We got hip-checked out of the market.”
Firms like IMG have the assets to make life tough for firms like Byzantium. You know how that goes: The big guy, no matter how ham-fisted or dull, knows that if he bets enough chips, and keeps upping the bet, the little guy will have to quit the game.
Well, surprise, surprise. The little guys are going to stay at the table. They have their reasons, they have their resources. So it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when Johnston goes after IMG.
The only leg IMG has to stand on, it seems to me, is this issue of how the Japanese have built up the role of Sharapova in their version of the DVD. As the Post story notes, the jacket has reduced the size of the Kournikova photo and enlarged the image of Sharapova, there’s a 10-minute “bonus” package of Sharapova footage, and the name of the film has been changed to the utterly anodyne Russian Women’s Tennis. Does that constitute an unfair exploitation of Sharapova and her image?
The obvious attempt to market the film more effectively in Sharapova-crazy Japan has been at least partly responsible for the conflict between Johnston and IMG. On balance, though, I think it’s crazy for IMG to have gone to the mat on this, and I have a feeling it’s going to backfire—if Johnston et al. can stick it out. Anna’s Army is a terrific documentary that doesn’t unfairly exploit anyone.
Get a life, IMG.