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Monday, July 30, 2007

Cs for Captivity; Controversy, Cuthbert, Courtney Solomon

Controversy, Cuthbert and Courtney Solomon.

C for Controversy:
A billboard started it all.


ABDUCTION, CONFINEMENT, TORTURE and TERMINATION were the terms used to describe Captivity the movie.
The offensive billboards were seen in prominent locations in LA.
This is the article from /film: http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/03/20/captivity-billboard-banned/

After Dark Films, the production company responsible for Captivity received a $500,000 fine as a result of putting up the unapproved billboards.

The actual release date set for 18th May was also pushed back because the MPAA refused to rate the film.
Co-owner of After Dark, Courtney Solomon said it was a mistake on their part about the billboards.
There was even a campaign by the public against the said advertisements, started by Jill Soloway: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-soloway/remove-the-rating-for-em_b_44404.html

No publicity is bad publicity?

The billboards were replaced by white banners with the words,"Captivity was here", after they were taken down.
It appears that After Dark Films certainly has a thing for bad publicity. Ropeofsilicon has the report: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/news.php?id=5643

Personally I do not find the billboards offensive by the looks of it but I do not live in the area where they were present so I wouldn't know the conditions.

The argument was that they were disturbing to members of the public and especially unhealthy to the children.
There were worse materials I'm sure and it does seem harsh that Captivity received the punishment.
On the other hand, After Dark had it coming don't they?
It takes two hands to clap.

C for Cuthbert:
The beautiful and innocent actress just wanted to star in a movie about a woman who fights for her life.



"...a lot of it baffles me, and a lot of it is intriguing at the same time, because I had no idea that, in the world of the Saws and the Hostels ... somehow our film has sort of stuck out. I'm grateful for that, but at the same time, I'm a little confused.

I know that we had some controversy with the womens' groups, and I just feel like I wanted them to see the film before making any judgments on it.

I set out to make a film about a woman who fights for her life and comes out in the end sort of strong and learns something from her experience.

But 30 million people chatting about it online? I couldn't ask for anything more!"


Read her interview on Cinematical here: http://www.cinematical.com/2007/06/29/interview-elisha-cuthbert-talks-to-cinematical-about-the-capti/

C for Courtney Solomon:
What has the man behind Captivity got to say?

"They were offended by the words and the images that went along with those words, and it sort of created a storyboard for them. But at the end of the day, Captivity -- as Roland intended it to be in the first place -- is about female empowerment.

It's a more realistic take on these types of things happening.
Saw is Saw and Hostel is Hostel, but Captivity is a realistic take on something that unfortunately happens in this country an awful lot.

That's what Roland set out to do; he wanted to make a statement about something that happens and is quite terrifying in this country.
So when we started out to do the marketing campaign, that's what we wanted to get across. Not just for the core audience, but also to broaden the audience.

It comes from an acclaimed filmmaker and it's not just some cheesy little film. They spent money on this film; it's not a $2 million film as people have quoted it to be. It's got high production values, the story plays out and it's got a great twist at the end.

At the end of the day, it scares you because it feels real."

Read Courtney Solomon's interview on Cinematical:

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/06/12/interview-after-dark-films-courtney-solomon-talks-to-cinematic/

Andy says, "At the end of the day, it's Cs for Captivity."