VALUES FOR LIFE.

When all else is said and done, what is Audience Alliance about? What is the beginning, the middle and the end; the central idea that governs everything about this media enterprise?

It is this: the storyteller’s art reaches its highest aim when entertainment also becomes a medium of affirmation, the illustration of an idea or value that lifts and ennobles. Such was the essence of parables and story classics such as Aesop’s Fables, and many other ancient story traditions. Therein is the true power of great art, theater, poetry and prose. It is what made movies great in the first place. It is an acceptance of the ‘Capraesque’1 responsibility for what happens to an audience when seated before the big screen for ‘two hours in the dark’ or when experiencing any other medium. Storytelling is an ancient art. It is as new and relevant as today’s latest entertainment medium. It should be neither mindless nor debasing. It should lift and inspire. Every medium can obviously be used in ways that demean and degrade. Bawdiness, irreverence, gratuitous violence, promiscuity and every form of exploitation can be found if sought; there is far too much of dark pessimism and iconoclasm across all forms of media. We have nothing to say about anyone else’s story, production or enterprise but we have the clear and unalterable view that productions made by or distributed by Audience Alliance will have one end: to entertain millions with story and values that inspire the audience to increased hope and optimism.

Values tends to be an overworked word. Values entertainment is most often thought of as family films, films for children, or cheesy ‘message’ films that lack conflict, character and drama, or which oversell various concepts of faith or morality. Though not destructive in the same way as say an ‘R’ or ‘X’ movie, cheesy, value-laden but story-scarce films may unwittingly devalue the power and entertainment value of storytelling in movies by producing a level of cynicism about the medium. To make a great movie there are three things that matter: Story! Story! Story! Values are intrinsic to a great story, they are reflected in the character arc or journey of the lead characters, but they don’t have to be overstated or blatant. In the best movies the values are implicit rather than explicit.

WHICH VALUES?

Which are the values that will hold sway in Audience Alliance productions? In such an eclectic and fast paced world how do the principals of a single enterprise judge by which principles a story should be deemed ‘good’ or ‘best’? In two ways: (1) Part of the creative and business process is an interactive engagement with a diverse audience member base, as the representatives of the wider like-minded audience. Many polls indicate that the mainstream audience believes mainstream movie-makers are out of touch with their values2; whereas, an underlying mantra for Audience Alliance is to trust the audience, serve the audience, and reach the audience. (2) The other factor in the values equation is to define in advance and then adhere to a clear standard on certain issues. We know what we want to happen on our turf. We presume that ultimately the audience will vote with its feet. The audience is the final judge and arbiter. Those who think this approach is important and our productions have merit will be loyal customers and supporters; those who have another view will find other providers.

THE AUDIENCE ALLIANCE VVM

We use a Values & Virtues Matrix (VVM) as an internal guide for identifying and applying appropriate values and virtues to a story. Not every value is listed of course, there are dozens or hundreds, but these few are our ‘line in the sand’. Does this align with what you want to see (or don’t want to see) in the movies you experience? Some reject such values and standards; a few will say, ‘not for me’; that’s fine, what about you? You be the judge.

Ratings Standards

Audience Alliance supports the various film ratings agencies in their efforts to inform parents and others about the content of motion pictures. That said, we do not agree in many cases with the criteria used by those nameless, faceless few, who are entrusted to rate movies for the viewing public. Our empirical research indicates that rating standards are shifting significantly and are generally not a reliable or practical guide for those concerned about their viewing experience. Audience Alliance has tethered itself to a more traditional set of values than most of the international ratings practices, particularly in the avoidance of sexual themes, coarse language, defiant behavior and promiscuity. Using the USA system as one example, Audience Alliance will not make films that could earn an R rating from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). According to the MPAA standard Audience Alliance films will mostly be G or PG, and where a PG-13 rating may be required it will only result from mature themes or intense action, never from language, sexual promiscuity or nudity. Thus, while Audience Alliance films may carry a ratings agency standard they will have been graded in advance, (a) internally to comply with our VVM, and (b) externally through the public scrutiny of our audience. Similar standards will be applied in each country where Audience Alliance films are produced or made available regardless of the practices of local ratings agencies.

Language

Scripts will endeavor to use words and screen language (text and subtext) to the fullest potential. There are many creative ways to portray anger, frustration, disappointment, love, joy, pleasure, and the whole gamut of expressive emotion. Creative writing, acting and directing take the place of vulgarity and profanity. The names of Deity, regardless of context or language, will not be used in a vulgar or profane manner. If used at all such names will be in their proper and reverent context.

Violence

There is opposition in all things, the yin and the yang as it is sometimes known. Conflict is the essence of drama. Conflict may involve violence. It is not the presence or the absence of violence that will govern films from Audience Alliance but the treatment of violence. Sometimes, rarely, violence is required as a defense, it will never be promoted as a first resort or as a final solution. Where essential to the story, acts of violence may occur or be indicated, but the treatment of such will be handled in a way that minimizes or eliminates any on-screen depictions of violence or graphic images that would be out of sync with the VVM or offensive to the broadest possible audience.

Sensuality

Audience Alliance films will not include nudity or sexually suggestive scenes. When love and romance are essential to the story, as they often are, these relationships will be handled with integrity, modesty and chastity.

Behavior & Consequences

Clearly not all circumstances are chosen by individuals: life happens! John Lennon observed in his song, Beautiful Boy, that “life is what happens while you’re making your other plans.” Audience Alliance films will accurately and passionately portray a variety of life’s circumstances. However, stories will resolve in a way that demonstrates that optimistic, morally sound, and lawful choices have their own intrinsic rewards, and that morally questionable and unlawful choices ultimately carry in their wake personal disappointment, sorrow and heartache. The use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco if essential to the story will never be shown in an aspirational way.

Respect for Faith, Heritage, Religion and Culture

We live in a pluralistic world where many valid and competing views vie for attention. Audience Alliance films will not be a platform or soapbox for the political, religious or social agenda of any group. Nor will our films be constrained to require ‘political correctness’. Characters and themes may approach their subject without fear or favor. That said, Audience Alliance stories will be respectful of heritage, tradition, religious, ethnic and cultural sensitivities, reflecting a basic belief in the equality and brotherhood of mankind. We respect the individual’s rights to faith and worship (or the absence of) on their own terms. Where matters of faith and religion are integral to a story, by and large, clergy and religious leaders of every persuasion will be depicted in a positive and affirming light. Virtue, praiseworthiness and reason are to be celebrated whatever the persuasion.

Freedom & Democracy

There are many systems for the government of human affairs on this planet. All of them are flawed in one way or another. Many noble individuals labor in difficult, or unjust, or in some cases — evil — political regimes. Democracy, warts and all, is the only known means of preserving individual rights to life, liberty, property, justice and equality before the law, recognizing the absolute sovereignty of the citizenry. There are many governments that include the word ‘democracy’ or ‘republic’ in their official state name, but which are merely masquerades. Democracy, to be worthy of the name, requires a codified constitution and rule of law which serves everyone equally, not just a privileged few to their own advantage. To the extent that our productions may have any influence anywhere they will unequivocally and actively support the idea of government of the people and by the people through representative democracy.

The Family

We express an affinity with the merits of family as it has been known and defined for thousands of years. Considerately and firmly, Audience Alliance stands with responsible citizens everywhere in promoting and sustaining the family as the fundamental unit of society. Across our diverse and multifaceted society there are many challenging themes and conflicting positions surrounding the idea of family. Audience Alliance is not so much against anything as it is for the merits of the traditional family in the nurturing and raising of children, and as the means of passing from generation to generation those values which are the essence of a sustainable society. We recognize that families are constituted in many ways. Conflict, death, divorce, illness, loss of work and income, and other circumstances force individuals and families to deal with a variety of challenges. Some of the bravest and most compelling stories arise from the way in which families meet such circumstances. As far as portrayal in film is concerned, Audience Alliance films will realistically recognize the diversity of circumstance and opposition that life brings, yet will also tend to resolve toward optimism, hope, and the ideal of the traditional family.

VVM IS A PRACTICAL TOOL

The standards above identify mostly what Audience Alliance films will not contain. We call it the won’t list. That is a beginning, but we can go further. The purpose of the VVM is to provide a refining measure so that stories can be evaluated, lifted and rated according to a rating system that has some solid anchors rather than the shifting sands  of moral relativity. Stories come to us in many ways. We can measure every story concept, book, treatment and screenplay, and elevate it through a disciplined writing and polishing process to a standard defined by the VVM. A VVM rewrite does one or more of the following as needed: (a) endows the lead characters with values, (b) imposes, or more clearly defines, a value theme; and (c) redefines the central dramatic question so that the story and character arcs reflect that value. For example: finding a treasure before the bad guys so the hero can get really rich and buy a fleet of luxury vehicles could be scripted into an entertaining story; finding the treasure before the bad guys, wrestling with the temptation of wealth, choosing instead of greed to save the Indian village on whose land the treasure has been buried and to which their ancient religion has deep ties would allow us to tell the same story but with a heart-rending climax and a redemptive virtue/value embedded. It is not always so simple but it is actually much easier than one may imagine. Finding the potential virtue and value in the way film characters respond to circumstances not only changes the virtue/value rating or ‘VVM quotient’, it makes the characters more complex and usually a lot more interesting. Rather than searching for stories about values and virtues, which confines the search to a limited number of sources, Audience Alliance looks for stories, for the sake of telling a great story, that have all the classic elements that make great motion pictures great. Strong and interesting characters … passionate objects of desire (goals) … impossible obstacles and odds … romantic interest … ticking clock … strong antagonist … high stakes. We then lift the standards with VVM. One of the very practical applications of this approach is that there is virtually no boundary for the range and source of great stories available!

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Regardless of the story, characters, theme, genre or medium of an Audience Alliance production there is one thread that will always be evident. No matter what, hope and optimism will always find a way through, up, out, beyond! Critics may say (have said, do say) that such an approach to film and the art of story is naive. They say that the world is full of unhappy endings, that the real world includes (in no particular order) death, disease, maladies, pestilence, murder, accidents, injury, divorce, betrayal, suicide, famine, disharmony, war, vanity, depression, belligerence, contention, violence, substance abuse, addiction, sabotage, bullying, infertility, poverty, hunger, floods, crop failure, business failure, family failure, homicide, genocide, theft … the list is apparently endless … why not reflect the world as it is? Why be so Pollyanna-ish’? They say, ‘you can’t be part of any solution if you wear rose colored glasses and can’t recognize reality’. They say, ‘people who are hurting and in trouble need storytellers who show they can relate to their pain’. They say, ‘sometimes there isn’t a happy ending’. We say, ‘you can’t find your way out of darkness by looking down, by stopping, by quitting, by not looking up’. We say, ‘the only way through is to believe that there is a way, to never stop, to never give up on hope’. There is always another chapter, the next part of the story. One poignant example, many others may be cited. Does it get any worse than it did in Rwanda? So what made Hotel Rwanda a compelling movie? An unlikely hero … and hope. Was it Pollyanna revisited? No. Did Hotel Rwanda acknowledge evil, abuse and impotence? It did. But was that the end of the story? It was not. There was and is another chapter for every individual and family affected by that disaster which has not ceased. We should lament the tragedy. We must celebrate the ones who found a way despite all. They lend hope to all of those still finding their way, to all of us in every walk of life. Every artist, every producer will make their own choices about which story to tell, and how. That is their prerogative. We have no comment about what they do. We make no pretense of expecting to change the world at large. What we can do, are doing, will continue to do, is to build a body of work that remains true to this approach to story, values and audience. For now, and for the generations ahead that will be served by this Audience Alliance.

AND FINALLY…

Why did we form this company? Well, frankly, unashamedly, it’s a love affair. That’s a value of a slightly different kind than those listed above, sort of. Fact is, we love movies. We love making them. We love the writing. We love the research. We love pre-production, shooting and post-production. We love the deal-making, the worldwide distribution process, including theatrical screenings, DVDs and all the variations of video and television. We love the print books, e-books, audio-books, comics and graphic novels, and all the other media collateral that precedes or accompanies our productions, the flow of ideas from concept to delivery. In fact, we love it so much so that we’ve made sure this outfit can adapt and endure for generations. We are already grooming the next generations of talented creators that are committed to these shared values, free to bring into existence their own movies in a changing world of new media and new methods. Yet, with all the plethora of techno-gadgets and media delivery methods arriving now and destined to continue, we believe that the big screen and those two hours in the dark will still be the pinnacle of the creative world a hundred years from now. We love that too!