In article <jjisus$vit$
3...@news.albasani.net>,
LOL
Basically it's a variation on the old protection racket where thugs
would come by your store and you give them money so they make sure your
windows don't get broken.
You pay the MPAA money - something like $2500 to $25,000 depending on
the budget of your film - in exchange for which nobody pressures
theaters into not showing your film. They also get control over a lot
of aspects of production, like approval of your movie posters and
advertising and everything.
I'm not sure what they charge for appeals, or look again if you've made
changes. But they won't give you a hard list of changes, like 'pull the
third instance of f*ck* or remove the puppy dog from earshot when it's
said' - instead you get some arcane mention of 'too much salty language'
and then you have to cut and guess and resubmit.
I have no idea how the viewings are done these days, if the board gets
together or everybody gets a DVD and chats online or what.
Hmm. Wiki says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_r
ating_system#MPAA_Ratings_Board
"out of all the rating systems across over 30 different countries only
the American system are the members not disclosed by the organization.
Members must sign contracted agreements that they will not disclose any
information about the MPAA to the public."
So it's sort of like the Illuminati or Freemasons too, meeting in secret
to control the world from behind the scenes.