The Sony cyber-hack. Just before Thanksgiving, a group calling itself Guardians of Peace paralyzed Sony’s phones and email and threatened they’d release top-secret files. They did. Then threatened 9/11 style attacks on theaters scheduled to air “The Interview.” Theaters pulled out and Sony caved. It won’t release the film. It has raised geo-political and cyber security issues. Concerns about corporate ethics, freedom of speech and the right to privacy. NJTV News Arts Correspondent Maddie Orton spoke with Anchor Mary Alice Williams about its effect on artists and the arts.
When asked if Sony’s response set a dangerous precedent, Orton said, “I think that’s the big concern among Hollywood in general. The idea of if somebody threatens something, are we all automatically going to back out now? With the internet age, it is so easy for that to happen.”
Orton said that the one quote that has been circulating a lot is something that Judd Apatow said to the Los Angeles Times which was, “Are we going to suppress ourselves every time someone posts something online and it’s a dark future?” She said that she thinks that is really the concern — where the line gets drawn.
Orton said that there have been artistic dropouts as well. She said that there was a Steve Carell film called “Pyongyang” in the works that has now been cancelled or held off. She questioned why anyone would want to take a risk.
A Texas theater was going to show “Team America: World Police,” a movie that also features North Korea, instead of “The Interview.” Orton said that they have since announced that they are not going to be doing that, but it is not clear why yet.
“The feeling sort of amongst all Hollywood and a lot of film lovers is that this is not going to stop. We are still going to circulate this somehow and we are not going to be held down by this,” said Orton.
When asked if she thinks this film is going to be released in some way, even if no one makes a dime off of it, Orton said, “I think that a lot of people are speculating that this could now become a massively distributed film even if it’s through different means. They are not planning to put it on video demand or anything like that. But the fact is if it gets out there, there is really an urgency and interest in seeing it.”
More than $45 million was spent in producing “The Interview.” Orton said that one would imagine that is money that Sony can absorb.