RIP Paramount Decrees - A Legal Breakdown of All The Good, Bad, and Yikes-y - ORC 8/18/20

Mike, Mike, and Oscar

The Paramount Decrees have been reversed in Federal Court, and although some say it’s symbolic or political, others fear it as a harbinger of doom for movie theaters. Luckily for us, we have an attorney present, and Mike1 leads our legal breakdown of what it all means. What Is This Episode? - Top of Show PARAMOUNT DECREES: THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE Original Paramount Case/FTC Case - 3:48 (What is Vertical Integration? - 5:21) (What is BlockBooking? - 6:08) FALLOUT FROM US V. PARAMOUNT ’48 Getting to Court in ’48 - 11:40 SCOTUS Demands Divestiture - 12:20 (Giving Rise to Hollywood’s Star System) Conspiracy! - 16:32 THE 1948 PARAMOUNT/CONSENT DECREES The Now Illegal Practices + Their Necessity - 18:05 PRESENT DAY The Trump Administration Warns Change is Coming - 24:46 (THE MIKES SAY SOMETHING NOT AWFUL ABOUT TRUMP - 25:07) SDNY REPEALS THE PARAMOUNT DECREES Four Principles Why Repealing Was Necessary - 27:59 Reason 1 - 29:14 Reason 4 - 33:04 Innovation and the Potential Future Theatrical Conspiracy Need in 2020 - 35:09 (aka Hinting Where The Danger Lies Ahead) Reason 2 - 41:25 (How The Court Calls Netflix a Benevolent Monster - 46:34) (The Main Argument Against Repeal - 52:45) Reason 3 - 54:52 IMPACT, FALLOUT, AND LOOKING FORWARD Don’t Worry Too Much….Except for This Part - 1:02:15 What Good May Come - 1:03:20 ***THE SECTION YOU CAME FOR*** THE BIG DANGER - 1:07:47 What This Could Change Forever- 1:16:11 Socials/Your Homework - 1:23:35 What’s Next From MMO/Words of Wisdom - 1:24:28 When the news dropped that the Paramount Decrees case was reversed in Federal Court, we got a variety of reactions from the Hollywood media. Some discussed it as symbolic, some thought it political, a few well respected pundits found a lot of silver linings, and a few more called it a harbinger of doom for the industry at large. CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH!??! (I can’t believe I didn’t use that line during this episode. But I’ll use it now because I think you can.) Of course, a history lesson must precede the modern day discussion. So the first 24 minutes relitigates why all of the Golden Age of Hollywood wasn’t so gold, and actually, they were kind of mafioso like in their business practices. But thankfully, M1 explains block booking, preselling, blind bidding, resale price maintenance, unreasonable clearances, circuit dealing, and why the old timey industry was ruled to be a conspiracy and a monopoly to the point where studios had to divest from their ownership in movie theaters. The rest of the episode is a legal breakdown of what just happened & why the 2020 court has reversed these decrees. Mike1 discusses how the industry has evolved, Also Mike explains some of the current relationships between the branches of this business, and then we speculate about what could happen in the distant & not so distant future of the film exhibition business. Yes, some of our talk is apocalyptic, and we try to understand this decision from the POV of indie movie theaters. But we also hail some silver linings as potentially great for the industry. Bottom Line: it’s complicated, and that’s why you get an enormous episode. As always, we want to know what you think & how you feel about these Paramount Decrees & their reversal. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thanks for listening.