The Rally in Support of “The Ministers” – Why It Mattered"Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids." – Aristotle
As many in the Latino entertainment community may already be aware, a rally was held this past Friday, October 16th, 2009 outside of the “Empire 25” AMC theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan. A CNN camera crew was in attendance to cover the rally held to protest AMC Entertainment Inc.’s decision to pull two out of the three originally slated AMC screening locations for the Franc Reyes helmed film “The Ministers” due to poor marketing efforts by the film’s distributor Maya Releasing. This decision by AMC Entertainment left the one lone AMC screen at ” Empire 25” in which to view the film, in addition to one screen at National Amusement Inc.’s “Whitestone Multiplex Cinemas” in the Bronx. The opening weekend grosses for “The Ministers” was a combined total of $2,160 for the two locations (source: www.BoxOfficeMojo.com).
Despite its poor opening weekend tally, the weeks leading up to the film’s release showed it garnering much support online through the social networking site Facebook.com where many had touted the film, its director and its cast. It was through that same networking site, however, that anger and frustration grew regarding AMC’s decision to cut its screening locations by two thirds. As word of the proposed protest at AMC spread on Facebook, many voices were heard both for and against the rally. The chief sentiment of those opposing the rally was that it was the film’s distributor, Maya Releasing, that was to blame and not AMC Entertainment Inc. which, in their opinion, was merely making a sound business decision. Another key point used in opposing the rally was that such a public display of dissent was not productive, espousing instead that the only true way to show AMC the error of their ways was through box office sales. Others voiced the opinion that there was really no reason to make a fuss at all given that “Over-the-top scolding via social media” was no substitute for proper pre-release film marketing. Some even went so far as to say that the film’s violent storyline and poor direction deemed “The Ministers” unworthy of support.
As a participant of the rally myself, I would like to weigh in on the many reasons that I feel the rally was both important – and necessary. To begin, I would like to address the sentiment that the only true way to show support for the film was to purchase tickets. While I wholeheartedly agree that public dissent absolutely needed to be paired with the purchase of a ticket – I very much disagree that purchasing power without dissent was the best way to proceed. It is here that it is most important to point out that the rally was not about driving ticket sales but rather that it was an expression of outrage at AMC’s disregard for the Latino community. More so, and hypothetically speaking, even if it had been about encouraging Latinos to use their purchasing power to send a more appropriate message to AMC– how does the use of an open letter to a limited online social media circle successfully further that agenda? The “call to purchase” fell solely on the ears of those who were able to hear that call; therefore, unless the authors of that open letter had the means to reach the masses to the same extent as that of a CNN camera crew, their proposed approach would be fruitless.
As was previously stated, however, the rally was about AMC’s lack of support for the Latino community. In the face of such perceived inequity it remains my opinion that it is not only wise but recommended to use the most effective means of disseminating your message. In this instance that means was represented by a national network news camera crew, especially given that the network in question was actively catering to Latino audiences with a “Latino in America” documentary special.
To those that say that there was no real reason to protest at all given that it was Maya Releasing’s shortcomings that led to AMC’s decision, or that the director and his chosen genre were not worthy of support because he is not a good filmmaker nor was “The Ministers” a good film - to them I say that it is ALWAYS vital and necessary to stand up on behalf of the Latino community whenever or wherever it is being disregarded, disparaged or denigrated. Whatever additional factors surround that inequity does not matter - once the call is made, the call must be answered.
Those of us that stood outside of the AMC theater on Friday were standing in support of “The Ministers” but even more so we were standing there in support of all films that tell Latino stories with authentic Latino voices that reflect our realities. We were standing up for our right to step up to the plate –win or lose. “The Ministers” screenings - whether AMC understood it at the moment or not - was AMC’s chance to stand by a community that constitutes a significant portion of their yearly revenue stream. It was their opportunity to make a statement of support for niche films that represent a large scale constituency. It was an opportunity to take a chance on a Latino film not because it was a sure thing but because it was the right thing to do – despite the numbers. The fact that they were so easily ready to make a “sound financial decision “at the expense of a possible public outcry shows that they did not, in fact, fear a public outcry. They did not expect to be called to task for failing to choose a community over cash flow. As a business person I understand that philanthropy is not a viable business model. But as a business person I also understand that business is about building relationships, and it’s about give and take. To date theater chains have been happy to take our box office revenue without ever feeling compelled to suffer a loss in exchange for building a relationship in good faith with the Latino community.
Our stand on Friday will have hopefully gone a long way towards showing that we will no longer stand to be disregarded or to go undervalued by the very entities that we help support. While the other issues surrounding “The Ministers” will also need to be addressed, it is on the issue of AMC’s shortsighted disregard for the Latino community that we should be proud to say that we stood up and spoke out where so often we had lain silent. We stood on Friday for our community’s value in terms of representation on screen. We stood, perhaps not in as righteous a way as some would have liked – but we stood. And in standing we have made it a little less easy to so easily dismiss our presence in the future. And to me personally, that is always a stance worth defending.
To keep abreast of any press releases issued by AMC regarding this matter, click here: http://www.investor.amctheatres.com/releases.cfm
