Gail Grant, CEO of IPAF, is the author of our final blog for 2010. We’ll be back again early next year!
As I sat down to write the last blog post for the year, for inspiration, I had a look over all the posts and comments we’ve had in the 3 months or so since we began. I also thought about what we hoped to achieve when we had the idea of starting a blog.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a blogger… or haven’t been before now. Why? No particular reason except I felt, personally, that I either couldn’t be as humorous or effectively ranting as some of the more interesting blogs I’ve seen & read. So I just enjoyed reading and, in some cases, considering the different points of view from others.
It was in the context of the “Accidental Pirate” campaign that we realised a blog – and Twitter – offer the perfect opportunity to introduce individual members working in film & TV as well as engage Australians in discussion and debate on the issue of content theft – or piracy. So here we are. IPAF is about education and awareness. What better way to meet people and learn about the real and very human aspirations within the Australian Film and TV industry than through people’s own words.
And, if I do say so myself, I think we’ve made a good start. Looking at some of the highlights from the last few months we’ve introduced readers to people from all areas of this multi-faceted industry…
- Aspiring students
- Product development and promotions workers
- Managing Directors and industry bodies
- Producers, directors, writers, and reviewers
We’ve also invited and welcomed those with a very different perspective on the issue to join our blog and make their point of view. I want to extend a very sincere thank you to Geordie Guy for writing his blog a few weeks ago. I believe this issue needs broad discussion and an increased level of awareness from all view points.
It is through this open debate and increased conversation that we believe we will reach a consensus on why film and TV piracy is just not the right thing to do. I think Robert Lewis in his blog on December the 8th said it best. He said, “We are part of a society. The way we behave sets the tone for that society. It comes down to personal responsibility of deciding what’s right and wrong. And you decide this by looking at the consequences of your actions and being honest about them.”
I’m taking a break over the next couple of weeks as are the people who help me so we won’t be blogging for a while. We’ll be back in early January and we want to hear from more and more people about their attitudes, actions and opinions on this issue. In the meantime, from me and all at IPAF, we wish everyone very happy, healthy and safe Holidays and all the very best for a truly Happy New Year!
Why are you trying to act as though you speak for the industry? Those stats you publish are more than misleading. If you say that 1 in 3 Australians are pirates then how did you come up with 53% in your previous blog.
Shame on you. SHAME!!!!
Actually, the statistics are that 53% of Australians pirate, and as we mentioned in our blog, 34% (or 1 in 3) Australians are ‘ACCIDENTAL PIRATES’. The research revealed that a third of Australians – 34% – said they see piracy as stealing or theft but they regularly do it by burning, buying or downloading illegal or unauthorized copies of films or TV programs. In other words 1 in 3 Australians participate in something that they don’t agree with. To describe this disconnection between people’s actions and beliefs, we coined the phrase ‘Accidental Pirate’.