kristin
10-25-2006, 10:33 AM
Movie Makers Accused of Failing to Fulfill Promise to Amputee Children
(October 25, '06, 6:07 Edahn Golan)
In what seems like a cynical PR ploy by the Blood Diamond movie producers, amputee children who participated in the movie are supposed to get prosthetic limbs when the movie opens in the U.S..
Apparently, Warner Brothers and director and producer Edward Zwick promised the children and teenagers who appeared in the movie that they would be fitted with prosthetic limbs as part of their pay for participating in the movie. According to reports, however, they were told that they would only receive their prosthetics once the movie opened. The act is being seen as a publicity stunt by the studio to gain media attention for their “good will.”
Rumors of the ‘agreement’ have been circulating for a couple of months, but it was not until Nkululo Mnisi, a boy who participated in the movie, was interviewed in South Africa that they were confirmed.
The New York Post wrote Monday that when the children asked Warner Brothers after filming concluded about the prosthetics, they were allegedly told, “You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it."
When asked by the newspaper about the report, a studio representative was quoted as replying, "We're working on it." Principle filming in Africa ended a couple of months ago.
The diamond industry is unhappy with the movie makers, whom they repeatedly pleading with to tell filmgoers of efforts by the industry to curb the illicit trade in diamonds. The studio refused and at one point Zwick was quoted as saying that nobody could tell him what to do with his movie.
Movie makers are already presenting themselves as taking the high ground, supposedly pointing to a social injustice that Hollywood is kind enough to address. If however they take advantage of the children in such a cynical manner, that moral ground is no doubt lost.
(October 25, '06, 6:07 Edahn Golan)
In what seems like a cynical PR ploy by the Blood Diamond movie producers, amputee children who participated in the movie are supposed to get prosthetic limbs when the movie opens in the U.S..
Apparently, Warner Brothers and director and producer Edward Zwick promised the children and teenagers who appeared in the movie that they would be fitted with prosthetic limbs as part of their pay for participating in the movie. According to reports, however, they were told that they would only receive their prosthetics once the movie opened. The act is being seen as a publicity stunt by the studio to gain media attention for their “good will.”
Rumors of the ‘agreement’ have been circulating for a couple of months, but it was not until Nkululo Mnisi, a boy who participated in the movie, was interviewed in South Africa that they were confirmed.
The New York Post wrote Monday that when the children asked Warner Brothers after filming concluded about the prosthetics, they were allegedly told, “You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it."
When asked by the newspaper about the report, a studio representative was quoted as replying, "We're working on it." Principle filming in Africa ended a couple of months ago.
The diamond industry is unhappy with the movie makers, whom they repeatedly pleading with to tell filmgoers of efforts by the industry to curb the illicit trade in diamonds. The studio refused and at one point Zwick was quoted as saying that nobody could tell him what to do with his movie.
Movie makers are already presenting themselves as taking the high ground, supposedly pointing to a social injustice that Hollywood is kind enough to address. If however they take advantage of the children in such a cynical manner, that moral ground is no doubt lost.