This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Kirby Dick

Writers:

Kirby Dick (writer) &
Eddie Schmidt (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 September 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

censorship, uncensored.

Plot:

Kirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board. |

Plot Keywords:

Exposé | Ratings | Censorship | Female Orgasm | Behind The Scenes

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kimberly Peirce	...	Herself - Director of 'Boys Don't Cry'
Jon Lewis	...	Himself - Author of 'Hollywood v. Hardcore'
David Ansen	...	Himself - Film Critic at 'Newsweek'
Martin Garbus	...	Himself - First Amendment Attorney and Filmmakers Representative at Appeals
Wayne Kramer	...	Himself - Director of 'The Cooler'
Paul Dergarabedian	...	Himself - Box Office Analyst
Kevin Smith	...	Himself - Director of 'Clerks' and 'Jersey Girl'
John Waters	...	Himself - Director of 'A Dirty Shame'
Matt Stone	...	Himself - Producer of 'South Park' and 'Team America'
Richard Heffner	...	Himself - Former Rating Board Chairman
Bingham Ray	...	Himself - Co-Founder of October Films
Joel Federman	...	Himself - Author of 'Media Ratings'
Kirby Dick	...	Himself - Filmmaker and Interviewer
Jay Rosenzweig	...	Himself - Private Investigator (as Jay)
Paul Huebl	...	Himself - Private Investigator (as Paul)
Clark Baker	...	Himself - Private Investigator (as Clark)
Becky Altringer	...	Herself - Private Investigator
Cheryl Howell	...	Herself - Private Investigator
Cookie Schwartz	...	Herself - Private Investigator (as Cookie)
Lindsey Howell	...	Herself - Junior Private Investigator
Jay Landers	...	Himself - Former MPAA Rater
Stephen Farber	...	Himself - Former MPAA Rater
Dottie Hamilton	...	Herself - Author of 'Hollywood's Silent Partner (as Dottie Hamilton Phd)
Maria Bello	...	Herself - Actress in 'The Cooler'
Mark Urman	...	Himself - Head of U.S. Theatrical Thinkfilm
Allison Anders	...	Herself - Director of 'Gas - Food - Lodging'
Mary Harron	...	Herself - Director of 'American Psycho'
Jamie Babbit	...	Herself - Director of 'But I'm a Cheerleader'
Joan Graves	...	Herself - Rating Board Chairperson (voice)
Joann Yatabe	...	Herself - Senior Rating Board Member
Darren Aronofsky	...	Himself - Director of 'Requiem for a Dream'
Dr. Theresa Webb	...	Herself - Southern California Prevention Research Center at UCLA
Michael Tucker	...	Himself - Co-Director of 'Gunner Palace'
David L. Robb	...	Himself - Author of 'Operation Hollywood'
Lawrence Lessig	...	Himself - Copyright Attorney and Author
Anthony 'Tony' Hey	...	Himself - Senior Rater
Barry Freeman	...	Himself - MPAA Rater
Arleen Bates	...	Herself - MPAA Rater
Matt Ioakimedes	...	Himself - MPAA Rater
Jane Worden	...	Herself - MPAA Rater
Scott Young	...	Himself - Senior Rater
Howard Fridkin	...	Himself - MPAA Rater
Atom Egoyan	...	Himself - Director of 'Where the Truth lies'
Rachel Blanchard	...	Herself - Actress in 'Where the Truth Lies'
Michael McClellan	...	Himself - Appeals Board Member (as Michael Mcclellan)
James Wall	...	Himself - Appeals Board Clergy Member since 1968
Eddie Schmidt	...	Himself - Interviewer (voice)
Kirsten Johnson	...	Herself - Interviewer (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Javorn Drummond	...	Himself - From Fayetteville N. Carolina (archive footage) (as SPC Javorn Drummond)
Will H. Hays	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eric Johnston	...	Himself - MPAA President for 1945-1963 (archive footage)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself - Member of House Un-American Activities Committee (archive footage)
J. Parnell Thomas	...	Himself - Chairman of House Un-American Activities Committee (archive footage) (as Jay Parnell Thomas)
Jack Valenti	...	Himself - Founder of MPAA Rating System (archive footage)
Tom Brokaw	...	Himself - 1978 TV Newscaster (archive footage) (uncredited)
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself - 1968 TV Newscaster (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ann Curry	...	Herself - 1999 TV Newscaster (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dan Rather	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Kirby Dick

Writing credits
Kirby Dick		(writer) &
Eddie Schmidt		(writer) and
Matt Patterson		(writer)

Produced by
Alison Palmer Bourke	....	executive producer
Nick Fraser	....	executive producer: BBC Storyville
Megan Parlen	....	associate producer
Eddie Schmidt	....	producer
Evan Shapiro	....	executive producer
Jessica Wolfson	....	supervising producer: IFC

Cinematography by
Shana Hagan		(director of photography)
Kirsten Johnson		(director of photography)
Amy Vincent		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Matthew Clarke

Art Department
Rita Valencia	....	illustration: Joan Graves' picture

Sound Department
Doug Ball	....	production sound
Nancy Barker	....	assistant sound editor
Izak Ben-Meir	....	production sound mixer (as Izak Ben-Mier)
Jason Blackburn	....	production sound
Rick Brush	....	production sound
Luciano Dias	....	production sound
Aleksandr Gruzdev	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Alex Gruzdev)
Alder Hampel	....	sound editor (as Alder Hample)
Matt Hedges	....	sound editorial coordinator
Eric Johnson	....	production sound
Jacob Riehle	....	sound editor
John Sember	....	production sound
John Slocum	....	production sound
Frank Smathers	....	supervising sound editor
James Morioka	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Allen Kelly	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ulli Bonnekamp	....	interview camera
Kirby Dick	....	additional Verite camera
Bruce Dorfman	....	interview camera
Volker Gläser	....	interview camera (as Volker Glaser)
Stephen Hudnell	....	interview camera
Gil Kofman	....	additional Verite camera
Amanda Micheli	....	interview camera
Matthew Mylander	....	additional Verite camera
Allan Palmer	....	additional director of photography
Megan Parlen	....	additional Verite camera
Michael Parry	....	interview camera
Eddie Schmidt	....	Verite camera
Ben Wolf	....	interview camera

Animation Department
Bil White	....	animator: Ka-Chew!

Editorial Department
Robert Benedict	....	assistant editor (as Bob Benedict)
Stephanie Hernstadt	....	assistant editor
Allen Kelly	....	colorist: Filmlook
Christine Khalafian	....	associate editor
Mike Roey	....	editorial project supervisor: Keep Me Posted
Simon Veredon	....	high definition on-line editor: Keep Me Posted
Tricia Chiarenza	....	color timer (uncredited)
Matthew Mylander	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Dondi Bastone	....	music supervisor
Zigmund Gron	....	music editor (as Zig Gron)

Other crew
Steven C. Beer	....	additional legal (as Steven Beer)
Lisa Callif	....	production legal
Josh Coonrod	....	production assistant
Cassie Destino	....	additional production assistant
Michael Donaldson	....	production legal
Joanne Dorn	....	production accountant
D.W. Ferranti	....	technical coordinator (as Don Ferranti)
Mark Ferranti	....	field production assistant
Jon-Peter Garzone	....	field production assistant (as JP Garzone)
Barbara Gregson	....	clip clearances: Miller-Gregson Productions
Kevin Hoyer	....	field production assistant
Valerie Jaquith	....	technical consultant
Tara Milch	....	production intern
Nathalie Renard	....	project supervisor: Ka-Chew!
Mike Sobo	....	field production assistant
Marcella Swenson	....	additional production assistant
Donny Tran	....	additional production assistant
Kathryn West	....	office production assistant
Bil White	....	titles

Thanks
Susan Allenback	....	the producers wish to thank (as Susan Allenbach)
Sarah Allen	....	the producers wish to thank
Becky Altringer	....	the producers wish to thank
Allison Anders	....	the producers wish to thank
David Ansen	....	the producers wish to thank
Gregg Araki	....	the producers wish to thank
Roger Arar	....	thanks: IFC
Darren Aronofsky	....	the producers wish to thank
Jamie Babbit	....	the producers wish to thank
Clark Baker	....	the producers wish to thank
Doug Baldwin	....	the producers wish to thank
Randy Barbato	....	the producers wish to thank
Steven Beeman	....	the producers wish to thank
Maria Bello	....	the producers wish to thank
Tom Bernard	....	the producers wish to thank
Andy Biench	....	the producers wish to thank
Rachel Blanchard	....	the producers wish to thank
Dr. Brad Bushman	....	the producers wish to thank
Greg Cantwell	....	the producers wish to thank
Brad Carlson	....	the producers wish to thank
Jennifer Caserta	....	thanks: IFC
Hugh Clarke	....	the producers wish to thank
Meredith Clarke	....	the producers wish to thank
Cathleen Colvin	....	thanks: IFC
Meredith Cooper	....	thanks: IFC
Anna Cordova	....	the producers wish to thank
Michael Cuesta	....	the producers wish to thank
Greg Curtner	....	the producers wish to thank
Dane A. Davis	....	the producers wish to thank (as Dane Davis)
Sharon Davis	....	thanks: IFC
Angela Delabastide	....	thanks: IFC
Dianne Dieli	....	thanks: IFC
Michael Donaldson	....	the producers wish to thank
Christina Donatelli	....	the producers wish to thank
Dody Dorn	....	the producers wish to thank
Lori Keith Douglas	....	the producers wish to thank
Cristina Dowdell	....	thanks: IFC
Atom Egoyan	....	the producers wish to thank
Sophie Evans	....	thanks: IFC
Robert Faber	....	the producers wish to thank
Stephen Farber	....	the producers wish to thank
Joel Federman	....	the producers wish to thank
Jane FitzGerald	....	the producers wish to thank (as Jane Fitzgerald)
Evan Fleischer	....	thanks: IFC
Glen Freyer	....	the producers wish to thank
Chad Gabriel	....	the producers wish to thank
Sheila Galante	....	thanks: IFC
Eddie Gamarra	....	the producers wish to thank
Liz Garbus	....	the producers wish to thank
Martin Garbus	....	the producers wish to thank
Anne Garefino	....	the producers wish to thank
Marcy Gerstein	....	the producers wish to thank
Dawn Girocco	....	the producers wish to thank
Ryan Gooden	....	the producers wish to thank
Elektra Gray	....	thanks: IFC
Jennifer Grega	....	the producers wish to thank
Jill Haag	....	the producers wish to thank
Dotty Hamilton	....	the producers wish to thank
Andrew Hanges	....	the producers wish to thank
Mary Harron	....	the producers wish to thank
Dan Hassid	....	the producers wish to thank
Kevin Hearst	....	the producers wish to thank
Richard Heffner	....	the producers wish to thank
David Heilbroner	....	the producers wish to thank
Susan Heimbeinder	....	the producers wish to thank (as Susan Heimbinder)
Marjorie Heins	....	the producers wish to thank
Nancy Hennings	....	thanks: IFC
Kathryn Himoff	....	the producers wish to thank
Nancy Hirsch	....	the producers wish to thank
Jed Horowitz	....	the producers wish to thank
Cheryl Howell	....	the producers wish to thank
Jennifer Howell	....	the producers wish to thank
Lindsey Howell	....	the producers wish to thank
Dawn Hudson	....	the producers wish to thank
Paul Huebl	....	the producers wish to thank
Dr. Rowell Huesmann	....	the producers wish to thank
Marcus Hu	....	the producers wish to thank
Rachel Kamerman	....	the producers wish to thank
Tim Kelly	....	the producers wish to thank
Robert Kessel	....	the producers wish to thank
Albert Khalafian	....	the producers wish to thank
Mimi Khalafian	....	the producers wish to thank
Yvette Khalafian	....	the producers wish to thank
Sam Kitt	....	the producers wish to thank
Jeremy Klavens	....	the producers wish to thank
Wayne Kramer	....	the producers wish to thank
Kara Krupnick	....	thanks: IFC
Jay Landers	....	the producers wish to thank
David Laub	....	the producers wish to thank
Ron Leone	....	the producers wish to thank
Lawrence Lessig	....	the producers wish to thank
Jon Lewis	....	the producers wish to thank
Blake Leyh	....	the producers wish to thank
Jeff Lipsky	....	the producers wish to thank
M.J. Loheed	....	the producers wish to thank (as MJ Loheed)
Craig Lucas	....	the producers wish to thank
Jennifer MacLean	....	the producers wish to thank (as Jennifer Maclean)
Doug Mankoff	....	the producers wish to thank
Charles Mastropietro	....	the producers wish to thank
Bud Mcdonough	....	thanks: IFC
Michael Mclellan	....	the producers wish to thank
Charlotte Mickie	....	the producers wish to thank
Julie Miller	....	the producers wish to thank
Karen Mock	....	thanks: IFC
Claudine Mulard	....	the producers wish to thank
Bob Myman	....	the producers wish to thank
David Newman	....	the producers wish to thank
Tom Ortenberg	....	the producers wish to thank
Craig Parks	....	thanks: IFC
Lainy Parlen	....	the producers wish to thank
Matt Patterson	....	the producers wish to thank
Kimberly Peirce	....	the producers wish to thank
Lisa Penha	....	thanks: IFC
John Petersen	....	the producers wish to thank
Margaret Petersen	....	the producers wish to thank
Janet Pierson	....	the producers wish to thank
Mark Pogachefski	....	the producers wish to thank (as Mark Pogachefsky)
Gina Prince-Bythewood	....	the producers wish to thank
Bingham Ray	....	the producers wish to thank
Kent Rees	....	thanks: IFC
David L. Robb	....	the producers wish to thank
Andy Robbins	....	the producers wish to thank
Steve Rodhe	....	the producers wish to thank
Howard A. Rodman	....	the producers wish to thank (as Howard Rodman)
Bob Rosen	....	the producers wish to thank
Jay Rosenzweig	....	the producers wish to thank
Amanda Rykoff	....	thanks: IFC
Kevin Sandler	....	the producers wish to thank
Lauren Schalin	....	thanks: IFC
Leon Schmidt	....	the producers wish to thank
Cookie Schwartz	....	the producers wish to thank (as MJ Loheed)
Jonathan Sehring	....	the producers wish to thank
Anthony Seyler	....	the producers wish to thank
Terilyn A. Shropshire	....	the producers wish to thank (as Terilyn Shropshire)
Kevin Smith	....	the producers wish to thank
Nathan Smith	....	the producers wish to thank
Todd Solondz	....	the producers wish to thank
Andrea Sperling	....	the producers wish to thank
Gail Stanley	....	the producers wish to thank
Alexandra Stone	....	the producers wish to thank
Matt Stone	....	the producers wish to thank
Paul Sturtz	....	the producers wish to thank
Joe Swanberg	....	the producers wish to thank
Kris Swanberg	....	the producers wish to thank (as Kris Williams)
Fredda Tourin	....	the producers wish to thank
Shannon Treusch	....	the producers wish to thank
Michael Tucker	....	the producers wish to thank
Mark Urman	....	the producers wish to thank
Rita Valencia	....	the producers wish to thank
George VanBuskirk	....	the producers wish to thank (as George Van Buskirk)
Fred von Lohmann	....	the producers wish to thank (as Fred Von Lohmann)
James Wall	....	the producers wish to thank
John Waters	....	the producers wish to thank
Dr. Theresa Webb	....	the producers wish to thank
William Wheeler	....	thanks: IFC
Nancy Willen	....	the producers wish to thank
Lindsay Williams	....	the producers wish to thank
Laura Wittern-Keller	....	the producers wish to thank (as Laura Wittern-Keller Phd)
Rebecca Yeldham	....	the producers wish to thank
Amy Ziering	....	the producers wish to thank (as Amy Ziering Kofman)

Production Companies

• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (presents) (as IFC)
• NetFlix (in association with) (as Netflix)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (in association with)
• Chain Camera Pictures (as Chain Camera)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (uncredited)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• ICA Films (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Genius Products (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• IFC Films (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO) (2009) (Netherlands) (TV)

Other Companies

• ABC News Video Source  television & news footage courtesy of (as ABC News Videosource)
• AP Images  stills courtesy of
• Ariel Investigations  private investigating
• BBC Motion Gallery  television & news footage courtesy of
• Budget Films  television & news footage courtesy of
• Checkmark  funding
• Danetracks  sound design (as Danetracks Inc.)
• Danetracks  sound editorial by
• District of Columbia Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications  television & news footage courtesy of
• Falco Ink.  publicity (uncredited)
• FilmLook  color correction (as Filmlook)
• Fish Films Footage World  television & news footage courtesy of (as Fish Films)
• Greenberg Traurig  additional legal
• Indiana Historical Society  stills courtesy of
• KABC Los Angeles  television & news footage courtesy of (as ABC 7 Los Angeles)
• KDLD  the producers wish to thank (as Indie 103.1 FM)
• Ka-chew! Productions  titles and animation (as Ka-Chew!)
• Kaercher Campbell & Associates  insurance (as Campbell & Associates Entertainment Insurance Services LLC)
• Keep Me Posted  hi-def online & editorial
• Law Offices of Donaldson & Hart  production legal (as Donaldson & Hart)
• Library of Moving Images  television & news footage courtesy of
• Lyndon Johnson Library  stills courtesy of (as LBJ Library Image Archives)
• Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  the producers wish to thank (as Margaret Herrick Library)
• Miller-Gregson Productions  film clip clearances
• NBC News Archives  television & news footage courtesy of
• NL3 Audio  the producers wish to thank (as NL3)
• Producer's Library Service  television & news footage courtesy of
• Tiger Hotel  the producers wish to thank
• UCLA Film and Television Archive  television & news footage courtesy of (as UCLA Film & Television Library)
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum  stills courtesy of

MPAA:

Rating surrendered; previous version rated NC-17 for some graphic sexual content.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:(Banned) | UK:18 | Singapore:R21 | USA:Unrated (rating surrendered) | Netherlands:16 | USA:NC-17 (rating surrendered) | Argentina:18 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:MA | Greece:K | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Portugal:M/12 | New Zealand:R13

Filming Locations:

Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Independent Film Channel (IFC)

Trivia:

Michael Cuesta, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Terilyn A. Shropshire were also interviewed for this film. Their footage is featured as supplemental material on the DVD.

Quotes:

Greg Goeckner: No, I'm afraid we don't do that.

Movie Connections:

References Clerks. (1994)

Soundtrack:

Don't Cry

Informative, cheeky and funny as hell!

Ever been curious about the American film rating system? Then Kirby Dick's This Film Is Not Yet Rated is perfect. It does to US censorship what Michael Moore has done to others: it makes everyone look like jackasses, mainly because that's what they really are.

The film explains pretty early on, through South Park-style animation, what kind of rating a movie can get in the USA: G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17. The last certificate is the most unpleasant one, as a film with that classification won't get a proper distribution. And it's that particular rating that Dick wants to dissect.

This documentary is divided into three sections: the largest one sees various filmmakers (Kimberly Pierce, John Waters, Kevin Smith) revealing the problems they've experienced because of the American ratings board, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). The second section features the director's efforts to uncover the identities of the film raters. You see, the MPAA is supposedly composed of average American parents, doing a fair job. Then how come no one knows who these people are? As the investigation continues, we learn that one board member doesn't even have kids, while several others' offspring are already adults. So what's really going on?

The last part of This Film Is Not Yet Rated focuses on Dick's own censorship trouble, a really interesting version of the movie-within-a-movie gimmick: he sent a rough cut of the documentary to the MPAA, receiving the dreaded NC-17 (since there's some footage coming from other NC-rated films), and so we get to see his frustration as he tries to appeal the controversial decision.

The best part of the film is the first one I mentioned, mainly because we get to know the rules of the game a bit better. Apparently, any kind of "weird sex" is not welcome: oral sex (Boys Don't Cry), threesomes(The Dreamers, American Psycho), gay stuff (Mysterious Skin, Where The Truth Lies), female masturbation (Jersey Girl, a PG-13 movie, almost got an R just because Liv Tyler talks about it)... the list is quite long. Of course, you're better off if your film is endorsed by a major studio. That's why a glimpse of Maria Bello's pubic hair got independent film The Cooler an NC-17, while Sharon Stone doing much more in the audience-baiting Basic Instinct was "appropriate" enough to receive an R. No wonder most filmmakers hate the MPAA! Hell, we even find out that Trey Parker and Matt Stone deliberately put distasteful material in Team America just to make fun of the ratings board.

Another "funny" thing is, the NC-17 is only used against sex. No one ever says anything about on-screen violence. In fact, any movie can have the highest body count ever, and be rated R. If there's no blood, it might even get a PG-13. As people point out, all other countries have the exact opposite attitude, condemning violence rather than sex (I know, from personal experience, that most films rated NC-17 in the US are usually classified "15" or "16" in Europe, while excessive violence tends to lead to an "18").

As someone wisely says in this hilarious, poignant opus, ratings don't really matter. If it's a film a lot of people want to see, no rating in the world can damage it. If it's a film few people want to see, then no rating in the world will save it. That might be true (although I don't necessarily agree: the huge success of The Passion of the Christ was largely due to the rating controversies), but this movie also made me realize that I would definitely not want to be a member of the MPAA. Their criteria are too weird for normal people to understand.