I don’t know why I thought of thought of this question, since I’m not into filmmaking, but here goes anyway:
How much does it cost, if anything (I think it does cost something), to certify a film with the Motion Picture Association of America? And what does it actually give you, besides the right to show a film in most theaters, a rating, and a certificate with a number that means absolutely nothing?
Most theaters won’t show an unrated film as films without ratings (aside from foreign fare, obviously) usually fall under the category of pornography. (I think I remember reading that you can rate your film X or XXX without the benefit of the MPAA, but if you want anything G through NC-17 you need to submit it to them.) If you make a Disney-esque children’s film and release it as “unrated” it’s going to be a pretty tough sell.
A couple years ago Entertainment Weekly had a sidebar story about this. I’m going from memory but, I think, if the film was 30 minutes or less it only cost $300 to submit it and get an official MPAA rating. Above 30 minutes and the price jumps into the thousands.
If you want to pay $ 1.50 for the privilege this Washington Post article will probably tell you what you want to know.
Rated S, for Secret
A Former Film Rater Breaks the Code of Silence and Tells How 13 People Judge 760 Movies a Year.
Sharon Waxman
Washington Post Staff Writer
April 8, 2001; Page G1
Section: Sunday Arts
Word Count: 2619
Every workday for 4 1/2 years, Jay Landers would climb into his worn 1983 Mazda sedan and drive to his job in a windowless office at a quiet, three-story building in Encino. It was a top-secret assignment. No one, not even close friends and relatives, were to know the details of his work for the Motion Picture Association of America. Jay Landers was a movie rater. Every day he would watch an average of three films, meet with colleagues to discuss the movies’ plots, and write confi
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