Persistence of Vision

Writing in the Washington Times, Andrew Breitbart, co-author, with Mark Ebner, of Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon--The Case Against Celebrity, argues that Hollywood is suffocatingly narrow in the viewpoints and perspectives it will explore in films--and also that success in Hollywood is contingent in part on how closely one conforms ones views to the industry orthodoxy. "Los Angeles is a one-company town. And because of bullying (or what Democrats would call blacklisting or "political discrimination," if the shoe were on the other foot)," he writes, "Hollywood has become a one-party town. History will show this dynamic hurt both the creative and the political processes."

The exception, one astute commenter observes, is Pixar--which actively cultivates intellectual and political diversity, and which has incredibly strong work as a result: "The place is dedicated to creating an amazingly open, accepting, cool, creative workplace. No one is bullied or brow-beaten. That's a big part of why their final products are so darned good."

Breitbart has been closely involved with the American Film Renaissance since its founding in 2003; created to "provide a forum for films and voices often marginalized by the contemporary artistic community," the AFR has been a remarkable force for free expression within the art of film, launching a film festival and venturing into documentary film production.

Indoctrinate U, MPI's funny and incendiary expose of intolerance in American higher education, enjoyed a spectacular world premiere at the 2007 AFR event, earning a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd in Washington, D.C.,'s Kennedy Center.

MPI fellow Ben Lewis has turned his funny and revealing documentary about Communism, jokes, and freedom, Hammer & Tickle, into a book--and it is getting rave reviews.

The Spectator calls it "charming, highly original, elegantly written and valuable piece of cultural history."

The Sunday Times pronounces it "marvelously original."

The New Statesman calls it "wonderful," "marvelous," and "deeply scholarly."

Reviews have also appeared in the Telegraph, the Scotsman, and a host of other blogs and mainstream media outlets.

Check out the book (read an excerpt here), and if you can, see the film, which won Best New Documentary at the 2006 Zurich Film Festival.

The Moving Picture Institute wishes to express our sincere thanks to everyone who has offered their generous support to Indoctrinate U. Over the past sixteen months, your contributions, your interest, and your well wishes have helped MPI in our campaign to bring Evan Coyne Maloney's scorching documentary expose of ideological bias on America's college and university campuses to the widest possible public. It's our pleasure to outline here some of the many achievements your support has made possible for this film.

As you know, our campaign to promote and publicize Indoctrinate U began in the spring of 2007 with a massive marketing effort centered on both traditional and alternative media. On March 19, 2007, Maloney appeared on the Fox News Channel's Hannity's America, where he showed clips from Indoctrinate U and launched a grassroots effort to promote the film. A dedicated website, Indoctrinate-U.com, went live the day of Maloney's Fox appearance; it featured the trailer, advance reviews, and information about upcoming events. Its most innovative feature, however, was a system for allowing visitors to sign up for screenings in their area, along with a map to track sign-ups by geographical location (our sign-up system has since drawn the praise of The Economist, National Review Online, and others who recognize its power to circumvent the closed world of Hollywood).

Three cheers to Elisabeth Hasselbeck for recommending Indoctrinate U--twice!--yesterday.