A Right Turn On Hollywood And Vine

Tinseltown Conservatives, Shunned For Years, Are Growing More Assertive

(The Politico)  By The Politico's Helena Andrews.

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Not everybody in Hollywood loves Hillary or thinks that "An Inconvenient Truth" is the only truth. So a growing number of Tinseltown conservatives have launched a counterattack to what they call leftist films like "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Syriana."

"There is no question that there is a movement of people who are trying to make a difference out here," said Jason Apuzzo, co-founder of Liberty Film Festival, which showcases conservative films in Los Angeles. When it comes to politics, he described the modern movie biz as "almost comically" one-sided.

"It's definitely a problem," Andrew Klavan, a novelist, screenwriter and conservative, said of the liberal bent in Hollywood. Klavan is best known for his crime novels like "Don't Say a Word," which became a 2001 movie starring Michael Douglas and Brittany Murphy.

And, although Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised more that $1.3 million in campaign funds over Oscar week, not everyone in Southern California is tattooing "Barack" on their ring finger. (There are plenty of Hollywood types who are just as excited about former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a probable GOP presidential candidate.)

What is new about the politics in Boomtown, according to the industry's major conservative players, is the brand of liberalism being espoused — "a new strain of liberalism that's completely intolerant of other opinions," said Klavan.

"You're safer being a child molester in some circles in Hollywood," screenwriter Cyrus Nowrasteh said about the perils of being right wing in movie business. Nowrasteh wrote the screenplay for the controversial ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11" — "a huge thing for our movement," according to one conservative source.

"I think there are a lot of diverse points of view in Hollywood. You just don't hear them," Nowrasteh continued, sounding annoyed. "I think that most shrill voices here are usually from that side of the aisle."

That side being the left.

George Clooney is a constant target for the right because of films like "Syriana" and "Good Night and Good Luck," which conservatives say push the liberal agenda.

Clooney's production company, Smoke House, did not return calls for comment. His agent, Stan Rosenfield, also wasn't available for comment.

But clearly people are listening to the conservative lilt.

The March issue of Vanity Fair profiled the industry's newest conservative darling, Pat Dollard, the super-agent who once represented director Steven Soderbergh.

Dollard, who admittedly indulged in the Hollywood fast life (i.e. drugs), spent a year in Iraq and is making a pro-war movie called "Young Americans."

And a 7,000-plus-word opus in a recent issue of The New Yorker chronicled the right-leaning tendencies of Fox's hit show "24" and the show's creator, conservative Joel Surnow. (He's also the brains behind the Fox News Channel's fake news show, "The 1/2 Hour News Hour.")

Producer David Zucker's anti-liberal mini-ads have been viewed on YouTube.com millions of times. They lampoon former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and James Baker III, hardly a flaming liberal (though Baker co-chaired the Iraq Study Group, whose report was critical of the U.S. war effort in Iraq). Zucker's mass marketing prowess also brought us "Scary Movie" I through IV.

"It's really urgent that they step forward and take the shots they're going to have to take," Klavan said of mainstream conservatives in the movie industry.

Industry guys like Nowrasteh, Zucker, Dollard and Surnow are valuable to the cause because they work inside the system, Apuzzo said.

But, he added, independent filmmaking is the future for conservatives in Hollywood — a lesson they learned from "Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore's controversial documentary about President Bush's handling of the terrorist attacks.

"A lot of conservatives frankly looked at that and said, 'Well, I can do that,' " Apuzzo said.

"Fahrenheit," which made more than $200 million worldwide, spurred a surge of documentary filmmaking from the right, including Apuzzo's own "Terminal Island," about a terrorist who sneaks into the country via the Los Angeles harbor and goes on to stalk a young woman.

And there's much more where that came from. Apuzzo plans to greatly expand the Liberty Film Festival, which drew an audience of nearly 4,000 in November, although he declined to say how.

"Everybody out here is kind of sick of just complaining about it," Apuzzo said. "You start to want to do something about it."

In the meantime, Hollywood conservatives say the movie establishment continues to turn an icy shoulder to those who would support the likes of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., over any of the Democratic candidates.

Often, the slights are reduced to single words. California conservatives are described as having been "outted" or "exposed."

"You go to meetings in Hollywood and it frequently happens in the first five or 10 minutes that somebody will go off on President Bush," said Klavan, before adding thoughtfully, "and a lot of times these are people on whom you depend for your livelihood."

[lieberman181]

good for these folks - they provide honesty, integrity and patriotism, something so lacking from a wise guy and bully looking Clooney or from the bimbos known as the Dipsy Clucks.

[notblue]

Love your comments lieberman181, we are definitely part of the hated minority here at leftwing central. I almost gave up trying to deal with these defeatists but as long as there are a couple of us who are willing to put forth some alternate opinion to the blame Bush and America crowd then it's worth the effort.

[us_infidel]

good for these folks - they provide honesty, integrity and patriotism, something so lacking
Posted by Lieberman181 at 05:19 PM : Feb 28, 2007

Couldn't agree more! The paleolibs were all about peace and love and free speech......now they are disppointed that Cheney didn't die in the attack, and free speech only applies if you agree with them.

[processor2]

About time.

Far too long, liberals have been trying to suppress the free-speech of conservatives under the cloak of "political correctness"

Liberals may preach "tolerance",,,but if you want to experience real IN-tolerance, all you have to do is disagree with a liberal, and then listen to the hatred spew.

Plowhandle's comment below is proof.

....

[processor2]

About time.

Far too long, liberals have been trying to suppress the free-speech of conservatives under the cloak of "political correctness"

Liberals may preach "tolerance",,,but if you want to experience IN-tolerance, all you have to do is disagree with a liberal, and then listen to the hatred spew.

Plowhandle's comment below is proof.

....

[scott4261]

I understand that the programming on FOX is usually far more liberal than that of its news network. Having said that, I have often thought that 24 was just more right-wing propaganda set to a TV action-drama. And this article has just confirmed that for me.

[neocon04]

People on the left love to talk about free speech, unless someone has a different opinion. Then what you get are replies much like the one left by Plowhandle. I don't hate you Plowhandle, I just don't agree with you. May I suggest when you have a minute to break out a dictionary and look up those two words so you can better understand the difference. Thank you and God Bless.

[processor2]

About time.

Far too long, liberals have been trying to suppress the free-speech of conservatives under the cloak of "political correctness"

Liberals may preach "tolerance",,,but if you want to experience IN-tolerance, all you have to do is disagree with a liberal, and then listen to the hatred spew.

Plowhandle's comment below is proof.

....

[huskerarmy]

Yea Preceptions, You are the poster boy for tolerance. How funny it is that when liberal entertainers speak out, you say "Stay out of politics," but when righties do it you cheer. "...suppress the free-speech of conservatives under the cloak of "political correctness?" The truth is that righties are so spoiled that they label every form of minority representation and all popular rebuke of intolerance as "political correctness." Tyrany by an oppressive majority hardly substitutes for true democracy.

[fredegrar]

I don't know that 'these folks...provide honesty, integrity and patriotism', but as a classical 'paleolib', I support their free-speech rights. I don't quite understand the mechanisms of political correctness. Were these people really muzzled before because they failed to get financial backing for their projects? Aren't conservatives supposed to have deep pockets, or at least friends with deep pockets? Were they just embarrassed to express their views in the face of ridicule from their left-wing peers? If that's the case, why'd they take so long to grow a spine? Is there some hidden cache of right-wing tv shows and movies that never saw the light of day because the 'liberal' media distribution companies refused to bring them to market?

I find it ironic that conservatives are whining about censorship (whatever this informal political correctness form of censorship is) when the 'paleocons' were the undisputed masters of institutionalized censorship themselves. Go ahead and produce your movies and tv shows, by all means! If they offend me, I simply won't watch them. Just do me the same favor.

[processor2]

About time.

Far too long, liberals have been trying to suppress the free-speech of conservatives under the cloak of "political correctness"

Liberals may preach "tolerance",,,but if you want to experience IN-tolerance, all you have to do is disagree with a liberal, and then listen to the hatred spew.

....

[fredegrar]

"all you have to do is disagree with a liberal, and then listen to the hatred spew."
Posted by processor2 at 11:05 AM : Mar 01, 2007
Posted by processor2 at 10:36 AM : Mar 01, 2007
Posted by processor2 at 10:17 AM : Mar 01, 2007

.........

Yeah, some liberals allow their frustration with conservative dogma that they find moronic to boil over into hate. Liberals are just as prone to saying stupid things as members of any other group are. At the same time some other humans are prone to painting large groups of people with a single brush.

[cbgb31]

The Path to 9/11 was a great movie.

[cbgb31]

I have often thought that 24 was just more right-wing propaganda set to a TV action-drama.Posted by Scott4261 at 10:22 AM : Mar 01, 2007

You can change the channel or turn it off if you're offended. You can also use the V chip or whatever it is.

[motherjones-2009]

It's a fact that better educated, intelligent, highly creative people tend to be liberal. So it's no surprise that left-leaning movies and documentaries are so much more clever and entertaining. The right wingers have tried in vain for years to emulate liberal success in this area. They just aren't talented enough to attract a mainstream audience. Rethugs are just going to have to content themselves with Rush, Toby and Reba, and Seventh Heaven reruns.

[j0hnwi11iams]

Path to 9/11 was a shameless attempt to pin 9/11 on Clinton using LIES. Their denial makes them petty and relentless. Bush immediately demoted Richard Clark and postponed meetings on Al Qaeda indefinitely. Bush did NOTHING. You can't get any more negligent than that.

Oh, and ABC / Disney sucks.

[scott4261]

I have often thought that 24 was just more right-wing propaganda set to a TV action-drama.Posted by Scott4261 at 10:22 AM : Mar 01, 2007

You can change the channel or turn it off if you're offended. You can also use the V chip or whatever it is.
Posted by cbgb31 at 12:15 PM
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The Path to 9/11 was a great movie.
Posted by cbgb31 at 12:05 PM
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You're totally unworthy of a name that references one of the greatest punk rock clubs in history. The name of the place that launched the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, etc. would denote that you think outside the box, and you clearly do not.

[cat00012]

Face it conservatives just don't have an imagination unless money is concerned

[bikenazi]

I only registered so I could respond to "Scott4261's" comments.

4261 says, "I have often thought that 24 was just more right-wing propaganda set to a TV action-drama."

If he (?) had read the piece in the New Yorker, he might have discovered that Babs Streisand and Bubba Clinton are both big fans. (I'm not sure whether they watch together.) And the bad guys on "24" are frequently eevil greedy WASP businessman - obviously Republicans! Liberals HAVE to love THAT! (grin)

(Link to "24" article: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070219fa_fact_mayer )

Continuing...

4261 says [apparently to CBGB], "You're totally unworthy of a name that references one of the greatest punk rock clubs in history. The name of the place that launched the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, etc. would denote that you think outside the box, and you clearly do not."

He musta REALLY been incensed, when Johnny Ramone stood behind the mic at the Ramones' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and declared, "God bless President Bush."

And it's ironic that he's rippin' poor CBGB for "not thinking outside the box" (because CBGB suggested he turn off the TV if he doesn't like the show), when the premise of the article is about Hollywood people who "think outside the box." That's rich!
(-;

[scott4261]

bikenazi,

I know Johnny Ramone was a conservative (nobaody's perfect). Joey Ramone certainly was not. Anyway, I don't care. I stand by what I said. 24 is *** and all you Kool-aid drinking fools carrying water for the most worthless president in history are making me ill!