FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2015

PARK CITY, UTAH – Today at the Sundance Film Festival, CreativeFuture premiered a new animated video trailer called “The Value of Creativity,” which details the cultural and economic benefits of creativity, the harm caused by piracy, and how the creative community can advocate for the rights of creators in today’s digital age.

Producer Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyers Club; Lee Daniels’ The Butler) emphasized the importance of spreading this message: “Piracy may be the most important issue facing our business today. If it continues at this rate, our business will be unsustainable. The creative industries are essential aspects of our culture and our economy. I can’t imagine a world without creativity. The people who create are my heroes.”

CreativeFuture’s Executive Director Ruth Vitale said: “Those who illegally profit from our works would rather have our community be silent. It is imperative that we take part in the conversation about the value of creativity to our culture and economy.”

Joe Pichirallo, Chair, Undergraduate Film & Television, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Kambar Institute, said: “This message will resonate within our creative community and the next generation of creators. It’s important that we all understand what’s at risk.”

Steve Poehlein, Digital Media Practice Executive, HP Enterprise Services, said: “This video very clearly exposes the impact of piracy to the creative filmmaking community and should become a call to action for everyone involved to address this pressing issue.”

After Sundance, the video trailer will play at other film festivals and events throughout the year and be housed at www.CreativeFuture.org. CreativeFuture has partnered with HP for a series of panels and workshops at The Sundance House Presented by HP.

CreativeFuture is a coalition made up of more than 350 companies and organizations – encompassing film, television, music, and book publishing – that promotes the value of creativity, expanded digital access to legitimate content, and the fundamental right of creators to determine how their works are distribute

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For more information contact:
Chris Ortman
CreativeFuture
Chris.ortman@creativefuture.org

Alan Amman
MPRM Communications
aamman@mprm.com