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Harvey Weinstein
along with
David Boies Regency Boies
Meryl Streep Theodore Olson
invite you
to a New York Special Screening of
A documentary film by
Lee Hirsch
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
6:00pm - Screening
7:45-8:30pm – Cocktails
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52 Street
(between 5th and 6thAvenues)
Directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, BULLY is a
beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge
stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America’s bullying
crisis. BULLY follows five kids and families over the course of a school year. Stories include
two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus.
With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principal’s offices, the
film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.
Runtime is 98 minutes
Meryl Streep
Katy Butler
Katie Couric
Theodore Olson
Kelby Johnson
Georgina Chapman
David & Regency Boies
Lee Hirsch
Martha Stewart
Sami Gayle
Tiffany Hines
Tom Brokaw
Tiki Barber
Christine Adams & Annabelle Gish Archie Panjabi, Jess Cagle
Rebecca Dayan
Max Osterweis
David Siegel, Julie Taymor
Carmen Kass
Angela Martini
Angela Ismailos
Jamie Colby
Michael Stuhlbarg
Paul Brittain
Constance Jablonski
Pepper Binkley
James Newman
Peter Cincotti
Billie Jean King
Mariel Hemingway
Oksana Gedroit
Norman Reedus
Antonio Campos
Harvey Weinstein
Bob Balaban
Joe Zee
Kelby Johnson, Alex Libby, Katy Butler
Katie Couric, Katy Butler, Meryl Strep, Lee Hirsch, Kelby Johnson, Cynthia Lowen
‘Bully’ Doc Families Come East to Get MPAA Rating Changed
By: Roger Friedman / Wednesday, March 21st 2012
Last night Meryl Streep and Tom
Brokaw were among the austere
guests who screened “Bully,” the
infamous Weinstein Company
documentary that the MPAA labeled
with an R rating. Lee Hirsch’s moving
portrait of teen life in contemporary America has started a nationwide movement and
even a petition signing to get it lowered to PG-13. I’ve watched “Bully” twice and still
can’t figure out why it’s gotten an R rating. Except for the “f” word uttered a couple of
times, “Bully” is pretty plain stuff for the average junior high school kid.
But it’s also powerful stuff that must be seen in every junior high school and high school
in the country. The screening at the Paley Center also brought out Katie Couric, Martha
Stewart, Tiki Barber, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and co-hosts David Boies, his
daughter Regency (a 28 year old actress who went to school with Meryl’s daughter
Mamie Gummer) and Ted Olson. You always read how tough Martha Stewart is, but
she was shaken by the film, which deals with teen suicides brought on by excessive
bullying.
But then there are also success stories woven through “Bully.” Two of the kids from the
film–and their families–came to last night’s screening. Since the film was shot– mostly
in Sioux City, Iowa–the Libby family has moved from there to Oklahoma City. The movie
has drawn together several of the families, who’ve bonded over the shared experience.
And it’s the families that make “Bully” so exceptional. What makes it frightening is the
cluelessness of the educators and law enforcement people who are shown. Their
indifference to sadistic bullying and intolerance is truly alarming. Director Hirsch got
access to the Sioux City schools because they claimed to have a stellar anti-bullying
program. It turned out their middle school was completely out of control. A wonderful kid
named Alex Libby was in so much danger that the filmmakers finally had to intercede
and show the principal their footage. Now I’m told the Sioux City schoolboard doesn’t
want the movie shown in their town. Ha! A lot of people who were caught on camera
should be ashamed of their behavior.
But it’s not just Sioux City, or rural areas. One guest last night with a lot of political clout
locally told us after the screening that her kid is having a bad time in his school. This is
in a very well to do New York suburb. The school professionals have been just as
negligent (although frankly, the assistant principal in Sioux City seems particularly
inept). “Bully” has a universal theme of preaching tolerance. It can’t be avoided.
Some of the families didn’t come last night. One father in the movie is incredibly brave.
Kirk Smalley’s 11 year old son (with his wife Laura) committed suicide because of
bullying at his school in Perkins, Oklahoma. Kirk Smalley, to assuage his grief, starts a
grass roots group called Stand for the Silent. Suddenly he’s on the road, trying to save
other kids because, he says, “my son will always be 11 years old.” Let me tell you–in
the audience last night were sophisticated New Yorkers from JP Morgan Chase, Gucci,
and other sponsors. They were in tears. This man is a hero. (Frankly, all the parents
involved are quite amazing.)
You can read all about the film at www.thebullyproject.com, and sign the petition to get
the MPAA rating lowered to PG-13. Otherwise, as David Boies and Ted Olson intimated
last night, they’re going to file a lawsuit. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. More
on Meryl and “Bully” in my next post.
Kirk Smalley’s website: http://www.standforthesilent.org/
also: http://movies.eventful.com/competitions/bully2012
Julie Taymor Has a Bonest to Pick With the MPAA
By: Peggy Truong / Wednesday, March 21 2012
Harvey Weinstein and Julie Taymor have locked horns in the past — most notably when
they fought during the postproduction process of Taymor's film Frida — but last night at
the premiere of the Weinsteins' controversial documentary Bully, Taymor showed up
and argued on behalf of Harvey's current crusade against the MPAA, which slapped
Bully with a restrictive R-rating. "I think it’s ridiculous," Taymor told us, sharing her own
run-ins with the ratings organization. "In Across the Universe we had to fuzz out one
nipple, and how is that going to endanger anybody? The irony! I think that the MPAA is
completely on the wrong end of things. It’s okay to have violence, but you can’t have
love? You can’t have a woman’s body, which represents the mother? I find it appalling
what is allowed and what isn’t allowed." Especially in the age of premium cable
sexposition, she added: "Look, if you turn on television and you turn on HBO, there’s no
censorship. So how come television, which is right there in people’s houses, is much
more free?" The time has come for a revamp of what the ratings system means, said
Taymor, suggesting, "You can warn [audiences] but not make it restrictive, meaning that
you can put an R on the movie, but let people come and let them make up their minds
on whether they want to see it or not. Don’t disallow people to see it because then, yes,
the kids will sneak in — or it will put a scarlet letter on the movie, which I think is wrong."
Prop 8 Attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson Threaten Legal
Action Over the MPAA’sst‘Bully’ Rating
By: Gregg Kilday / Wednesday, March 21 2012
The men are the latest to criticize the organization for assigning the Weinstein
Co.'s documentary "Bully" an "R" rating.
David Boies and Ted Olson, the lead attorneys in the successful legal challenge to the
constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, have raised the threat of taking the MPAA
to court over the "R" rating that the Classification and Ratings Administration has given
to the documentary Bully. They are the latest voices to join the growing chorus
criticizing the rating on the movie, which The Weinstein Co. plans to release March 30.
Bully became a lightning rod for controversy last month after The Weinstein Co.
disputed the MPAA's assignation of the "R" rating. Company president Harvey
Weinstein insisted that children under 17 should be allowed access to watch the film's
chronicle of teenage bullying, but the MPAA refused to change the rating even after a
personal appeal from Weinstein himself.
Speaking Tuesday night at The Paley Center for Media in New York at a screening cohosted by Meryl Streep and tennis legend Billie Jean King, Boies said: “How
ridiculous and unfair and damaging it is to have a film of this power and importance that
is being censored by a rating system that has got simply no rational basis. You can kill
kids, you can maim them, you can torture them and still get a PG-13 rating, but if they
say a couple of bad words, you blame them.” Raising the possibility of taking the MPAA
to court, he added, “ I hope, for heaven's sake, that they find some rational basis before
we have to sue them to revise the rating system."
Olson, who served as President George W. Bush's solicitor general, said, "It's
important that everyone in America see Bully to talk about it, but in particular, the young
people. So Dave was right, this is an irrational decision, and I've heard it defended as
‘[The MPAA] really can't do anything about it because if we make an exception here,
they'll be all sorts of people lined up wanting to have exceptions made with respect to
their movies.’ What a reason for not doing something. So they better shape up, or here
we come."
The evening also included appearances by Martha Stewart, former New York Giants
great Tiki Barber, Mariel Hemingway, Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.
SUNDAY SNAPS
Last Night’s Parties
st
By: Yumi Matsuo / Wednesday, March 21 2012
NY Special Screening of Bully presented by The Weinstein Company and JP
Morgan Chase & Co, with Bing and Gucci
Where: The Paley Center For Media
Who was there: Guests included Meryl Streep, Alanna Stang, Martha Stewart, Katie
Couric, Mingus Reedus, Norman Reedus, Lee Hirsch, Harvey Weinstein, Tiki Barber,
Traci Lynn Johnson, Bob Balaban, Angela Martini, Elliot Goldenthal, Julie Taymor, Sami
Gayle, Constance Jablonski, Georgina Chapman, Angela Ismailos, David Boies,
Theodore Olson, Lady Booth, Jamie Colby, Antonio Campos, Pepper Binkley, Michael
Stuhlbarg, Voula Duval, Kelby Johnson, Katy Butler, Archie Panjabi, Cynthia Lowen,
Kate Snow, Billie Jean King, James Newman, Oksana Gedroit, Peter Cincotti, Joe Zee,
Carmen Kaas, Paul Brittain, Meredith Ostrom, Max Osterweis, and Mariel Hemingway.
Other details:
Frank DiGiacomo (@frankdigiacomo) tweeted:
Meryl Streep hosting "Bully" screening tonight. If anyone can get MPAA to rethink its R
rating, the Iron Lady can!
Martha Stewart
Meryl Streep
Sami Gayle
Angela Martini
Georgina Chapman
Paul Brittain
Tiffany Hines
Tiki Barber, Traci Lynn Johnson
Kelby Johnson, Tom Brokaw, Alex Libby, Katy Butler
Meryl Streep st& Norman Reedus: ‘Bully’ Screening!
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Meryl Streep arrives at the Bully screening on Tuesday (March 20) at The Paley Center
for Media in NYC.
The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus, who brought along his son Mingus, also
came out to support Lee Hirsch‘s new documentary.
Thousands have signed an online petition urging the Motion Picture Association of
America to change its R rating so that students are able to watch it.
“Kids want to see this movie, and they have to see this movie,” producer Harvey
Weinstein told the Washington Post. “If they see it, it makes the concept of a bully
uncool.”
FYI: The screening was sponsored by Bing and JP Morgan Chase & Co.
‘Bully’ gets legal support
nd
By: Ian Mohr / Thursday, March 22
2012
Harvey Weinstein has pulled out the big guns in a fight with the MPAA over its
giving Lee Hirsch’s anti-bullying documentary an R rating. Lawyer David Boies, former
Solicitor General Ted Olson and Oscar winner Meryl Streep hosted a Paley Center
screening of “Bully” on Tuesday, at which Boies and Olson mulled legal action against
the MPAA, which gave the movie an R because of language. “You can kill kids . . . You
can torture them and still get a PG-13,” Boies said. “But if they say a couple of bad
words, you blame them.” He added he hopes the MPAA finds “some rational basis” for
its ratings, “before we have to sue them to revise the system.” Olson added, “They
better shape up, or here we come.” Also there were Billie Jean King, Tom
Brokaw and Katie Couric. The MPAA said, “There is a misconception about the R [for]
this film . . . Many other R-rated movies on important topics, such as ‘Schindler’s List,’
have been screened in schools and viewed by children accompanied by their parents.”
Meryl Streep, at screening of ‘Bully,’ hears about daughter
Mamie Gummer standing ndup for victims
By: Frank DiGiacomo / Thursday, March 22
2012
MERYL STREEP learned something new about her daughter Tuesday. At a special
screening of “Bully” that the Oscar winner hosted at the Paley Center for Media, actress
Regency Boies recalled the times her classmate, Streep’s daughter Mamie Gummer,
came to the aid of fellow students who were being tormented. “I saw her on more than a
few occasions come to the rescue of some of our classmates that were being ridiculed
when none of the rest of us were brave enough to confront them,” Boies said, adding
that she knew Gummer’s actions were a product of “the integrity and the kindness that
Meryl instilled.” After listening to Boies remarks, an emotional Streep said it was the first
time she’d heard this and needed a moment “to recover, because that’s just so great to
hear.” Other guests called “Bully” great, adding that they could not understand why the
MPAA would give such a powerful documentary an R rating.
Rated Argh!
By: Michelle Ruiz / Thursday, March 22nd 2012
Harvey Weinstein’s been on the warpath ever since “Bully” got slapped with an R rating.
Weinstein is frustrated that ‘Bully’ is adults-only while ‘Hunger’ is PG-13
Harvey Weinstein’s buzzed-about “Bully” documentary is picking on a much bigger
movie, “The Hunger Games.”
The Oscar-winning producer slammed the sci-fi saga while lobbying the Motion Picture
Association of America to downgrade the R rating “Bully” received to PG-13 last week,
saying of “Hunger,” “10 teenagers get killed … and it’s rated PG-13.”
The games raged on at a screening hosted by Weinstein, Meryl Streep and JPMorgan
Chase at New York’s Paley Center for Media on Tuesday night.
“Harvey was quite right to mention ‘Hunger Games,’ which I’m sure is a great movie, but
in that movie multiple teenagers die on camera and are brutally murdered,” director Lee
Hirsch told guests including Katie Couric and Billie Jean King. “It’s completely
hypocritical.”
The film has made unlikely friends of Weinstein and 13-year-old “Bully” star Alex Libby,
who is shown enduring daily physical abuse at his Sioux City, Iowa, middle school in the
film. Libby, who didn’t know who Weinstein was before the movie, accompanied him to
the association’s hearing last week.
“He was literally in tears because he said I was so amazing. He called me his hero,”
Libby told Flash.
Libby is no longer being bullied at his new school in Oklahoma, saying: “I’ll never go
back to normal life, that’s for sure.
“Teachers, students, they all love me … they’re not really used to having a movie star at
their school.”
Meryl Streep and Katiend Couric Support ‘Bully’
By: Nigel Smith / Thursday, March 22
2012
Meryl Streep (pictured above) hosted a NY special screening of the acclaimed
documentary "Bully," along with David Boies and Theodore Olson on March 20. The
event, held at The Paley Center for Media, and presented by The Weinstain Company
and JP Morgan Chase & Co, in partnership with Bing and Gucci, attracted the likes of
Katie Couric and director Lee Hirsch (both above), as well as Tom Brokaw. Following
the screening there was a Q&A with Hirsch and students from the film.
Meryl Streep Admits ShendWas Bullied in School
By: Roger Friedman / Thursday, March 22
2012
Meryl Streep has three Oscars and is considered the best of all American actresses.
But she was bulled in school. She talked about it on Monday night after she was
introduced by actress Regency Boies at the Weinstein Company screeening of “Bully”
at the Paley Center in New York. The screening was part of the campaign to get the
MPAA to change the “Bully” rating from R to PG-13 before the film opens next Friday in
New York and Los Angeles. Here’s what she said:
“I watched this with my four college roommates. We get together every year. A child
psychologist, a woman who’s a lawyer, a columnist, and a businesswoman–we were all
stunned. It brought me back to New Jersey in nineteen fifty…–a long time ago. I was
eight year old and up a tree. And my nemesis, this one bully, was hitting my legs with a
stick until they bled. It was very ‘Lord of the Flies’
. It was a very nice Republican community, I might add. [Ed note--Meryl said this a with
a smile, knowing a lot of the audience were bankers from similar towns. The remark got
laughs.] Seeing this, you realize it’s been around, bullying. But I hope this film will give
encouragement to the kids who are being bullied. My dad had a little statue on his desk
of three little monkeys, a carved Chinese statuette– doing this, this and this. [She
demonstrated See No Evil, Say No Evil, Hear No Evil]. I thought maybe this will
encourage all those little monkeys to stand up and open their eyes and take the
earbuds out of their ears and say something. Because a team is stronger than a bully. I
hope you really like it, and tell absolutely everybody at the MPAA that it should have a
rating of PG-13.”
Meryl Streep Hosted an Advanced Screening of Bully
By: Ben Weitzenkorn / Thursday, March 22nd 2012
On Tuesday night Meryl Streep hosted an advanced screening of Lee Hirsch’s new
documentary, Bully, at the Paley Center for Media. Bully is a film that follows the lives of
six families and children for whom taunting, teasing and violence has been an unlivable
problem. Celebrity anti-bullying advocates sounded off on the MPAA’s controversial R
rating for the film, how the film resonated with their own experiences and how Dhuran
Ravi’s conviction of a hate crime, in the death of Tyler Clementi, is raising questions
about the line between youthful pranks and serious criminal acts
“I was really upset when I saw it,” Ms. Streep said of Bully. “When I watched it, it
brought me back to New Jersey in ninteen fifty. . .—a long time ago. I was eight years
old and up a tree and a group of kids was below me and my nemisis, this one bully, was
hitting my legs with a stick until they bled,” she said. “It was very lord of the flies—a very
nice Republican community.”
We’re not touching that last one.
Although Martha Stewart can’t recall being bullied—she was “pretty big and strong and
certainly didn’t bully anybody—” she attended the screening because bullying is a
phenomena that needs to be publicized and addressed.
Billie Jean King, like Meryl—but unlike Martha—also remembers being bullied.
“I’d be going home and he’d stop me and start just making me feel really scared, and
obviously, being gay was really difficult.”
Ms. King told Velvet Roper that she’d hid her sexuality for a long time until finally being
outed in her thirties—the decision to publicly identify as a lesbian—or not—had been
taken away from her.
“People called me a slut and called me a horrible person and then I could tell who my
real friends were though,” Ms. King said. “You start to learn about yourself and about
the world, the way it really works.”
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Julie Taymor said, when asked what she thought about Bully’‘s R
rating. But this isn’t the first time the MPAA has caught Ms. Taymor’s ire. “On Across
the Universe we had to fuzz out one nipple of the character Lucy, how is that going to
endanger anybody?” she mused. “And also in Titus, I had to fight for an R rating
because there was a little bit of nudity. I think that the MPAA is completely on the wrong
end of things. It’s okay to have violence but you can’t have love . . ? I find it appalling
what is allowed and what isn’t allowed.”
As far as Mr. Ravi is concerned, Ms. Taymor, is uncertain how he should be treated.
“I don’t know about the sentence for him,” she said. “I don’t know whether it was a hate
crime or whether it was really just being mean and nasty . . . It is terrible, but is he a
murderer? I don’t think that was his intention and there’s plenty of hate crimes where
that is the intention. Bullying yes, it probably was bullying.”
Ms. King agrees. without a precedent, it’s unclear how this case should be treated.
“I think it’s probably a little bit of an overreaction but I think it brought the subject matter
to the forefront, which is good,” she said. “He didn’t kill him. I’m not sure what the
sentence should be exactly . . . He’s young too and you hope he can change. I hate it
when I see a young child make a huge mistake and not have a chance to change.”
Mr. Hirsch, described Mr. Clementi’s death as “a total tragedy,” adding that he’s spent
the last three years reading about suicides all over this country that don’t make national
headlines.
“Each one is so upsetting and many of them don’t receive [that] kind of attention, but for
me, because it’s the work that I do, I’m engaged with so many of these families and it
just always breaks my heart.” Mr. Hirsch said. “His death, of course, was a heartbreak.
Any death like that is so sad.”
Mr. Hirsch said that despite the tough topics he tackles in his work, the reward
outweighs the hardship.
“I get a lot of energy from the people that write us and tell us that we’re making a
difference for them,” he said. “I’m probably on a huge deep well of adrenaline and just
feeling like this is the moment and I’ve just got to push as hard as I can and keep trying
to make that difference. I’m tired but I’m also energized all the time.”
Ms. Taymor said she believes strongly in hate crime legislation and believes it should
be extended to cover transgendered and gay persons as well as women.
“I think what goes on everywhere all over the world with the bullying that women go
through with honor killings and rape,” she said. “. . . With what’s gone on in the Middle
East and Africa, as well as the United States with how women are constantly bullied.
But I think we take it for granted. We just say, ‘Oh, that’s private, it’s in the home,’ but I
don’t think that, so I hope it just explodes into talking about women. They’re bullied and
they’re abused and they’re frightened and that’s a hate crime because men do it
because they can and because women are considered less, less than human.”
Before the film began, Regency Boies told a story about her time in high school with Ms.
Streep’s duaghter, Mamie.
“I saw her, on more than a few occasions, come to the rescue of some of our
classmates that were being ridiculed, when none of the rest of us were brave enough to
defend them,” Ms. Boies said. “I know that it is the integrity and the kindness that you
instilled in Mamie that is bringing you here today and thank God we have your voice.”
When Ms. Streep heard this she was almost moved to tears, covering her mouth with
her hands.
“I didn’t know that story about Mamie, she said as she introduced the film. “Now I have
to recover because that’s just so great to hear. You never know what they’re doing at
school.”
The crowd laughed and Ms. Streep added one more sentiment.
“A team is stronger than a bully . . . Tell absolutely everyone that it (Bully) should have
the MPAA rating of PG-13 . . . or PG.”
Harvey Weinstein Will Release BullyUnrated
Teenhood is not for sissies. Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen's documentary Bully opens
with the dead-eyed gaze of a man, a father, talking about the suicide of his son, a victim
of bullying. As if ripped from the proverbial front pages, the movie resonates with public
awareness of this mean-spirited practice akin to the Rutgers webcam privacy violation
that resulted in one young man's suicide and another's conviction for a crime.
Bully comes with its own baggage: the M.P.A.A. "R" rating for six instances of the "f"
word that will result in a censoring of the film from the population that most needs to see
it, school-agers. No matter that the offense as heard in some footage aboard a school
bus is the voice of a nasty, potty-mouthed boy deploying a threat to a girl that he will "f"
her in the most vicious, unconscionable way. Did the board actually watch the movie?
This rating is a lame, knee-jerk response. And it is not just for kids. Grownups, parents
and school officials need extra doses of this movie, which features one of the most
obtuse vice principals ever witnessed, claiming the school bus riders are "angels."
Harvey Weinstein pointed out an irony: the country's top movie, the fantasy world
survival story,Hunger Games, has a PG-13 rating while showing teens killing teens. In
any case, as of this writing, Harvey Weinstein has decided to release the film with no
rating.
Introducing the special Paley Center screening of the documentary last week -sponsored by JP Morgan Chase, Bing, and Gucci, and with gift wrapped Georgetown
Cupcakes -- Meryl Streep said she was not aware that her daughter, actress Mamie
Gummer, had stood up to a bully targeting a middle school classmate. Parents
especially should be commended for teaching values of kindness and compassion to
their children, a point made dramatically in Bully.
The quiet triumphs of bullying survivors are also observed -- and applauded. The movie
resonated for Nyack mayor Jen White who had to move her son to another school.
Mariel Hemingway, Bob Balaban, Georgina Chapman, Tom Brokaw, and Katie Couric
were among the parents attending this event along with the film's stars: a taunted young
man, Alex Libby, and an openly gay teen, Kelby Johnson, along with their courageous
parents who had to take matters in their own hands, relocating families and learning to
empower themselves and their children. Lanky Alex Libby especially hates being
thought a nerd. In the film, he offers a funny, healthy aside on noting the variety of girls
despite his troubles, and is now self-possessed enough to give an admiring reporter a
big hug.
The ethical and moral issues of Bully are part of our zeitgeist. When asked how she was
doing,Spiderman director Julie Taymor said, "Hey, I'm in a lawsuit. It's a lot like
bullying."
The Daily Fashion
Review
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Fashion Designer And Actress Georgina Chapman At The Film Screening For Bully,
March 2012
Sami Gayle Is Understated For The Bully Film Screening, March 2012
'Bully' NY Screening
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Meryl Streep, Martha Stewart and other stars attend the "Bully" screening in New York
City.
Meryl Streep
Cynthia Lowen
Constance Jablonski
Martha Stewart
Norman Reedus & son Mingus
Kelby Johnson
Katy Butler
Angela Martini
Carmen Kass
Sami Gayle
Katie Couric
Katie Couric
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Journalist and author Katie Couric arrives for a screening of "Bully" at The Paley Center
for Media in New York March 20, 2012.
Meryl Streep st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Actress Meryl Streep arrives for a screening of the film "Bully" at The Paley Center for
Media in New York March 20, 2012.
David Boies, Ted Olson Speak Out Against MPAA Rating of
Bully
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Tonight at The Paley Center for Media legal powerhouses
David Boies and Ted Olson spoke out against the
MPAA's R rating of the documentary film BULLY, at a
special screening. In front of a high-profile audience
including cohost Meryl Streep and activist Billie Jean
King, Boies stated, "How ridiculous and unfair and
damaging it is to have a film of this power and importance
that is being censored by a rating system that has got
simply no rational basis. You can kill kids, you can maim
them, you can torture them and still get a PG13 rating, but
if they say a couple of bad words you blame them. I hope,
for heaven's sake, that they find some rational basis
before we have to sue them to revise the rating system."
Olson, who served as President George W. Bush's
Solicitor General, followed Boies in agreement and stated,
"Young people can be tough on one another but young
people are also extraordinarily compassionate. And when they see the damage that is
done to their Brothers and Sisters, they will speak out. They will decide to be
courageous and say, 'Don't do that,' or come to the defense of someone who's being
picked on. That's why it's important that everyone in America see BULLY to talk about it,
but in particular, the young people. So Dave was right, this is an irrational decision, and
I've heard it defended as '[The MPAA] really can't do anything about it because if we
make an exception here, they'll be all sorts of people lined up wanting to have
exceptions made with respect to their movies.' What a reason for not doing something.
So they better shape up, or here we come."
The evening included appearances by Martha Stewart, Tiki Barber, Mariel
Hemingway, Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, and others. Attendees came to show their
support for the film, which is being distributed by The Weinstein Company, and
congratulate the film's award winning director, Lee Hirsch, and producer, Cynthia
Lowen, as well as cast member Kelby Johnson and activist Katy Butler, who started the
petition to change the rating on Change.org which now has almost half a million
signatures: http://www.change.org/petitions/mpaa-dont-let-the-bullies-win-give-bully-apg-13-instead-of-an-r-rating?utm_medium=email&utm_source=action_alert
About "BULLY": Directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee
Hirsch, BULLY is a cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with
huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America's
bullying crisis. BULLY follows five kids and families over the course of a school year.
Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the
fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her
school bus. With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals'
offices, the film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children. As
teachers, administrators, kids and parents struggle to find answers, BULLY examines
the dire consequences of bullying through the testimony of strong and courageous
youth. Through the power of their stories, the film aims to be a catalyst for change in the
way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children and society as a whole.
Martha Stewart
attends the 'Bully' screening
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Martha Stewart attends the 'Bully' screening at The Paley Center for Media on March
20, 2012 in New York City.
Carmen Kassst attends the 'Bully' screening
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Carmen Kass attends the 'Bully' screening at The Paley Center for Media on March 20,
2012 in New York City.
‘Bully’ Documentary Controversy: Stars Speak Out Against
The MPAA’s ‘R’ Rating
Katie Couric Reveals Family Bully Victim
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Katie Couric joined other celebrities last night for a screening of the new documentary
Bully and disclosed that a member of her own family was subjected to severe bullying.
"I know my sister was bullied when she was younger and it was really, really upsetting
to our whole family," Couric told ET while attending a special Bully screening -- hosted
by Academy Award winner Meryl Streep -- at the Paley Center for Media in New York.
The longtime journalist said that although she personally was too young to remember
specific instances of her sister's bullying, the experience is still part of family
discussions. "My mom... we still talk about what you do when a whole group of girls
gangs up on you. And sometimes talking about it or going to the authorities makes it
even worse."
Bully -- set for limited release beginning next Friday March 30 -- explores the difficulties
faced by bullied kids and reveals the sometimes endangered lives of the youngsters,
who come from a variety of geographic, racial and economic backgrounds.
"I really applaud the filmmaker who is documenting real cases of bullying because I
think you need to hear the personal stories to bring it home -- and sometimes it's too
late," Couric said.
Watch the video to also hear director Lee Hirsch talk about the outpouring of celebrity
support for the film, as well as our interviews with domestic diva Martha Stewart and
The Good Wife's Archie Panjabi.
Celebs show support forst ‘Bully’ documentary
By: Julie Gordon / Wednesday, March 21 2012
Meryl Streep attends the 'Bully' screening at The Paley Center for Media.
There's a whole lot of celebrity support behind the documentary "Bully" - stars and the
film community have been pushing the MPAA to lower the rating from R to PG-13 so
that those affected by bullying can actually view the movie in classrooms and theaters.
And on Tuesday night, the Weinstein Company's Harvey Weinstein hosted a starstudded screening of Lee Hirsch's documentary, followed by a cocktail party, at
Manhattan's Paley Center for Media. Among those in attendance were Meryl Streep,
Martha Stewart, Tiki Barber, Sami Gayle and Weinstein's wife, Marchesa designer
Georgina Chapman.
The film hits theaters March 30.
Meryl Streep, Katie Couric & Martha Stewart: “Bully”
Premiere Supporters
st
Wednesday, March 21 2012
Big stars came out last night to support a very important cause… bullying.
Tuesday night’s (March 20) Weinstein Company screening of “Bully,“ sponsored by
Bing and Gucci, brought out legendary actress Meryl Streep, who helped to introduce
the film in front of a room of VIPs (and even some of the characters we meet in the
film), at NYC’s Paley Center for Media.
Newscasters Tom Brokow and Katie Couric, as well as Martha Stewart, Tiki
Barber and Harvey Weinstein himself — were all in attendance.
“Kids want to see this movie, and they have to see this movie,” producer Harvey
Weinstein told the Washington Post. “If they see it, it makes the concept of a bully
uncool.”
Well said, Harv! Everyone go see “Bully” in select theaters, starting next week! Spread
the message that bullying can stopped by just ONE person. Will you be that person?
Meryl Streep hosts a screening
of ‘Bully’
nd
By: Shaina Moskowitz / Thursday, March 22
2012
The Weinstein Company and JP Morgan Chase & Co in partnership
with Bing and Gucci hosted a special screening of Bully on Tuesday evening. Hosts
David Boies, Theodore Olson and Meryl Streep, with BULLY filmmaker Lee Hirsch,
Regency Boies, Harvey Weinstein and from the film Alex Libby and parents Jackie &
Philip, Kelby Johnson and mom Londa, Katy Butler and dad Mike with additional guests
Bob Balaban, Tiki Barber, Pepper Binkley, Tom Brokaw, Paul Brittain, Antonio Campos,
JC Chandor, Georgina Chapman, Peter Cincotti, Jamie Colby, Katie Couric,
Rebecca Dayan, Voula Duval, Sami Gayle, Mariel Hemingway, Tiffany Hines,
Angela Ismailos, Constance Jablonski, Carmen Kaas, Billie Jean King, Kevin Manno,
Angela Martini, James Newman, Britne Oldford, Max Osterweis, Meredith Ostrom,
Archie Panjabi, Norman Reedus, Martha Stewart, Michael Stuhlbarg, Julie Taymor were
all in attendance.
The event took place at The Paley Center for Media. Directed by Sundance and
Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, BULLY is a beautifully cinematic,
character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue
whose stories each represent a different facet of America’s bullying crisis. BULLY
follows five kids and families over the course of a school year. Stories include two
families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-yearold daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an
intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principal’s offices, the film
offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.
Following the screening there was a Q+A with director Lee Hirsch, students from the
film Alex Libby (and his parents Jackie & Phillip), Kelby Johnson (and her mom Londa)
and Katy Butler, the student who launched a campaign to overturn the MPAA rating of R
for the film by starting a petition that has garnered almost 450,000 signatures so far.
Georgetown Cupcakes custom packaged individual cupcakes for guests to take home
with the BULLY logo pin fastened to the boxes.
Runtime is 98 minutes
The film will be released in theaters on March 30th 2012
Tiki Barber attends Special
Screening of ‘Bully’
nd
Shaina Moskowitz / Thursday, March 22
2012
Tiki Barber was on the scene at a special New York screening of the documentary
'Bully' at The Paley Center for Media. The evening was presented by The Weinstein
Company and JP Morgan Chase & Co, in partnership with Bing and Gucci. Bully follows
five kids and families over the course of a school year. Stories include two families who
have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter
who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate
glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principal’s offices, the film offers insight
into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.
The film will be released in theaters on March 30th 2012
Katie Couric
reveals family bully victim
rd
Friday, March 23 2012
Katie Couric joined other celebrities last night for a screening of the new documentary
Bully and disclosed that a member of her own family was subjected to severe bullying. "I
know my sister was bullied when she was younger and it was really, really upsetting to
our whole family," Couric told ET while attending a special Bully screening -- hosted by
Academy Award winner Meryl Streep -- at the Paley Center for Media in New York.
Stars Rally to Support Bully
March 27, 2012
Harvey Weinstein Will Release Bully Unrated
Teenhood is not for sissies.Lee
Hirsch and Cynthia
Lowen’s documentary Bullyopens with the
dead-eyed gaze of a man, a father, talking
about the suicide of his son, a victim of
bullying. As if ripped from the proverbial front
pages, the movie resonates with public
awareness of this mean-spirited practice akin
to the Rutgers webcam privacy violation that
resulted in one young man’s suicide and
another’s conviction for a crime. Bully comes
with its own baggage: the M.P.A.A. “R” rating
for six instances of the “f” word that will result
in a censoring of the film from the population
that most needs to see it, school-agers. No
matter that the offense as heard in some
footage aboard a school bus is the voice of a
nasty, potty-mouthed boy deploying a threat
to a girl that he will “f” her in the most vicious,
unconscionable way. Did the board actually
watch the movie? This rating is a lame, knee
jerk response. And it is not just for kids.
Grownups, parents and school officials need
extra doses of this movie which features one
of the most obtuse vice principals ever
witnessed, claiming the school bus riders are “angels.” Harvey Weinsteinpointed out an
irony: the country’s top movie, the fantasy world survival story, Hunger Games, has a
PG-13 rating while showing teens killing teens. In any case, as of this writing, Harvey
Weinstein has decided to release the film with no rating.