New Law to Stop Commercial Movie Sites From Listing Actors' Ages

[The Deadman]

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new.../1100-6443916/

A new law designed to protect actors from being forced to reveal their ages online is coming into effect. California governor Jerry Brown has signed the bill, which will require "commercial online entertainment employment providers" to remove the ages of those listed on their sites if requested to do.

As Deadline reports, the new law will apply most prominently to IMDB Pro, the subscriber version of the Amazon-owned movie database which is used extensively by industry professionals.

The bill was pushed by the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, who have argued for some time that listing the ages of actors was discriminatory. In a statement, SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris said: "SAG-AFTRA has been working hard for years to stop the career damage caused by the publication of performers' dates of birth on online subscription websites used for casting like IMDb and StudioSystem.

"Currently, many websites used for casting proactively present birth dates and ages to casting decision makers who often can't avoid seeing this information even if they try. This law will help improve the working lives of all SAG-AFTRA members and aspiring performers."

As Deadline points out, IMDB could technically get around the law by cancelling the pro accounts of those users who ask to have their ages removed, as it does not apply to free sites like standard IMDB.

It is also thought that the law could face a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge from its opponents. In a piece for The Hollywood Reporter, Internet Association's Michael Beckerman argued that the law would prohibit sites from publishing information which was already in the public domain. "Displaying such information isn't a form of discrimination, and internet companies should not be punished for how people use public data," he said.

I have no words for this stupidity. Studios are going to find out the ages of these people regardless when they do the casting.

[snake]

I

What

Huh

F*cking WHAT

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by The Deadman

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new.../1100-6443916/



I have no words for this stupidity. Studios are going to find out the ages of these people regardless when they do the casting.

One would imagine by that point the people would already have the job, rather than not get offered said job because of their actual...not resembled age.

Makes me think of this Amy Schumer skit:

CW: NSFW language

[CyberCubed]

People can just look up their birthdate and do the math.

I guess this is because 35-40 is considered "over the hill" in Hollywood. Nobody wants to cast a woman for a movie aimed at teens.

[snake]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

One would imagine by that point the people would already have the job, rather than not get offered said job because of their actual...not resembled age.

Makes me think of this Amy Schumer skit:

CW: NSFW language

Amy Schumer was never f*ckable so the skit is alreay unfunny

YOU are the problem if you enable her brand of "humor".

Washed up c*nt. Just seeing her face makes me want to punch something.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

So are actors worried that studios knowing their ages will affect what roles they get? If so, why bother IMDb users about information they can access and not the studios for their practices?

Also, Amy Schumer disgusts me.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by snake

Amy Schumer was never f*ckable so the skit is alreay unfunny

YOU are the problem if you enable her brand of "humor".

Washed up c*nt. Just seeing her face makes me want to punch something.

Psyche. I would SMASH Schumer.

[Powder]

With what?

[plastroncafe]

Many MANY of my "some assembly require" attachments.

[snake]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Psyche. I would SMASH Schumer.

With a truck. She's nasty.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by Powder

With what?

My schlong.

Originally Posted by snake

With a truck. She's nasty.

No, dude. That would be a sweet titty ****.

[snake]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

My schlong.



No, dude. That would be a sweet titty ****.

Not with that sharp chin in the way.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Oh, that wit! That classic Amy Schumer wit!

Even the other women are disgusted by her. Look at their faces!

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Holy cheese balls, this thread is not long for this world!

[plastroncafe]

I don't know what you're talking about, that's the perfect answer to that asinine question.
And OB's a good brand.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by snake

Not with that sharp chin in the way.

I'd jizz on it.

[IndigoErth]

(edit: You guys are terrible. lol)

How silly. I realize there can be age discrimination in that industry, esp against women, but who is that even going to protect? Other than people who are not famous yet and then decide to never ever tell anyone their age. Ever. Nor what schools they attended and what years they graduated, etc. As for the existing crop of celebs... you can't erase that from every article and factoid online and magically hide it from Google. Sounds like it would be way easier if casting would just take them at face value, literally.

New Law to Stop Commercial Movie Sites From Listing Actors' Ages

At first I thought "movie sites" was referring to on-location film sets and feared they were trying to get around child labor laws or something. lol

[ProactiveMan]

It’s good to see that politicians have their priorities straight. I certainly can’t think of a more pressing issue than casting agents having access to Tom Cruise’s date of birth. They may start shacking him up with women his own age and that would be beyond the pale.

Sinicism aside, is that a federal law or just California? If it's the latter, what jurisdiction do they have over sites that are possibly hosted elsewhere? Might be a stupid question since Hollywood seems to be able to change the laws of my country to suit them, and we couldn’t be further away if I lived on the moon.