Members of Congress Meet With Bob Iger and Other Hollywood Executives to Discuss Chinese Censorship of US Films

thewrap.com:

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and other industry executives are meeting privately this week with members of Congress to discuss how to respond to China’s strong-arm tactics to stifle and censor filmmakers.Several members of the House Select Committee On the Chinese Communist Party attended two meetings with filmmaker groups Wednesday, and plan to meet Friday with Apple Inc.

CEO Tim Cook.Recently lawmakers placed a provision in a new defense bill that restricts cooperation between the U.S. government and any American film studio that allows the Chinese government to demand edits on a project.The concern about China is not just a matter of big-money international business, but goes right to the core of freedom of expression in the world, Hollywood producer and committee adviser Chris Fenton told TheWrap.

He said Hollywood and congress need to be united in dealing with the communist Chinese government and its efforts to control the industry.“We need to rebalance the playing field, and show a unified front to China,” Fenton told TheWrap. “The only leverage we have is to present ourselves as a unified industry, if we want to get China to compromise on a few issues, which will not be easy.”Fenton said Wednesday’s meetings were private to allow relaxed and honest discussion in the groups, which included committee members, filmmakers, industry executives and college professors knowledgeable about U.S.-China relations.“It was a good start.

We didn’t solve the problem, but we certainly set a path forward to take it to the next level, to have a strategy to address China with unified leverage,” Fenton said.Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wyoming, made the California trip with nine other committee members.