US film industry to campaign against smoking

Washington, May 12 (UNI) The United States' film and television industry has joined the on-going campaign against public health consequences of depicting smoking in the entertainment media.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), announced that they have joined ''Hollywood Unfiltered'', an entertainment industry-led initiative to educate and raise awareness within the industry of the public health consequences of depicting smoking in movies and television.

It is a voluntary effort aimed at educating members of the entertainment industry about how on-screen smoking impacts young people, while encouraging the industry to take action to reduce the glamorisation of smoking in their creative work.

''When we look back 10 years from now, this will be a defining moment,'' said Lisa Paulsen, who as President and CEO of EIF, spearheaded the creation of the coalition, which also includes Picture Quitting, an EIF smoking cessation clinical programme created in partnership with the Motion Picture and Television Fund with support from the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan, the nation's first industry-led comprehensive smoking cessation programme.

''With the leadership of the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and now MPAA and AMPTP, this is truly an industry-wide effort. We have an extraordinary opportunity to harness the creativity and responsibility of this industry to make a very real contribution to public health.'' MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said, ''This is an issue that touches virtually every American on a personal level. Particularly in my generation, each of us has lost loved ones to smoking. So many filmmakers already are bringing their unique creative visions to this challenge, whether it's the fact that you won't find smoking in The Devil Wears Prada or Superman repeatedly blowing out Lois Lane's cigarette in Superman Returns.

''The choice remains wholly with the creators. Our objective is to share the public health information and to encourage filmmakers to do what they do best, which is to be creative, to connect with their audience and to carry on -- each in their own way -- this industry's proud tradition of social responsibility.'' UNI