(2004-10-30) — Just hours after the release of a videotape featuring revered Muslim leader Usama bin Laden lecturing on theology, Democrat presidential hopeful John Forbes Kerry slammed President George Bush for encouraging the outsourcing of such video productions to overseas media companies.
“Here we have the most highly-watched video production of the year and yet, as far as we know, not a single American director, screenwriter, producer, best boy, gaffer or key grip made a single dollar from it,” said Mr. Kerry. “And they didn’t make it here because this administration provides incentives to take this kind of work overseas. When I’m president, we’re going to bring it back home to the USA.”
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, pundits mused about how the new Bin Laden video will affect Michael Moore’s chances for the Best Picture Oscar.
One unnamed industry insider summarized the issue this way: “You’ve got two big stars going head to head-or ballcap to turban, as it were-with films that basically make the same point. America loves Michael Moore, but the Academy loves to see positive portrayals of religion. The Oscar could go either way.”