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SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
He's Not In Kansas Anymore Genial prairie pol Dan Glickman is now Hollywood's leading man in Washington If Central Casting were picking a lobbyist for the film industry to replace the flamboyant Jack Valenti as head of the Motion Picture Association of America, it probably wouldn't have gone to Kansas. But top moguls at Hollywood's seven big film studios wanted a proven politician known for his ability to bring people together. That's how Dan Glickman -- a former Agriculture Secretary and House Democrat from Kansas known more for crafting soybean policy than schmoozing at Spago -- found himself trading quips recently with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Republican National Convention. During a bash on Sept. 2 for Valenti at the Rainbow Room, the Governator teased Glickman that he had large shoes to fill -- but that with big feet like his, there should be no problem. It was only Glickman's second day on the job. Coming on the heels of Valenti's 38-year run, Glickman's leading role will be quite a challenge. A diplomat by nature, he is walking into a nasty crossfire between the movie and tech industries over how much copyright protection will make movies safe from digital piracy. Everyone's digging in. "You have to wake up in the morning and fight a war. There's no compromise," says Alex Yemenidjian, CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM ) Counters Markham Erickson, general counsel for the Net Coalition representing the Internet service providers: "Hollywood's knee-jerk reaction should not be to fight technology but to embrace it." So what's the former farm-state lawmaker doing in this Hollywood shootout? While the down-to-earth Glickman cuts a figure quite different from the suave Valenti, the Wichita native garnered respect for brokering tough issues during nine terms in Congress and as Ag Secretary during the Clinton Administration. Now he'll need to find a middle ground not only with the tech industry but also among the studios. Of the seven, Warner Bros. Entertainment (TWX ), Twentieth Century Fox (FOX ), and Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE ) are owned by cable, satellite, or electronics outfits on the other side of the digital copyright debate. Glickman is up to the heavy lifting, insist his closest fans. "He's more about the steak than the sizzle," says Glickman's son, Jonathan, 35, president of Spyglass Entertainment Group, which made the Rush Hour movies. MICHAEL AND FREDO Still, the Elder Glickman, 59, has a little show-biz streak himself. A film buff, he and his wife, Rhoda, watch as many as 100 movies a year. He and his son have seen The Godfather so often that they often reenact scenes -- with Dan playing Michael Corleone to Jonathan's Fredo. "The movies are a powerful influence on people's lives, as well as on the portrayal of America," he says. "The only thing that keeps that foundation secure is the protection of creative rights." Studio chiefs also appreciate that Glickman's centrist politics can help pave the way in Washington. Countering charges from GOP activist Grover G. Norquist that picking a Democrat is an insult to the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, News Corp. (NWS ) President Peter Chernin says: "We would never hire someone for just one Administration. Who knows who will win over the next 20 years?" Glickman is known as a bipartisan player and has brokered a bagful of contentious food issues. That includes toning down the Clinton Administration's gung ho attempts to export genetically modified foods to meet objections from other nations. Indeed, studio chiefs think Glickman's global relationships will help win stronger copyright protections overseas. The debates Glickman has navigated certainly prepare him for the acrimony of the digital copyright wars. The organization under Valenti, who once likened VCRs to the Boston Strangler, had taken a hard line against the illegal transmission of digital content. Although U.S. broadband speeds are still too slow for convenient movie downloading, the studios want to avoid the devastation the Internet has wreaked on the music industry. So they're pushing legislation to make owners of peer-to-peer networks liable if their systems are used for illegal uploads. On the other side, software and electronics makers insist they support strong copyright protection but say Hollywood's safeguards will choke off innovation. The pending bill, they contend, would gut a landmark 1984 Supreme Court decision that allowed copying devices to be used in ways that don't infringe on copyrights. The inevitable impasses to come will now be Glickman's to break. "Personal relationships are of the utmost importance," says Valenti. Working with Hollywood, Glickman will need all the pals a friendly Kansas pol can muster.  By Catherine Yang in Washington, with Ronald Grover in Los Angeles
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