Gun Control Groups Work with Screenwriters and Producers to go and get their Message Across
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Here is a video that we put together four years ago. Over the years, Hollywood producers and writers have made it clear that they view their job as pushing gun control. We have long collected examples of television show biases on gun control issues. Here are some news articles that discuss gun control groups actively working with Hollywood producers and writers.
Brendan Kelly, press secretary for the Brady Campaign, said the group’s work on Miss Sloane represents a new frontier in its work to influence Hollywood on gun issues.
“Miss Sloane marks another chapter in Brady’s partnership with Hollywood to integrate the realities of gun violence into entertainment,” Kelly said. “We’ve consulted on scripts for powerhouse television shows including The Good Wife and Grey’s Anatomy.”
He said the group considered Miss Sloane a success regardless of how it performs at the box office. “While I’m not qualified to forecast how a film will perform, I can tell you that its production alone, with our input, is the success,” he said. “It’s a big step in this trend we’ve seen with the entertainment industry taking on this topic, whichever side of the debate you’re on. It’s furthering the national conversation we should all be having—that’s the success.” . . .
. . . Last year, the group organized a White House roundtable with actors and writers, including “S.W.A.T.” showrunner Andrew Dettmann.
“I think the thing that really pulled me was when they were talking about the fact that guns had become the number one killer of kids,” Dettmann told CNN during a recent visit to the Sony Pictures set where “S.W.A.T.” is filmed.
While gun policies can be politically polarizing, Dettmann said encouraging the safe storage of firearms shouldn’t be controversial at all.
“This is not part of that larger gun debate,” he said, noting the show’s audience includes individuals across the political spectrum. However, he believes the drama’s approach to depicting guns properly secured is a “common sense” issue that could shape viewer behavior and prevent gun accidents.
“Stow it safely, don’t leave it out in the house, and if they see their favorite characters doing it on a regular basis, maybe that influences them some way.” . . .
. . . a group of about 200 leading producers, directors and writers for movies and TV are pledging to revisit the use of guns in their storytelling, and to incorporate gun safety best practices into their scripts.
The open letter, which was initiated by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has so far been signed by talents including Judd Apatow, Debbie Allen, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Lawrence, Adam McKay, Shonda Rhimes, Mark Ruffalo and Amy Schumer, among many others. . . .
Variety: Do you believe that the entertainment industry can play an important role in helping address the nation’s cultural and political divide?
Gabby Giffords: Stories are important. Elected officials use them to help get their points across, and for centuries artists have used them to inspire, make us understand points of view different than our own and bring people together. Hollywood and the arts are vitally important to helping us through a period of isolation, bitterness and divisiveness.
