I had an extremely good conversation with the Programming division manager yesterday.
I conveyed grievances regarding the panel and about the outlook on AMV that AX is perceived to have at the public con-gripe session after the awards ceremony. I also later had a one-on-one with her and Michael Underwood (DigitalPanther) at the staff post-con party. There might be (and I hope it's simply just) some big misunderstandings on both our parts.
Regarding music rights for the panels: For C.Y.A. reasons, she wanted the rights waiver to be explicit and in a non-forgeable form. I relayed that the criteria for approval she wanted kept changing, and she needs to be explicit herself with what kind of waiver she wants. Around this point, Michael Underwood (who is a good friend of hers) jumped in and explained it shouldn't be an issue because their ASCAP license should cover the full con,
including panels. Both of them will research it, and if that's the case, then that problem might get fixed. I will continue to follow up on this between now and the next con.
As for the event itself, it's not the music she's worried about with regards to legalities, its the footage. US companies are okay with it (unofficially, of course), Japanese companies
are not, and she confirmed that there were two GOHs that took issue back in the day when winning AMVs were shown at closing ceremonies in view of the GOHs. She's been actively exploring avenues to legitimize it to the point where not only would they be proud to show the contest in front of their GOHs, but the prize could be something career building. She seemed to feel like she had a good angle on how to pursue this, but I forgot exactly what she said.
She seemed mildly insulted with the idea that her department was trying to kill AMV, and explained that that AMV was one of her favorite events when she initially started coming to expo. She doesn't want to kill it, she said she wants to bring it out of the shadows and give it legitimacy.
So, that's what I heard. One can take it at face value, or one can take a wait and see attitude (actions speak louder than words). If she was being honest with me (and I'm convinced she was), there's obviously a disconnect in understanding between programming and the AMV department (James and Katy) leaving them and us to assume the worst about AMV's future.
I think the problem in that area there is that it is intertwined with a very precarious minefield of ugly (and now quite public) con management politics that's still playing out. If you heard about the AX BoD meeting you know what I'm talking about. All I know is that I'm real good friends with people on both camps, and I'm running for the hills before I find myself in the middle of a Braveheart moment.
