Photo credit: Janet Donovan
“We’re getting ready for the DNC and the RNC conventions,” Robin Bronk, CEO of The Creative Coalition, told Hollywood on the Potomac at a co-hosted event with InterDigital at The National Archives in Washington, DC. “We’ll be doing a big concert event at each one as well as the Congressional Spotlight Awards.” TCC’s Spotlight Awards recognizes individuals and organizations who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Americans and who have exhibited a long-standing commitment to the Arts. “And we’ll be bringing the 51st State of Hollywood to be observers.” That would be DC.
Bronk had just returned from LA with Paul Strauss who is one of the District of Columbia’s two Shadow Senators that lobbies Congress on behalf of the citizens of DC in their attempt “to gain full federal representation, self-determination, and eventually admittance to the Union as the 51st state.”
Robin Bronk
“We are made by history,” Bronk said to guests that included Senators, members of the cabinet, Congressional members, friends and supporters. “It is quite an honor to stand here before you in one of history’s greatest [cribs]. On behalf of The Creative Coalition members here and across the nation, welcome. We are so pleased and honored to be hosting this evening with InterDigital. They are great corporate citizens and great supporters of The Creative Coalition. As the premier non-profit, non-partisan charity of the arts and entertainment community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating, mobilizing, and advocating arts with our members on issues of public policy. We use the power platform of the arts and entertainment communities in public service awards & advocacy campaigns. We do live and are living in a complicated time in history. It is also great to celebrate as we head into the new year with great bi-partisan strides being made in providing arts to America’s school children. And for that, The Creative Coalition could not be happier and we salute and applaud Congress for these strides; so thank you so much. And now, wishing you a wonderful holiday season and to kick it off, please join me in welcoming our co-host of InterDigital, again, a company that is a tremendous champion of the arts and the freedom of expression.”
Friends of TCC
In the presence of a crowd that was interested in the relationship between Hollywood & politics, we had to ask: How is Trump being treated and which celebrities are backing him and why? Most asked to remain ‘off the record’ when commenting for two reasons: He might indeed become the next President and it was a bi-partisan crowd. Then along came Lou Aronson who responded this way: “There’s a lot of money supporting him because he’s speaking to a part of the population that wants to be spoken to. We can all sit here in our ivory towers and our intellectual elitism and think he’s not speaking to people, but he is. He’s speaking to disgruntled voters. He’s speaking to politicians here in Washington. He’s shaking it up. I’m not a supporter, but if you move beyond the message and think about why he’s resonating, why wouldn’t people listen to a guy who would stand up and say anything that appeals to, on some level, the lowest common denominator?”
The more amusing analogy by Lou was this, a kind of Q and A on Trump as a Big Mac: “Have you ever eaten a Big Mac?” “Yes.” “Did you like it?” “I loved it.” “How do you feel after you eat it?” “Terrible.” “Is it good for you? ” “No.” “Do you know it’s bad for you going down?” “Yes.” “You still eat it?” “Yes.” “That’s like Donald Trump. It’s the same thing, it’s just his time for the microphone.” Aronson is a registered Republican.
Steve Hollman
Steve Hollman enlightened Hollywood on the Potomac some insight into political branding: “I’m a trademark lawyer and I write a piece every four years about political branding. In the course of researching my piece for this election cycle, I went to the trademark office records to see whether any of the candidates had sought to trademark their tagline or campaign slogan. Not surprisingly, Donald Trump trademarked his ‘Make America Great Again.’ That’s his tagline. Interestingly though, Donald Trump has a campaign organization, Donald Trump for President, but the tagline wasn’t registered in the name of the campaign organization. It was registered in the name of Donald Trump himself, personally. As a trademark lawyer, I know that if a person registers a trademark and allows a third party, in this case the campaign, to use the mark, there’s usually an arrangement to allow that to be done because the trademark holder, Donald Trump, has to maintain control over the mark and that’s usually done through a license agreement.”
“Normally in the trademark world,” he added, “if there’s a license agreement, there’s a royalty revenue stream. If that’s the case in this situation, then every time someone buys a T-shirt, a hat or a bumper sticker bearing the words ‘Make America Great Again’ Donald Trump personally is getting a royalty on that use. And if that’s true, then Donald Trump stands to be significantly enriched by the campaigns use of his mark. So an interesting question to ask the Trump campaign is: ‘What’s the arrangement in which the campaign is using Donald Trump’s personal registered mark, Make America Great Again?.‘ If there’s a royalty revenue stream to Donald Trump, then he might be enriching himself through the campaign. If not, then every time the campaign is using the mark, that should be a campaign contribution to the campaign from Donald Trump which should be disclosed in his campaign disclosures. So which is it?” Interesting – what do we know…..
Ami Aronson with Mauri Pioppo
On a lighter note, Mauri Pioppo told us: “I’m a jewelry designer and a yoga teacher. I did my first social media piece in ’08. It was a commentary on The Creative Coalition. I did the PSAs. One side of the pendant said, “Save the Date.” It was about flirtation. The other side said, “11-4-08.” It was meant to be non-partisan though. To just have everybody show up, show up for the art, show up for what you believe in was a way to get really, really close to someone. If you get this close, you actually have to have a conversation. It’s about connecting. The only way you can connect is through a conversation. That’s how we connect. For me, the jewelry design was a way to create something that was topical without me being politically representative.”
Elizabeth Shelton and her selfie crowd….
“A lot of members of Congress came out tonight who I think are very influential when it comes to federal policies that affect Hollywood, especially on intellectual property control and protections,” said Hollman who rejoined the conversation. “There’s Bob Goodlatte, Chairman Goodlatte from Virginia who is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He was here tonight as a guest of The Creative Coalition and is a very important member in Congress that oversees all the issues within the Judiciary Committee that acutely affect Hollywood, especially on intellectual property protections, and different laws and regulations affecting the motion picture industry. There was Ed Markey of Mass., former Congressman Peter Deutsch of Florida who was on The Senate Appropriations Committee and Senator Chris Coons of Delaware to name a few.”
“We had members from both parties and both chambers coming tonight which I think is a fantastic sign,” added another guest. “The bipartisan members of Congress who are here tonight are interested in the issues that are important to The Creative Coalition and Hollywood. I think that shows what an important organization The Creative Coalition is in getting their voice heard on the issues important to Hollywood. I think they realize it’s a lot of the sweat equity – the shoe leather work that The Creative Coalition has been doing over the years. Now you have people like Michael J. Fox who has Parkinson’s Disease now relating their stories personally.” How effective do you think that is in Congress?” we asked. “I think it’s very effective when they show up and tell their story. I was with Tim Daly earlier this year; I was in a meeting with him with members of Congress where he told his story about the effects of arts funding on local communities that he was able to see first hand that were very powerful to members of Congress. I think it was very helpful in building that relationship. When they come back and talk about the needs of the arts community for example, there’s some credibility. They’re just not talking about it remotely. They’re actually on the ground. I think that’s so important. The Creative Coalition has really been doing that.”
We’re guessing they own the trademark!
Jannie Lau, General counsel for InterDigital, thanked the crowd for attending: “At a time when our politics can sometime seem so partisan, this is a great occasion to remember what unites us. That includes our appreciation for creativity and ingenuity. Our national heritage of innovation and the arts and our respect for the intellectual property rights that make it all possible. Our country’s founders, through the documents directly behind me here, had the foresight to give artists and inventors the right to protect their creations with copyrights and patents and to give them the incentive to share those creations with others for the betterment of our world. That’s what makes our country the global leader in innovation and creativity and tonight we celebrate that incredible tradition and I’m so proud to be part of an American company that for over four decades, has developed the advanced wireless technologies for our increasingly mobile and inter-connected world. That has always been our dream so we thank you all for helping to make it possible and worthwhile to pursue. With that, let’s get back to enjoying the party.”
