The MPAA Ratings Panel at American Black Film Festival on June 13, 2019

The American Black Film Festival along with the Motion Picture Association of America hosted a first-of-its-kind panel with the leaders of its ratings program, including the new chair of the Classification and Rating Administration, Kelly McMahon. This is the seventh year the MPAA has supported ABFF.

The “Rate My Movie: A Conversation with the Leaders Behind MPAA’s Ratings” was held Thursday, June 13 from 12:00 p.m. — 1:30 p.m. at Loews Miami Beach Americana Ballroom.

The speakers included:

Kelly McMahon, Chair of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA)
Marilyn Gordon, Chair of the Advertising Administration and Vice-Chairperson of CARA
Yulia Dashevsky, Deputy Chair of the Advertising Administration
Moderator: John Gibson, Vice President, External and Multicultural Affairs, MPAA

The panel speakers talked to filmmakers, producers and other guests of ABFF about what to expect when they wanted to have your movie distributed in theaters and the rating system will want it to be rated. They also talked about his most theaters prefer rated films to unrated ones because it means audiences can know what to expect on the level of content.

Most filmmakers know, the MPAA leaders are the ones who rate films and approve advertising materials for an engaging conversation on all things related to film ratings — the process, the controversies, appealing a rating, and more.

This panel was filled with much need information for filmmakers, producers and screenwriters. For more on the MPAA, visit their website. Also, keep up to dates on news via social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.