(related links)

Movie Theater Captioning

To refer others to this page, please use:
http://www.nad.org/movietheatercaptioning

Ever since the silent films succumbed to “talkies,” or film with sound, the deaf and hard of hearing community has been excluded from the movie-going experience. With the advent of new technologies that provide access to movie theatres, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has become very involved in efforts to ensure that the companies properly develop this technology and that it is made available at movie theatres in every community throughout the country.

Coalition for Movie Captioning

The NAD conducts all movie captioning advocacy through the Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC), which has developed the CMC Position Statement outlining its expectations for movie captioning in America. The CMC demands that captions (closed or open) must be available on the day and date of release of new movies. It is not enough to just have captions; the movie theatres must also follow certain professional standards for readability, such as appropriate color, font, size, and background.

Lawsuits

Several class action lawsuits have taken place within the last decade, which have set precedent for movie captioning suits in other parts of the country. The NAD, through the CMC, has been actively involved in the lawsuits by providing testimony, encouraging the community to provide feedback, and studying different angles in which it can prompt movie theatres to provide maximum access.

Legislation

The NAD has worked with the Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC), to support legislation creating an incentive for movie studios and theaters to caption movies and install movie captioning technology by providing a substantial tax break. The movie captioning amendment, proposed by Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota, was included in the Senate JOBS Act, which passed the Senate in May 2004. Senator Dayton's amendment would give a tax credit of 50% to both movie studios and theaters for making captioned movies available, retroactive to January 2004. Unfortunately the amendment was not included when the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill.  The NAD is working to get the House of Representative to pass the movie captioning amendment.

(back to top)

NAD Advocacy:
Movie Captioning Main Page
CMC Position Paper
Movie Captioning Update
Coalition for Movie Captioning
Movie Captioning Technologies
Movie Captioning Timeline

Movie Captioning News:
• Status of Movie Captioning 2002
• Let's Go Read the Movies, Coalition Says
• Lack of Captioned Movies Decried by National Coalition
• Focus on Movie Access
• Captions in the Movie Theaters
•  Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) Announces Restructuring
•  CMC Inaugural Theater Watch
•  Captions in the Movie Theaters
•  Focus on Movie Access

New Jersey Takes Action for Movie Captions
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community Wants To Be Involved in Lawsuit
•  Coalition for Movie Captioning Applauds Increased Access in New Jersey
•  Movie Theater Accessibility Press Packet
•  CMC Drops Request to Intervene in Movie Lawsuit

Washington Metropolitan Area Lawsuit
• Notice of Proposed Settlement in DC Case Against AMC and Loews Theaters
•  Coalition for Movie Captioning Points to Gaps in Proposed Settlement

Take Action:
• Support the Dayton Amendment