Side by Side
Govenor Newsom's Campaign Ad, Fugitive Uncannily Similar to Roed
Lindsey Cobia, a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Democracy, said in a statement on Saturday that the parallels between the ad and the film were unintentional. “We were not aware of the film, but we applaud it,” Ms. Cobia said. “Our spot was independently derived based on a common trope.”
Sunday, April 21st, 2024
Ana Alarcon, one of the women gathered around Tara's dining room table on the day back in the spring of 2023 when we conceived of the basic concept and premise for what became Roed, forwarded an MSNBC report on Inside with Jen Psaki in which the latest campaign ad for Governor Newsom was debuted. We were shocked when we noted how the Ad is uncannily similar in concept and tone to Roed, which has been available at festivals for viewing since October 2023.
Although we support the serious underlying issues, and stand behind every effort to overturn these draconian laws, we also have an obligation to our team and to all artists to defend our work.
Thursday, April 25th, 2024
We reached out by email to Governor Newsom's Campaign to discuss the issue, asking for public acknowledgement and credit as predating the ad. On that same day, we couriered the same letter, along with a print out of side-by-side comparison of stills from both Roed and the ad.
We are hopeful for a constructive conversation, and will keep you updated.
Saturday, April 27th, 2024
A close friend, Sarah Thorpe, forwarded a New York Times article from the past week about Governor Newsom's latest ad. We also discovered every major news outlet talking about, and releasing the ad. As we hadn't heard from the Campaign yet, we reached out to the New York Times, asking for their help to get the attention of the Campaign, sharing the letter we had written, along with the side-by-side stills of Roed and the ad.
The New York Times did more than that, an article was published that evening about our concerns surronding plagarism of our work. HERE
Although we were hoping for a less agressive headline, it seems the campaign now knows about Roed:
That felt dismissive to us, but we are still looking forward to a constructive dialogue with the campaign. After all, we are all on the same side of this very serious issue.
Below are screen shots comparing the Ad side by side with ROED, demonstrating that even on a shot-by-shot basis virtually the entire Ad is a direct recreation of a portion of our work.
Take a look at the side-by-side stills below, and you decide. If you feel so inclined, reach out to Newsom and share your opinion. Share this site. Share this everywhere.
As we've said, we are very hopeful of having a peaceful and constructive conversation with the campaign, but until such time, we ask your help in making a noise loud enough for them to hear and take artists' original work seriously, and appropriately (and publicly) credit, acknowledge and appreciate Roed.
(Also, please let them know we'd love to talk!)
Thank you,
Tara & Dawn
roedmovie@gmail.com
Contact Governor Gavin Newsom
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Email via: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom
