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American Morning
Tolerance Ads
Aired September 06, 2002 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In the days after 09-11, one of the key questions the White House was asking was whether the U.S. was misunderstood by the Arab world. Well, the administration turned to Hollywood for help, calling together leading luminaries, including Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg's partner, to see what they could come up with. Well now, we can see it, the first public service announcement promoting peace and tolerance, aimed at TV audiences in the Arab world. It was released yesterday.
Here is an English version of the ad, featuring a Moroccan runner and Olympic gold medalist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The world has changed after September 11th. It will never be like it used to be in the past. Animosity, fear and hate between nations, between people, need to be looked over again, because life should not be the way it is now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Will it well received in the Arab world. The ads' executive producer, Kathleen Kennedy, joins us on a very early morning indeed from Los Angeles.
Good to have you with us. Welcome.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY, HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE: Thank you.
ZAHN: How will you be able to gauge the effectiveness of this ad?
KENNEDY: You know, we are not really looking to this ad to really gauge the effectiveness. We are looking to a series of ads that we're hoping to make over the next year, and try get them aired throughout the international community.
ZAHN: And when you look at series of ads, you hope you will be able to produce, what will be the unifying message?
KENNEDY: I think the unifying message is peace and tolerance. I think as events escalate around the world that contribute to a feeling of fear and terrorism, I think it's important that the messages of these ads with peace and tolerance in recognizing the face of terrorism is not the Islamic or Muslim community is important.
ZAHN: Was there any White House involvement in this project? KENNEDY: Karl Rove was instrumental in pulling people together initially. That's where this international committee came from was those discussions. But they have not had any continual involvement in what we are doing and they haven't funded the project.
ZAHN: So there wasn't any specific content they asked for or any specific direction they gave you?
KENNEDY: No, actually the group of us who got together have spent an enormous amount of time doing research and talking to various members of the Arabic commune to try help define what we could create that would in fact be listened to.
ZAHN: And what was it you heard the most from those folks? What kind of feedback did they give you?
KENNEDY: Well, in reality, the youth of the Arab community, and I say that in an international way, not necessarily here, but there is a tremendous amount of hatred. And the process of building bridges to try to overcome a feeling of hatred is something that's going to take a long, long time. It's a process of healing.
ZAHN: And already, you can see how these ads are going to be used. There was a one prominent Middle Eastern scholar who said in yesterday's "New York Times," he expects Al-Jazeera to play this, which is of course is the Arab news network. But to play it is also something just to mock and criticize. You certainly expected that kind of reaction, didn't you?
KENNEDY: Right, I heard those comments. It's interesting, because I think there is little in this particular spot to mock or criticize. I suppose it could be used as a way to mock and criticize the American community. But I think we have to take a small step like this. It's the beginning, and hopefully we can continue, and we can get more of these aired.
ZAHN: I know at one point, Muhammed Ali thought he might get involved in one of these. Is that still on hold? Do you think it will happen?
KENNEDY: It is still on hold. And we continue to have discussions with Muhammed. He had a scheduling conflict, but was very, very interested in what we are doing. And we will continue the process of trying to create something with him.
ZAHN: Just in terms of creativity and productive producer juices you today use on this one, this might be strikingly different than anything else you try to tackle with Mr. Spielberg.
KENNEDY: It has been. It's been quite a challenge, quite a challenge.
ZAHN: We wish you continued luck, and thank you for getting up basically in the middle of the night this morning to tell us a little bit more about this campaign.
KENNEDY: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: Take care, Kathleen Kennedy
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