Variety is reporting that some Academy members are experiencing problems with their DVD screeners. While some have reported that some discs will play but fail at some point during the playback, others said that the discs won’t even play at all. The fault seems to lie with the DVD players and DVD-R, the recording format in which the screeners are distributed. "Even among players that claim to support DVD-R, there are compatibility problems with about 1% of machines," according to Tom Bracken, Thomson Technicolor’s VP of marketing and communications. The compatibility problems usually affect older players, he said, but some ‘substandard’ newer players are involved as well." Affected members are asked to call a 24-hour helpline at (800) 99-FILMS to request a replacement disc or a VHS tape. To deter piracy, the screeners are tagged with the recipient’s name.
