Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller reflects on a recent expat wisdom seminar he hosted in Latin America, which faced unexpected challenges due to overbooking. Originally planned for 24 attendees, the event ended up with 28 participants, leading to logistical issues. Despite this, the seminar was a success, with attendees forming meaningful connections and gaining insights into expat life. Johnny highlights the unique experiences and discussions that arose from the group's shared interests and the diverse topics they explored, ranging from personal safety to global political issues. He also notes that some attendees decided to stay in the region permanently, while others are planning to move soon. The seminar not only provided practical advice but also sparked new business ideas among participants.
The podcast segment then shifts to a discussion about the challenges expats face when starting a business in Latin America. Johnny emphasizes the abundance of business ideas and the low startup costs, but also highlights the importance of getting 'boots on the ground' and moving away from the tourist trail to truly innovate. He mentions the limitations of the tourist trail, where expats often repeat what others have already done. The segment transitions to a discussion about technology, specifically a smartphone app that translates text in real-time, which helps overcome language barriers. Johnny shares a humorous anecdote about using paper napkins as a sanitary measure in bathrooms, illustrating the practical challenges and adaptations expats must make.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the limitations of relying on translation apps and electronic translators for learning Spanish. He argues that these tools can become a crutch, preventing true language acquisition. He also critiques expats and gringos who work in bilingual schools, noting that they often don't learn proper Spanish because they're expected to speak only English. Johnny further touches on the broader topic of expat life in Latin America, acknowledging that some people expect a sanitized or idealized version of reality, but he insists on delivering the 'real truth' about the experiences of expats and gringos. He also addresses criticism from those who accuse him of exploiting Latin Americans, suggesting that the real issue is about power dynamics and who benefits from these relationships.
The episode also covers the prevalence of piracy in Latin America, particularly in the context of pirated media such as music, movies, and software. Johnny highlights how pirated goods are so common that they have effectively eliminated the retail market for legal copies. He notes that even places like Walmart and Costco rarely carry music or DVD sections, and that pirated media is widely available at gas stations and other informal locations for very low prices. Johnny also touches on the impact of piracy on businesses like Blockbuster, which eventually went bankrupt due to the widespread availability of pirated content. He contrasts the pirated media culture with the more formal and expensive cinema experiences in Latin America, where first-run movies are shown in Cineplexes with subtitles and dubbed versions for different audiences. Finally, he mentions the lack of originality in Hollywood, using the example of the remake of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' as a critique.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the prevalence of pirated DVDs in Latin America, explaining how they are sold on the streets, how the legal system handles piracy, and how expats navigate this situation. He highlights the lack of enforcement, the ease with which pirated goods circulate, and the informal methods used by vendors to maintain customer satisfaction. He also shares insights from expat Eddie, who describes his experience with pirated DVDs and how he learned to identify high-quality pirated copies by looking for the label 'screener' or the letters 'SCR'.
Finally, Johnny discusses the Academy Awards and the process of sending screeners to Academy members. These screeners are special DVDs with watermarks identifying the Academy member who received them. He explains that these DVDs are often pirated and widely distributed in Latin America, even in places like banks and buses. He mentions that the watermarks on these DVDs should make it possible to trace the original owner, but he also notes that some Academy members might not have the money to afford the movies, leading to the DVDs being shared or sold. He then shares an anecdote about a pirated screener of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' that showed a watermark identifying Ellen DeGeneres as the original owner, suggesting she might have shared it with someone in need of extra cash, like a housekeeper.
Topics
Expat life in Latin America, Challenges of organizing expat seminars, Social bonding among expats, Discussion of global political and social issues, Business ideas from expat experiences, Starting a business in Latin America, Language barriers and technology, Adaptations and challenges for expats, Language learning, Power dynamics between gringos and locals, Criticism of expat stereotypes, Piracy in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:43 Overbooking and Logistical Challenges 00:01:36 The Value of Shared Experiences and Discussions 00:03:26 Long-Term Decisions and Community Impact 00:04:31 The Challenge of Starting a Business in Latin America 00:04:51 The Importance of Getting 'Boots on the Ground' 00:09:35 The Limitations of Translation Apps and Language Learning 00:10:15 The Impact of Bilingual Schools on Spanish Proficiency 00:11:38 The Failure of Charity-Based Approaches to Expat Life 00:14:01 Pirated Media in Latin America 00:15:52 Impact of Piracy on Blockbuster 00:16:58 Cinema Experiences in Latin America 00:18:34 Pirated DVDs in Latin America 00:18:37 Piracy and Expats 00:18:40 Pirated DVDs on the Streets 00:18:47 Inevitability of Piracy 00:18:53 Piracy and Family 00:18:57 Cost and Usage of Pirated DVDs 00:19:02 Pirated DVDs as a Social Phenomenon 00:19:05 Full Disclosure on Piracy 00:23:36 Introduction to Academy Awards Screeners 00:23:54 What Makes Screeners Different from Regular DVDs 00:24:37 Piracy and Distribution of Screeners in Latin America 00:26:49 A Watermark Appears on a Pirated Screener
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play And now as I wander Hello there all you expat wannabes, I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to The Expat Files, living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live, work, play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good, the bad, the ugly and the great And it's all right here so let's get started Well I'm back on the air again after missing two shows Due to the craziness that always happens When I hold an expat wisdom seminar down here in Latin America In fact with the one that just ended a few days ago I was kind of stretched to the limit since we were unintentionally overbooked at the last minute
[00:48] As you might know I only allowed 24 people on the seminar This time I had 28 How'd that happen? Well about three weeks before the event when I got down to the last two or three seats When I mentioned that on the show Suddenly a number of people dove in all at the same time And I couldn't arbitrarily eliminate people that had paid already So I just pulled the whole thing off the website so no one else could get in And decided I'd just have to work it out Which meant that at one of our boutique hotels which only held 24 people Yours truly and part of the expat wisdom team stayed at another nearby hotel that night So guess who was chopped liver that night? Hmmm So anyway last week I had 28 people drinking out of the fire hose again And they got to see and hear things that well They'd just never get to see coming down on their own exploring
[01:34] Or even hooking up with a travel agency Yep they saw the good, the bad, the ugly, and the great It's not enough to say you had to be there You had to be with this particular group of people In fact as one of our attendees pointed out He said that back home He had maybe one or possibly two like-minded friends In his whole social circle that he could actually discuss this kind of stuff with Without getting a glassy-eyed deer in the headlight looks Because after all up in the states anyway You're better off talking about sports and the Kardashians The dumber the subject is safer the topic, right? So basically we had 28 very intelligent like-minded people Running around in the third world off the tourist track all bonding together In ways that for some would certainly make for lifelong friendships So you might ask with these folks
[02:20] What subjects came up when they weren't drinking from the expat wisdom fire hose? Well anything and everything From naturopathic medicine to colloidal silver To personal safety and water filtration and Organic farming, the labor market IT and internet services Healthcare, schooling, and the usual suspects Like the intrusion of Big Brother The abusive agencies like the TSA The IRS, the NSA The Federal Reserve, the debasement of the currency Obamacare derivatives and all those first world tipping points that are ready to flip You know the stuff that intelligent like-minded people know and discuss all the time The problem is of course how do you find people like that? Let me tell you when you get 28 of those kind of folks in a room Including us and the expat wisdom team
[03:06] The sparks and the ideas really fly So half the fun and half the enjoyment of the whole seminar is Meeting those like-minded people and hanging with them So was it a success? Well judging from the laughs and the smiles and the wide-eyed amazement I know for a fact that no one went home disappointed And a fact is some of the people never did go home They're still here That happens all the time by the way And a few actually aren't going back at all How do you like that? And most of the rest they're making their plans So sooner than later they can get away too So they can watch the world collapse The first world that is From a safe distance Oh yeah and one more thing Here's another thing I kept hearing over and over again from the attendees Who were by the way Coming up with so many brand new expat business ideas
[03:52] And I just couldn't keep track of them anymore Anyway people kept repeating to me over and over That they never would have come up with those ideas in a million years Had they not experienced boots on the ground off the tourist trail And I gotta tell you that every time we sat down for lunch or dinner Someone would sneak over to me and say Johnny I've got this great business idea And then he or she would lay it on me Always followed by Promise you won't tell anyone okay? And of course my answer always was Only if you cut me in for 20% No just kidding You can trust me my lips are sealed I've got my own notebooks filled with business ideas that I'm never going to use And that's just what will happen to you Once you've been down here a while Like expat Eddie always says The hardest thing about it is not starting the business itself
[04:38] But deciding between all those great business ideas That pop into your head And since start up costs are so cheap down here A lot of expats don't end up with just one business They end up with multiple ones And that's why I always say I don't care what kind of business ideas you've got percolating in your brain up in Cleveland You have to get your boots on the ground off the tourist trail To really ignite those little flashes of brilliance And every single person in my seminar group now knows that for a fact And by the way when you're on the tourist trail like in Costa Rica or Panama Or Cozumel or Cancun or Playa del Carmen Or any place a cruise ship lands All you're going to see is what other gringos and expats did a long time ago to make their fortunes And though here and there you can scratch out a business or buy a business out from another gringo
[05:26] When you're on the tourist trail like that your gringo advantage is long gone Okay enough said about that Oh and for all you guys and gals who couldn't come to this seminar And I know there were plenty of you who tried to get in at the last minute and couldn't Anyway if you're wondering if I'm going to put on another one soon Well we'll just have to wait and see because there's a number of factors involved Including the fact that your good old big brother up there is making it harder and harder for you to leave the states But I don't have to tell you that Oh and by the way if you're interested We had people this time at the seminar who were born in five different countries And one lady born in Puerto Rico So these get togethers always have a nice international flavor to them And somehow for every seminar I've had so far A lone Canadian manages to slip in eh? Now getting off the topic of the seminar
[06:14] Though in a roundabout way related to it I noticed that nearly everyone brought their smart phone down And everyone was well connected searching out those wifi hot spots in hotels and such Anyway one guy at the seminar had one of the most amazing apps I've ever seen One afternoon when we were getting off the vans To have lunch at a very cool coffee plantation One of the attendees pulled me aside and said Hey John you have a look at this And he held up his smart phone which had the camera on And he focused in on the sign in front of the restaurant that had the menu And some other details and explanations in Spanish of course Because we were off the tourist trail Anyway he pointed the smart phone at the sign And instantly all the Spanish words were translated into English And not just in any old lettering or color either
[07:00] The translated words precisely matched the Spanish letter fonts And the color in the background which was brown Or maybe it was green I can't remember Anyway it was really amazing to see it precisely translated like that Without losing any of the color or the font or the letter size or the background And of course it doesn't take long like a New York Minute To take these things for granted And I'm sure you can see now how the language barrier is being broken down here in Latin America And just how easy it is to get around these days Even if you're well off the tourist trail What with that app in GPS you're never going to get lost And you're always going to know what the street signs and promotions and banners say Meaning even if you have a swift case of Montezuma's revenge You'll never need an extra pair of underwear cause you'll always make that Vanyo in time
[07:46] Um we hope but don't quote me on that okay 99 out of 100 times you'll make it on time But there's less than a 50-50 shot there will be toilet paper So all bets are off there That's why I always advise greedy gringos and fresh expats To steal or I should say grab a handful of napkins at your last restaurant And stick them in your back pocket or your purse ladies That way you're ready for anything And by the way you use those paper napkins to open and close those filthy bathroom doors too Since often even nice restaurants have filthy bathrooms If you've ever been down here on or off the tourist trail You know what I'm talking about Which reminds me at one very nice artsy restaurant that the whole seminar group went to One of our seminar guys sat down at the table
[08:32] Looked at me laughed and said He'd just gotten out of the restroom and noticed a paper napkin stuck to the doorknob He said Johnny that's your calling card right? I was busted Yep busted but sanitary And you know it was a nice restaurant and I probably didn't need to do that But you get into the habit and down here it's a great habit to have Now you might think me leaving a paper napkin stuck to the doorknob like that Is a pretty low class and crass thing to do Well you can think that but I actually look at it as a lesson in sanitation For the next person grabbing that door handle If they have half a brain they'll wonder what the hell's going on and think Yeah maybe that's a good idea Or not Can't change the world you know and this is Latin America
[09:17] Oh and by the way the seminar guy who busted me on that His name begins with an S You know who you are Now as cool as that visual translation app is for that smartphone I've got to mention that electronic translators of any kind are useful for a while But they can be a terrible crutch Meaning if you count on that stuff all the time you're never really going to learn your Spanish It's the same reason why so many gringos on the tourist trail Gringos who've been down for years often don't learn their Spanish very well either And by the way I may have mentioned this before too But people who come down here gringos and expats who take English teaching jobs Teaching rich kids at expensive bilingual schools Often even after many years on a job they barely learn even kitchen Spanish too
[10:04] That's enough to converse the basics with your cleaning lady And why's that? Well that's because they're hired to speak strictly English in the school To teach the kids in English all the time Which is a great thing for the kids because then they get to learn American English Right from the horse's mouth Not like in the public schools where the English classes are taught by Latins Who learn their English from a book Or they learn their English from another Latin English speaking Spanish teacher It's like making second third and fourth generation copies on a Xerox machine You get the idea it just doesn't work out very well So if you end up teaching at a high end bilingual private school Even if you're well off the tourist trail you might never quite learn proper Spanish So go ahead get all the translation apps and devices
[10:50] They've come a long way with that stuff They're great But you're going to have to ditch them every once in a while If you really want to learn conversational Spanish And speaking of copies Here's something that will offend everyone Because you know I am an equal opportunity offender Now I kind of admit I rarely get hate mail And though I get a lot of email Most people just kind of egg me on and say Go for it Johnny, go for it No one else is doing what you're doing out there Meaning I guess giving out good information Along with offending sensitive and PC prone people Some people don't want to hear the real truth About what's happening down here in Latin America That is how gringos live, work, play and do business down here Sometimes I think people want me to give them the Habitat for Humanity version Or the charity or mormonized do-gooder version Of what it's like for them to come down here for a few weeks
[11:38] And build soup kitchens, outhouses and hand out bags of rice and condoms to the poor But you see the fact is those kind of folks, the do-gooders The ones that give away free things to the poor Always fail in the end You can't just give poor people free things Hold hands, save cumbaya and fly back to Philadelphia And expect the free outhouses, computers, solar panels and even condoms To stand the test of time It seems that some people want the happy version The synthetic stepford wipe version of the expat files And I just can't do that so Until they cut the power on me, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing So for all you cowards out there who send nasty emails about me To the mothership station in New York Saying things like You know that deviant expat file guy, Johnny With his so-called gringo advantage
[12:25] Is teaching people how to take advantage of poor uneducated Latin folks, etc, etc Well, here's what I've got to say about that Come on down here and hire yourself a cleaning lady And if you want to pay her $2500 or more a month About what full-time cleaning ladies will get in the States Be my guest You can do that, but she'll be more than happy to take $250 And you know what, if you treat her like a human being And the vast majority of gringos have those kind of values, you know Chances are she'll never, ever quit your employment voluntarily Oh, and by the way, if you want you can pay your dentist $1400 for a root canal too But he'll be happy to take $200, you know Regardless if you believe in root canals or not, that's not the point
[13:11] So in the end, are we smart gringos and expats Taking advantage of poor uneducated Latin people Well, that depends on how PC or hypersensitive you are And in the end, like I've heard so many Latins tell me in so many words They look at so-called wealthy gringos and expats They think we all are Like a Latin American jobs program Nothing wrong with that as far as we're concerned But if you're really the sensitive PC type, looking to dissect everything out into black and white Then you gotta ask the question, who's taking advantage of who? Okay, where was I? Yeah, I was talking about copies And that what I'm gonna say now is definitely gonna be un-PC Now of course you've heard me say before that Latin America is the land of the pirates
[13:57] And I don't mean as in the Tom Hanks movie, Captain Phillips either I'm talking about pirated watches and handbags and clothes and software, DVDs, video games, etc In fact, pirated music CDs and movie DVDs are so prevalent that there's almost no market at all For buying that stuff retail at regular stores In fact, I can prove it You can go into a Walmart or a Costco down here And chances are you will not even find a music or DVD section at all Sure, they'll have a computer section with the kind of software you can't pirate Like for example, anti-virus stuff, etc But all you really have to do is walk outside a block or two There's always some pirate commerce going on Especially at corner gas stations They seem to be favorite sites where little guys try to shag you down in your car
[14:47] While they hold giant stacks of CDs and DVDs All 100% pirated, of course And for the low, low price of a buck to a buck and a half a piece With quantity discounts So what that means is that every time you're invited over to someone's house to watch a movie Unless you're watching it on TV, you're watching a pirated movie, guaranteed So now that you know this, naturally, you're gonna jump up like an honest American and say I'm not gonna watch this pirated movie That's underhanded, fraudulent, and illegal Now that would be the correct thing to do for all you super sensitive PC folks out there, right? And while you're at it, why don't you dial 911 Well, down here, if you do, and someone actually answers the phone You know when the Nicaraguan or Honduran police force is gonna arrive?
[15:34] Try never Because at night, they're at home watching pirated movies too Oh, and by the way, blockbuster video was down here in force and it lasted a few years But they too went bankrupt about a year ago Two or three years after they went bankrupt in the States It's that lag time effect, you know? And what killed them, of course, was pirating Now, you might legitimately ask, how did blockbuster even survive a couple of years down here When all that pirating's going on? Well, that's an easy one Blockbuster was simply the place to go For upscale Latins and gringo wannabes That old gringo advantage again, you know? Just like Starbucks is the place to go now Which meant, of course, their market was a very, very thin, narrow segment of society And early on, blockbuster's popularity was solely due to the gringo advantage
[16:22] And the fact that if you were an upscale Latin or gringo wannabe You could belong to the blockbuster video club, you know? Or you could keep your DVDs past the due date and take advantage of weekend specials and stuff But more importantly, you got a blockbuster membership card you could flash around Cool, huh? Just like it's apparently cool for upscale Latins and wannabes To walk around all day in the mall with their green Starbucks cup But you see, when you could walk right outside blockbuster video and buy the very same DVD For a third or a quarter of the price And own it, not rent it Well, when the blockbuster novelty wore off Pirating finished them off Oh, and by the way, the movie business down here, the cinema, is going great guns All over Latin America and the medium and large cities They're opening up Cineplexes and IMAXs like crazy
[17:09] And the admission to a first-run movie is like three or four bucks A little more for the IMAX And yes, they have 3D and the glasses and all that crap, too But guess what? No $10 popcorn Down here, that's also around two or three bucks Expensive for the locals, but not for us And by the way, when you go to a Cineplex and these things are really first world They'll have four or five all first world movies running And for example, what's big right now is the secret life of Walter Mitty With Ben Stiller, of course I'm sure most of you are aware of that Or not But here's something that most of you are not aware of The secret life of Walter Mitty is a remake of a much better movie Starring Danny K. and guess who, Boris Karloff And it came out way back in 1947
[17:56] And you wouldn't know that unless you were a classic film buff Anyway, that just goes to show you how uninventive Hollywood is, huh? So why am I babbling about that movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? I'll get to that in a second Anyway, for a big budget movie like that, they'll run it at the Cineplex on two different screens One in English with Spanish subtitles And another right next door dubbed in Spanish So all you expat wannabes and gonabes, if going to the cinema is your thing, don't worry You'll get it in English with Spanish subtitles Which is a pretty good way to pick up the language Now if you're a first world gringo expat who's still very tied in with what's happening up north You'll know that down here too you can get Netflix In fact, I know a handful of gringos who've got it But even so, right next to that smart TV lies a stack of pirated DVDs picked up from those little vendors on the street
[18:47] It's just inevitable, no matter how much you're against pirating, that those things will work their way into your house, believe me Especially if you've got kids, a cleaning lady or a friend or two who's really into cinema Since those pirated versions are so cheap and most people only watch a movie once They get passed around and given away like candy on Halloween Now for full disclosure, let me clue you in a little bit on just how this pirating DVD thing works First of all, no one, I mean no one gets busted for selling pirated DVDs Or pirated anything for that matter Though occasionally you'll see a news item in one of the big newspapers that shows some warehouse full of pirated stuff On display for the news media and such Which is nothing more than a photo op for the police department or the mayor or the governor or whoever But no one actually gets arrested for it
[19:32] They just confiscate this stuff or so it seems Like one Latin lawyer told me When politicians or the cops actually do need a photo op like that to prove to the first world that they're serious about cracking down On those impossible to enforce violations of intellectual property rights, etc, etc It's a prerequisite to get more first world grant money from stupid corrupt first world governments Who in turn enrich corrupt third world politicians And they're corrupt to the core third world governments too So what happens when there is that infrequent bust? Well the perpetrators on site get walked to the police station in handcuffs They pay a fine maybe 300 bucks Get a court date Show up in court like six months later Get a jail sentence for around six months
[20:19] And because pirating is not a violent crime but a civil crime They can pay around two dollars a day to ameliorate their sentence And with six months being 180 days at two dollars a day Well you figure it out it's 360 bucks Total time spent in custody about four hours And that my friends is how the supply side of pirating works down here So what about the stuff the cops confiscate? The pirated stuff the DVDs clothes and Gucci bags and stuff end up in a police warehouse somewhere And eventually filter out on the street again when all spent forgotten and no one's looking Though I have to admit once when I was in Panama I saw a pirated goods warehouse photo op Where there were a few thousand DVDs on the street and a bulldozer was smashing them
[21:04] And like expat Eddie said at the time With any luck they were mostly ragatone and latin rock discs And speaking of expat Eddie now there's a guy who knows the DVD business down here He must have like two thousand DVDs at the main house and another thousand or so at the beach house And yes they're pirated what else? And again I'm not advocating here that anyone go out and buy pirated items Just know that nothing down here in Latin America is black and white What I'm explaining here is how expats live work play and or do business down here in Latin America Including how they buy pirated DVDs they do it all the time So wouldn't you like to know about that too? Now take expat Eddie he says he just doesn't buy any old DVD from any little kid on the corner selling the stuff
[21:51] He'll pull up at a gas station where all these little guys hang out And three or four of them will run up to his car and hand him big stacks of DVDs Now like Eddie freely admits he's been burned before With DVDs that have really bad soundtracks or fuzzy and distinct video Like he says one day you'll buy a video from a kid and the movie will be absolute cinema quality And the next day if you buy another one from the same guy you'll get a piece of crap With pirates you get no quality control what do you expect? But every last one of these guys selling those things will give you a guarantee If the video is crap you can come back the next day or whenever and trade it for another Hopefully not another crappy one either Hey what they're doing might be illegal but they want to keep the customer happy too And selling a crap product is bad for business you know
[22:38] So anyway like Eddie says a year or so ago he figured out a way to get absolute cinema quality videos Every single time and how did he do that? Well as he shuffles and sorts through the videos that are for sale He looks very carefully for the word screener or the letters SCR which stand for screener On the label that's printed on the DVD Now of course pirated DVDs do not come with packaging They just come slipped in a little plastic envelope But they all have a nice full color printed label on the front Just like the original would have Though most times translated into Spanish But no box to go along So anyway what's that screener thing all about? Or the letters SCR Now that lettering is usually very small
[23:24] Sometimes you can barely read it Especially if the DVD label isn't printed in high quality Which they often aren't Well here's the dope on that screener thing Now there are 6,000 members That's 6,000 members Of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences You know the folks that vote on and give out The Academy Awards every year Now these 6,000 members are allowed to vote In every category of the Academy Awards But to see the movies The ones that are up for nomination for awards They're sent DVDs that are called screeners Which they get generally about 2 months before the movie hits the theaters And what makes these screeners different from regular DVDs That you and I might rent Is that every so often as you're watching the movie
[24:09] It'll say at the bottom somewhere This DVD is for Academy Award screening purposes only Thus the word screener And it goes on to give a warning Saying something like You're responsible for this screener And there's a personal watermark Built into this screener That identifies you as the Academy member Recipient of this DVD And it's not to end up in anyone else's hands Not only that At the very beginning of the DVD when you first started up It says again that the screener has an individual watermark That's been assigned to you And that it's your responsibility not to let that DVD get out in the hands of anyone else Nor is it to be copied or viewed by anyone but the Academy member Okay, so far so good
[24:56] Now of course I have to mention that every single gringo and long term expat Have seen these videos pop up everywhere Not only do most Latins and expat gringos have them in their houses But when you're in a bank Hospital or doctor waiting room or insurance office Often there'll be a movie playing in the waiting area And yes, it'll be a pirated screener In fact, even airlines and big international bus lines That connect every big city in Latin America Even the nicest luxury buses with bathrooms and sleepers Show these pirated DVD screeners Though I admit they're not always screeners Because sometimes the quality is pretty crappy By the way I'm just mentioning this to show you how really widespread And accepted the whole pirate thing is Now when we expats talk about this kind of stuff
[25:44] We're always wondering how one of those precious Academy Awards screeners Slips into the dark underworld of pirating Because you see if those things are all personally watermarked to the individual It should be no problem to trace it back to the original owner And why would the original owner let that screener DVD go Even before the movie shows up on the big screen Because that's what happens all the time Down here in Latin America we get movies Before you up in the States even get to see them Obviously it's for the money Since not all 6,000 Academy members Have George Clooney's or Harrison Ford's money In fact I've heard that only about 35% of all the Academy members Have steady jobs But back to the hit movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty The inferior remake starring Ben Stiller
[26:31] Guess what? One mystery was solved a few weeks ago When watching that movie at Expat Eddie's house And as the film started the usual disclaimer came up It said this DVD is for Academy screening purposes only And is impregnated with a unique watermark etc etc blah blah blah And then an unbelievable thing happened For the first time in my life and in Eddie's life too A funky little watermark appeared And it said as plain as day Property of Academy member Ellen DeGeneres Followed by the date November 26, 2013 Which I assume was the date she got the thing Because that's before it came out into theaters Now I doubt she needs the money Or she'd risk getting in trouble with the Academy
[27:18] By letting that thing go Eddie's hypothesis is that she just might have a Salvadorian maid or housekeeper Who did need the extra cash Coincidentally of course, Eddie lives in Salvador And that's where he buys his DVDs You've been listening to The Expat Files Living in Latin America Coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me, theexpatfiles at gmail.com And don't forget to check out expatwisdom.com To sign up for your free reports on Latin America See you next time, nos vemos He knows Spanish