Outline the main changes the paramount decree effected on the structure of the American film industry and discuss the measures the ex-studios took to remain in control of the film market. The period of the 1920’s to 1950’s where known as the studio era in Hollywood. A few major companies monopolized the industry through vertical integration when the film companies controlled all production distribution and exhibition. The majors determined which movies were shown in which theatres, choosing their own over others. The theatres were often palaces, about spectacle and a night out more than the movie itself. Marcus Loew said , “we sell tickets to theatres, not movies” (pg 113 , Hollywood cinema, Maltby R, 2003). The majors forced independent theatres into block booking their movies. If they wanted to purchase an individual movie from the producers they had to buy them in blocks, which often included some low budget and less popular movies. “The system worked in the distributors best interest by ensuring a wider distribution for lower budget movies and preventing independent exhibitors from buying only the most successful product”, (124, Hollywood cinema, Maltby R, 2003). The Paramount decree was passed in 1948 when the US supreme court ruled that the Hollywood majors control over distribution and exhibition of its product constituted an illegal monopoly and ruled that production and distribution be separated from the exhibition of movies. It marked the end of the studio era and the beginning of decades of changes in the industry made in order for the ex-studios to remain in control of the film market. After the paramount decree the Big Five studios , Twentieth century fox, MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros and RKO, were forced to sell off their theatre chains. The biggest problem the studios faced was that “the theatres had contributed more to profits than either production of distribution- production, of course, can only become a profitable activity as a result of distribution and exhibition” (pg7 Hillier J , 1992, The New Hollywood). Changes had to be made in order to make distribution of productions profitable. The studio system worked on permanent studio facilities with a highly paid roster of stars and an extensive payroll of technicians and staff. It soon became clear th... ... middle of paper ... ... The Sequel was often more expensive and less successful than its predecessor but provided a guaranteed profit. Studios recognized that outside their regular audiences most cinema goers did so only two or three times a year. These groups were often families attending during holidays , like Christmas, Easter or during the summer. Studios began releasing ‘event movies’. Big budget blockbusters, with promotional hype around them. The studios moved with the times and survived the Paramount decision. What had seemed a devastating blow at the time was accompanied by a huge drop in audience numbers with the advent of television and the population migration to the suburbs. The majors restructured, and were able to adapt in order to fit in with the changing times and remain profitable. “the overall changes which came in the wake of the consent decrees and other factors amounted essentially to a restructuring rather than a revolution and allowed the majors to retain command of the market.” (pg9 Hillier J , 1992, The New Hollywood). Its has been a long process of integration into the more diverse leisure industry we enjoy today.
However, after the dust settled, it was widely accepted that the blacklist was unjust, which enabled many film workers to pursue the movie studios in civil courts through the 1950’s for unpaid contracts and wages (Lewis, 2008). While the studios were initially impacted by the Paramount decision, the breadth of competition and independent successes of smaller studios gave rise to the advancement of innovative filmmaking that may not have been possible if it were not for the Paramount decision. Filmmaking is one of the riskiest and most profitable ventures in modern day society, and without these events, the studios and the film workers may not share the successes that they do
...ons as to why the studio system collapsed and how Hollywood tried to prevent this from happening. The Hollywood we see today is a reformed version of the old studio system, yet is still seen as the most dominant film industry in the world, despite its earlier collapse.
In Hollywood political conflict was also paving the way for what would later occur in Hollywood as the HUAC would attack the industry. Big business controlled the lucrative industry and the companies that controlled the market were eight major studios in Hollywood. The Metro-Goldw...
...s have been regaining ownership of theaters due to the reluctance of anyone filing suit against them, “new Hollywood it is just like the old days before divestiture only better” (Lewis, 2008, p. 406). In conclusion, the giant head of the studio system monster was cut off only for a bigger more powerful one of the new Hollywood to have grown back in its place. Ultimately, Hollywood studios remain more interested about making money, than making better films and “The independent producer does what a movie producer has always done: choose the right stories, directors and actors to produce quality films” (Lewis, 2008, p. 502).
Similar to businesses standardizing in making and advertising consumers goods, the practice of mass-producing culture standardized and sped up in the 1920s. Radio became a national obsession. What started out as only a few independent stations soon evolved into huge networks and sponsored programming became popular. Movies during this time became accepted by all social classes with the expansion from rowdy nickelodeons to uptown theaters. With audiences nearing 80 million people a week, the corporate giants Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia made the ...
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
In 1929, America experienced a stock market crash that led the country into what is historically known as the Great Depression. Many industries across America experienced alterations in order to fit the social and economic changes that America was undergoing as a nation. Specific industries included Hollywood and the film industry. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the movies that Americans enjoyed viewing were considered immoral at the time. This was f...
As can be seen in exhibit to solution 2, we have estimated the per-film value of each production company. MCA Universal, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney Co are the only production companies that provide a positive per film value, with values of 9.89, 1.92, 12.56 million respectively. This value is calculated by dividing the net present value of all the movies by the total number of movies. We also calculated the average value of each production company based upon their share of the total number of movies produced. The companies with positive values were MCA Universal, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney Co is also the only production companies that provide a positive per film value, with values of 1.40, 0.37, 1.40 million respectively. These values are based on the average value per film multiplied by the company's average share of the industry.
The roaring twenties would be nothing without the roar of the MGM Lion. “If Hollywood had no other studio than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the town still would have been the movie capital of the world” (Fricke para 1). MGM enchanted audiences with its high-budgeted films and glamorous list of stars (Hanson para 1). Three failing movie companies came together in 1924 in hopes to make it big in the motion picture industry, and it did (Fricke para 3). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer created spectacles of movies after its merging which made MGM one of the most prosperous motion picture companies in the 1920’s (Hanson para 2).
The change in the U.S. can be said to be a social revolution. People were growing sick of the same old movies, they wanted a change and Hollywood needed to deliver or else they would lose their audience to the TV. In the early 60's, the studios were still afraid of the blacklisting so the films were still very safe. An example of this is the film Sound of Music (1965). This was a film about a musical family that needed to escape the Nazi presence. Although the movie is based on a true story, they still follow the same old idea of a nice family, who must escape from the clutches of evil. Basically, the movie is saying good guys win and bad guys always lose. Sure this how most films are made but there is no sense of change, no differences in the style or way it was made. Since there was no change, the public was not interested. The TV was much more convenient and kept the publics interested.
... middle of paper ... ... Larry Ceplair and Englund stated in the book The Inquisition in Hollywood, “The destruction of the motion picture Left not only transformed the political atmosphere in Hollywood, but also adversely affected the kind of product which the studios turned out. “ In the early 20th century Hollywood reframed from producing politically controversial films in fear of becoming a target of McCarthy or the HUAC.
Films were blossoming during the “Roaring twenties.” At the beginning of the decade, films were created mostly in Hollywood and West Coast, but as well as in Arizona and New Jersey. Most people do not know that the greatest output of films was between 1920 and 1930 and was 800 films per year. Nowadays, people consider big output of 500 films per year. The film business was a huge one because the capital investments were over $2 billion. At the end of the decade there were 20 studios in Hollywood and the interest in films was greater then ever.
Largely influenced by the French New Wave and other international film movements, many American filmmakers in the late 1960s to 1970s sought to revolutionize Hollywood cinema in a similar way. The New Hollywood movement, also referred to as the “American New Wave” and the “Hollywood Renaissance,” defied traditional Hollywood standards and practices in countless ways, creating a more innovative and artistic style of filmmaking. Due to the advent and popularity of television, significant decrease in movie theater attendance, rising production costs, and changing tastes of American audiences, particularly in the younger generation, Hollywood studios were in a state of financial disaster. Many studios thus hired a host of young filmmakers to revitalize the business, and let them experiment and have almost complete creative control over their films. In addition, the abandonment of the restrictive Motion Picture Production Code in 1967 and the subsequent adoption of the MPAA’s rating system in 1968 opened the door to an era of increased artistic freedom and expression.
The Studio System Key point about the studio system could be: Despite being one of the biggest industries in the United States, indeed the World, the internal workings of the 'dream factory' that is Hollywood is little understood outside the business. The Hollywood Studio System: A History is the first book to describe and analyse the complete development, classic operation, and reinvention of the global corporate entities which produce and distribute most of the films we watch. Starting in 1920, Adolph Zukor, head of Paramount Pictures, over the decade of the 1920s helped to fashion Hollywood into a vertically integrated system, a set of economic innovations which was firmly in place by 1930.
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54