Production, Distribution and Exhibition

1
Production, Distribution and Exhibition

• Hollywood Studio History

2
Film and Society Basic Questions

• Who makes the movies we see, and why?
• Who sees film, how and why?
• What is available to be seen?
• How are films evaluated, and by whom?

3
What makes the image move?

• Persistence of vision
• Critical flicker fusion
• Apparent motion

4
Who makes the image move?

• The major Hollywood studios (1910-1960)
• Conglomerates (1970s-present), controlling
• Movie studios
• Record companies
• Theater chains
• Amusement parks
• Cable channels
• Television networks
• And . . .

5
Early History of the Motion Picture Industry

• Highly competitive with easy access for new
  business
• Interchangeable products
• Smallness of buyers and sellers in relation to
  the market
• Absence of artificial restraints
• Accessibility of resources

6
The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC)

• Thomas Edison formed the MPPC (the Trust) in
  1908 as a PATENTS POOL
• Cooperative of leading US and French film
  companies
• Dominated the film industry from 1908-1915
• Successfully excluded small companies from the
  market

7
Why did the MPPC fail?

• Could not meet product demand
• Producers located sellers overseas not bound by
  the MPPC
• Some independent producers moved productions out
  of the NY and NJ area, eventually to California
• Independent distributors set up a non-MPPC
  distribution network
• Declared a monopoly in 1915 as the result of a
  1912 anti-trust case brought by Fox Studios

8
The Rise of the Hollywood Studio System

• From Monopoly
• (the MPPC)
• to
• Oligopoly
• (the Studio System)

9
How did the Big Five control all three levels of
the industry?

• VERTICAL INTEGRATION of
• Production Camera and projector technology,
  scripting, and filming
• Distribution Marketing and delivering films into
  theaters
• Exhibition Delivering movies to the public in
  theaters

10
How did the studios control production?

• Factory principles of production made it
  possible
• Centralized production huge staffs
• Division and specialization of labor
• Standardization of product
• Specialization of employees
• Grading films in terms of prestige standardized
  budgets

11
How did the studios control distribution?

• Trade practices effectively closed the market to
  films made outside the studio system,
  particularly the practice of block booking
• Emphasis on marketing films in Europe and other
  foreign countries required efficient
  administrative organization

12
How did the studios control exhibition?

• Run
• First, second, third
• Zone
• Geographic coverage without overlaps
• Clearance
• Elapsed time between runs
• Block Booking
• Rental in packages of assorted films

13
High Sierra A Case Study

• An A feature, starring Bogart and Lupino
• Starts first run on January 25, 1941
• Studio-run theaters in 100 large cities
• Ticket price1.00 to 1.25
• Second run in May, 1941
• Second run theaters (smaller cities)
• Ticket price.40 to .75
• Third run in Fall, 1941
• Neighborhood and rural theaters
• Ticket price.25

14
Genre How a film is marketed

• Genre One of several categories of movies that
  audiences and filmmakers recognize by their
  familiar narrative conventions
• Regulated Difference Genres benefit the industry
  by allowing both product standardization and
  product differentiation
• Examples of Hollywood genres?

15
What undermined the studio system?

• No one thingfour large factors came together in
  the late 1940s
• Postwar Changes in Society
• The Rise of Television
• The House Committee on Un-American Activities
• The Paramount Decision of 1948

16
The Paramount Decision

• In 1948, Supreme Court ruled the studios in
  violation of Sherman Anti-Trust Act, restricting
  fair trade
• Court ordered the Big Five studios to divest
  their theatre chains, where the bulk of their net
  worth was invested (94)
• Effect studios cut their film production by
  half opened the way for independent producers,
  though that opening was short-lived

17
Entertainment Industry Consolidation

• 1980sReagan deregulated the industry
• Link between production and distribution
  reestablished as media conglomerates formed, with
  a new Big Six
• Saturation booking replaced clearance
• Subsidiary markets increased in importance
• International grosses also grew as Hollywood
  dominated the world market

18
Sources of Studio Income Today

• Box office revenues
• Cable and pay-per-view
• DVD sales, rentals and downloads
• Distribution of films globally
• Studio distribution of independent films
• Product placement in movies
• Merchandizing and promotion rights