Paramount 5/08/06 1912- Famous Players 1913- Hodkinson & Paramount 1915- Adolph Zukor merges FP & Paramount Theaters- Chicago, South, New England, Canada (mostly assembled of preexisting theaters bought) 1933- Receivership (a type of bankruptcy), Mae West only kept them in business Barney Balaban 1936-64 (Balaban and Cats Theater) Largest number of subsidiaries, most profits, "biggest of the big 5" During drop-off, took biggest losses because of theater chain Most other studios were following Paramounts work Y. Frank Freeman came from exhibition to Paramount to become studio boss Paramount lot still is in Hollywood Specialized in continental sophistication, pitched to classy city dwellers Liked to collect stars who were already somewhat popular in another field Directors o Cecil B. DeMille o Ernst Lubitsch o Josef von Sternberg o Billy Wilder o Preston Sturge Paramounts Famous Players o Mary Pickford o Maurice Chevalier o Marlene Dietrich o Gary Cooper o Mae West o Fred MacMurray o Alan Ladd o Bob Hope o Bing Crosby Offered a full program to its theaters, created live-action shorts, newsreels, animated cartoon, contracted with the Fleischer shorts (Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman) Paramount Films o The Covered Wagon ,,22 o The Blue Angel ,,30 o Trouble in Paradise ,,32 o She Done him Wrong ,,32 o For Whom the Bell Tolls ,,43 o Going My Way ,,44 o Double Indemnity ,,44 o Samson and Delilah ,,49
o o o o
Sunset Boulevard ,,50 Rear Window ,,54 The 10 Commandments ,,55 Vertigo ,,58
Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer (MGM) Loews Inc. New York theater chain Marcus Loew buys Metro & Goldwyn Nicholas Schenk, takes over after Loew dies, never took credit on films Louis B. Mayer- in charge of the studio in Hollywood, dictatorial little guy, thought he knew what the audience wanted Irving Thalberg- the head of production, "the boy genius" the most intelligent person in Hollywood, died young Arthur Freed- producer after songwriter, created musical unit, very expensive color musicals, top musicians of the world, worked with director Vincent Minelli Only Hollywood studio to turn a profit throughout the 1930s Most producer dominated, very structured, very little director freedom About 150 theaters only, mostly in New York and Ohio, the "classiest theaters" Studio lot in Culver City, owned by Sony now MGM Stars (longest list of contract players in Hollywood) o Greta Garbo o Clark Gabe o Joan Crawford o Lionel Barrymore o Wallace Beery o Spencer Tracy o Mickey Rooney o Judy Garland o Gene Kelly MGMs Films o The Big Parade ,,25 o Grand Hotel ,,32 o Dinner at 8 ,,32 o Mutiny on the Bounty ,,35 o Wizard of Oz ,,39 o Mrs. Miniver ,,43 o Meet Me in St. Louis ,,44 o Singin in the Rain ,,52 o Ben Hur ,,25 Most conservative of the studios, mid-America, smalltown, solid values, orientated to the middle class, most associated with the Republican party Offered a full program, Hearst newsreels, Hal Roach live-action shorts (Laurel and Hardy/Lil Rascals), Hannah Barbara cartoons (later went into television after separating from Paramount) Attempted to keep the studio system hanging on, by 1960s fell out of the top
Twentieth Century-Fox William Fox vs. the Edison Trust 1929- Fox acquires Loews Fox Theaters--Western U.S. 1930- Fox forced out 1935- 20th Century Joseph Schenck- manager, producer for UA Darryl F. Zanuck- came from Nebraska, writer at WB, head of production later, moved WB to sound with gangster, musicals; then falling out after salary cut and left WB, joined with Schenk to create films for release by UA, 10-12 per year (20th Century), easily could get stars to be loaned 1935, carried the United Artists and asked Chaplin and Pickford for ownership, but was refused, merged with Fox, "the headless giant", Schenk producer, Zanuck studio boss, 20th Century gets top billing Fox lot 1928, for sound moved to West L.A., Century City Zanuck turns around company with star power, greatest star Will Rogers and homespun comedies died in plane crash, Shirley Temple found to be extremely popular, made 3-4 starring films, 35-37 biggest female star in Hollywood Directors o Henry King o John Ford o Otto Preminger o Joseph L. Mankiewicz o Nunnally Johnson o Philip Dunne Fox Stars o Janet Gaynor o Will Rogers o Shirley Temple o Tyrone Power o Betty Grable o Henry Fonda o Clifton Webb o Marilyn Monroe Fox Films o A Fool There Was ,,15 o What Price Gory ,,26 o Sunrise ,,27 o 7th Heaven ,,27 o Steamboat Round the Bend ,,35 o Young Mr. Lincoln ,,39 o How Green Was My Valley ,,41 o Laura ,,44 o My Darling Clementine ,,46 o Sound of Music ,,65 o Star Wars ,,77
The best newsreel, Fox Movietone films, live-action shorts were barely watchable, Terrytoons cartoons starred Mighty Mouse
05/10/06 Warner Bros. 1914- Warner Bros. Feature Distribution 1917- Production- My Four Years in Germany Harry Warner- head of production Jack Warner- studio boss Theaters- Pennsylvania Gangsters & working class heroes; Busby Berkeley musicals Vitaphone synchronized sound film, Don Juan and The Jazz Singer Only family-run affair 1930, roughly equivalent to Paramount in size and revenue Most urban working-class audiences because of production and areas, supporters of FDR and the New Deal Not afraid to challenge social issues Studio lots, First National acquired lot in Burbank, two smaller in Hollywood Warner Talent o Michael Curtiz- fast moving films, head director, European eye o Raoul Walsh- associated with the "tough guys" of WB o Chuck Jones o James Cagney o Humphrey Bogart o Edward G. Robinson o Bette Davis o Errol Flynn WB Notable Films o The Jazz Singer ,,27 o The Singing Fool ,,28 o Little Caesar ,,30 o Public Enemy ,,31 o 42nd Street ,,32 o Footlight Parade ,,33 o Captain Blood ,,35 o Adventures of Robin Hood ,,38 o The Roaring 20s ,,39 o Sgt. York ,,41 o High Sierra ,,41 o Maltese Falcon ,,41 o Casablanca ,,42 o Mildred Pierce ,,46 o Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Elaborate Vitaphone short series with high budgets, own animation unit
R.K.O. RCA Photophone David Sarnoff FBO- Film Booking Office Keith-Albee-Orpheum Radio City Music Hall- most famous movie house in the world Walt Disney/Snow White Floyd Odlum Howard Hughes- ran it into the ground after buying it Lack of continuity of management Smallest and weakest theater chain in New York, shared with Loews who had better sites Attempted to have a full program, not much of a newsreels, Edward Kennedy and Leon Errol comedy shorts B-Movies, floods of B Westerns with Tim Holt, favorite B-movie atmospheric/psychological horror films, RKO hit the jackpot with Walt Disney animated films in 1935, theaters would blockbook RKO programs just to get the Disney animated shorts, animated feature films until 1953 Studio lot adjoining the Paramount lot, until it was swallowed RKO Radio Pictures o Katharine Hepburn o Fred Astaire o Ginger Rogers o Orson Welles o Val Lewton o King Kong ,,33 o Citizen Kane ,,41 LITTLE THREE- No theater chains, so not vertically integrated Universal Carl Laemmle/IMP 1914- Universal City Carl Laemmle Jr.- gave the company after his 21 st birthday present 1936- Standard Capital Universal Monsters James Whale- director of Frankenstein and Showboat Oceans of low-budget films, a lot of films with smaller profits More rural audiences, pushed into the Midwest Jr. Laemmle started making A pictures- All Quiet on the Western Front, but illtimed because of the Great Depression Always the best at exploiting the success (Dracula) Fell into bankruptcy, in 1935-36 big gamble with two big flops, the company went to Standard Capital, Laemmles leave the business Stars at Universal
o Lon Chaney o Bela Lugosi o Boris Karloff o Lon Chaney Jr. o Deanna Durbin o Abbott & Costello o Flash Gordon serials o Woody Woodpecker 75% of films would be B-films, B series, low-budget Sherlock Holmes films, Ma and Pa Kettle films, Francis the Talking Mule series, made serials, Universal newsreels "cheapest in Hollywood", animated cartoon divisions Columbia Harry and Jack Cohn- worked at Universal, learned to make profits on low-budget films 1924- CBC Films Poverty Row/Gower Gulch Franks Capra- social commentary, comedy and romance- It Happened One Night Columbia "Bs", series and serials When stars would misbehave, they would have to make a movie at Columbia Did not struggle in the Great Depression because they were much more budget conscious, shorter pictures, lower salaries, no long-term contracts Live action shorts, starring the Three Stooges, 191 two-reelers, syndicated as childrens TV shows, and they started making feature films Columbia Stars o Rita Hayworth o Kim Novak o The Three Stooges Films o It Happened One Night o You Cant Take It With You o The Jolson Story United Artists 1919- Distribution of Independent Productions Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith Joseph Schenck, Gloria Swanson, Buster Keaton, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Walt Disney, Howard Hughes, Alexander Korda Lack of product, had to maintain distribution but half the films, also filmmakers would not stay with the company Republic Pictures Herbert J. Yates Nat Levine Consolidated Film Industries
Mascot and Monogram "B" Westerns Singing Cowboys Serials o Gene Autry o Roy Rogers and Dale Evans o John Wayne o Sands of Iwo Jima o The Quiet Man Monogram W. Ray Johnston Trem Carr Lone Star Pictures The Bowery Boys PRC/Eagle Lion Producers Releasing Corporation Eagle Lion Other Companies Majestic Pictures Grand National Hollywood and World War II Dec. 1941-Summer 1945 Criticism of pro-Democratic, pro-FDR, pro-British HUAC- House Un-American Committee- 1938 investigations of communism in Hollywood 1939-WWII starts, "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" first to mention Nazi Didnt want to anger conservatives in Congress Summer 1941- Congress calls Hollywood to be interventionists Wendell Wilkie- defends Hollywood, and suspends hearings Box Office Booms 1941-1945, 1946 highest ever, the Golden Age financially Many families had two incomes, soldier salaries and women worked; many things were rationed or couldnt buy, provided a source of entertainment for disposable income Movies distracted people from the realities, while at the same time newsreels showed the war Magazine circulation, radio, paperback, comic book all boomed in the period First-run theaters were "holding over films"- 1933, 1934 movies played for 6 week periods Production was reduced, also shelved films without topical content Supplied films to troops around the world, set up screen and projector, films screened for troops before domestic release Would Hollywood continue to make films? FDR- valuable for morale on the home front, so continued production
Made pictures about the war, proved somewhat popular, but never the majority Escapist films, musical comedies, fantasy films were popular The federal government used Hollywood movie making skills to make propaganda and indoctrination films (Frank Capra "Why We Fight") condensed history lessons for new recruits/draftees Large number of training films, made documentaries (John Ford for the Navy, John Huston "The Battle of San Peatro" "Let There Be Light" for the Army) very influential William Wyler- "Memphis Belle" "Best Years of Our Lives" Other services for the federal government- USO visited troops, opened a serviceman only nightclub "The Hollywood Canteen" Very concerned about South America who remained neutral, German populations after war, run by fascists based on Hitler, raw materials oil and uranium needed to be denied from the Axis Office of Inter-American Affairs- a feeling of solidarity between America and South America, "good neighbor policies" Carmen Miranda RKO sends Orson Welles to Brazil to make a film about Carnival, after money woes and editing problems, yanked from the project, losing his power in Hollywood Clara Lombard- killed in plane crash during bond tour, bonds sold in theaters Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable enlisted and fought in the war The Office of War Information- manage how the war content was presented Came to Hollywood and checked all films with war content (usually also checked by the Production Code) Afraid that Americans were being portrayed as superheroes, wanted to portray the war more realistic, so it wouldnt be considered a "cake walk" Many pro-Soviet war films because of the alliance during the war times, came back to haunt Hollywood and attacked during Cold War 1947 starts the beginning of the slide, and the end of the studio era 5-22-06 The End of the Studio Era Period of Blacklisting As early as 1930s, Communist writers in Hollywood, involved in the creation of WGA Tremendous pressure to get rid of progressive, "communist" ideas, too pro-British, too anti-Nazis, interventionists Below the line, technical employees- International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees organized, taken over by the Chicago mob Carved out a deal with Hollywood, for a bribe would not strike, until Congress investigated IATSE and cleaned of mob connection Roy Brewer- strong anti-communist took over, ideas shared with Hollywood majors WWII- FDR asked unions to put demands on the backburner, no strikes until war was won New group of unions formed by leftists and communists- Conference of Studio Unions led by Herbert Surrell, willing to defy FDR 1945- started strikes against Hollywood majors, WB, Columbia and Walt Disney before end of the war Cold War starts, summer 1945, greatly revitalized anti-communism in the US
HUAC- gains its power back, "told you so" Movie Picture Alliance of Preservation of American Ideals- Hollywood conservatives (John Wayne, etc.) who were strongly anti-communists, claimed communists were taking over Hollywood, asked HUAC to bring back investigations to movie business Truman could not fight the tide of anti-communism Oct. 1947- Hearings on Communism in Hollywood, MPAPAI testified, called Hollywood moguls (already indicted for anti-trust) to testify Jack Warner pointed to pro-Soviet films during WWII, but writers did not have much power on screen, producers are responsible for films Called the "unfriendly" witnesses- the Hollywood 10 leaders of Hollywood Communist Party John Howard Larson- writer, leader of the Communist party, invoked a strategy in the public "theater" to take hearings in new direction, not answer questions, stand on the Constitutional rights to free speech/ideas Liberal community in Hollywood was outraged; we have a right to our opinions and to express them, created Committee for the First Amendment (Gene Kelly, etc.), intent to defend freedom of speech Strong strain of anti-Semitism in HUAC, attacked the Jewish in Hollywood Gaveled the Hollywood 10 into silence during speech, carried out of court, and went to jail for "contempt of Congress", to public they appeared evasive Committee for the First Amendment couldnt defend them, went back to Hollywood and dissolved Afraid of a boycott with already dropping gross Heads of Studios, legal representatives, and trade representations decide in New York that they would no longer "knowingly" employ communists No studio would employ the Hollywood 10- they had been "blacklisted" Anti-communism grows in 1950s, Soviet atomic bomb, Korean War, Peoples Republic of China 1951- HUAC comes back to Hollywood, attacks anyone with leftist policies, and to "name names" in the communism conspiracy Blacklist greatly expands past the Hollywood 10 Polarized Hollywood, which had always been a "company town" Blacklist lasts until about 1958-1959 until gutsy Hollywood moguls start hiring them again Otto Preminger and Kirk Douglas hire Hollywood 10 Antitrust- Paramount Consent Decree Between the Dept. of Justice and Hollywood over the dominance of vertical integration By 1938, lawsuits start targeting monopolistic business practices after years of hands off Claimed anticompetitive business- an oligopoly Independent theater owners hated blockbooking and being looked over by majors 1941- Hollywood enters negotiation with Dept. of Justice with a consent decree to drop lawsuits, reduced blockbooking to 5, almost immediately independents complain 1943-1944- drops the consent the decree 1948- Truman reinstates the lawsuit, William O. Douglas in Supreme Court decision said it cant be continued
Largest Paramount negotiates for the "Paramount Consent Decree"- settle for nothing less than the reversal of vertical integration, take away theaters, no economic connection between production/distribution and exhibition, eliminated all blockbooking Then RKO, Warner Bros., Loews MGM lasts the longest- in 1955 finally broke apart The little 3 become much more equals, because everyone had no theaters All films have to be somewhat sellable- dont care about the programs, so no quantity but quality, by 1950s 18-25 films per year (as opposed to about 50) Star contracts are no longer popular- by late 1969 nearly gone Begin to sell off backlots, let other companies produce films on their lots Rise of Independent Production Discovery of tax laws in 1940s, there is another tax rate about capital gains, business taxed at much lower rate than income The major stars, directors, writers, cinematographers incorporate themselves as separate production companies, a way to launder their money Some took more interest in their careers; creative power goes up Brings into change the roles of agents who had little power, 1950 MCA Lew Wasserman makes a deal for Jimmy Stewart and Universal, pay him a guild minimum and then points on the gross of the film from dollar one, movie is a hit and Jimmy Stewart makes a ton of money A new A-list occurs, the people who could demand percentages on contract No longer have contracts with key creative people, so have to go to agencies to bring films together, a package to the studio, only made or distribute the films Began packaging clients together to create television series by the late 1950s, MCA created Revue Pictures, made so much money they took over Universal, the dominant force in American television, one of the founding fathers of the modern Hollywood Conflict of interest, Bobby Kennedy investigates MCA, cant be on both sides of the equation and had to choose, Wasserman breaks up MCA agency and decides to run Universal Agents have taken over a chunk of modern Hollywood United Artists Suffering in 1940s, founders almost out of the picture, so desperate for product they took b-films under the table to keep company busy Losing money every month, Chaplin and Pickford decides to finally sell, no easy takers, hire management team that could buy it at bargain price if successful Eagle Lion Arthur Krim, and Robert Benjamin come into manage, understood entertainment law and capital flow 1951- get big hits that put UA back on the map, "High Noon" and the "African Queen" all-around success, brought profitability to company and they bought the company Become the most successful company by redefining how a company should be run, distribution was the way to make money, the core of business A lot of good ideas and production companies, packages from agencies, opened doors and evaluated the ideas, distribution contract get to financing and through Wall Street contacts to get financing--distribution and production financing The first stop for the filmmakers, distribute, get money, and wouldnt interfere
Lew Wasserman and Arthur Krim started the New Hollywood The Impact of Television NEXT EPISODE 5-24-06 The Relationship between Television and Film Origins of TV- developed in the 1920s and ,,30s, during WWII converted to manufacture radar sets, then expands in 1947 when authorized to resume production Easier to stay at home than go to the motion pictures Paramount set up experimental television stations, but blocked by the FCC because of antitrust suits, Hollywood companies could not get network licenses, big radio stations come in to build the networks Look for other ways to survive--differentiate the product, make it different, make it better TV was small, black and white, monophonic speakers, not big budget production Theatrical film used old ideas to differentiate Moved towards color, become the color media Started out to paint the frames, but not very practical and very laborious Color filters could be put in front of projection, tinted the prints by bathing them in color, sepiatone could be on some first-run prints Technicolor-Herbert Kalmus, elaborate, expensive First two-color, would be red and green 1922 Toll of the Sea, 1 or 2 were shot each year, perhaps only for one reel because of expense Three-strip color split it into red, green and blue, giving it full color RKO Becky Sharp Never more than 10% of the film output, had to book technology as much as two years in advance because of demand Eastman Kodak was experimenting on color film, chemically, gave them 16mm film for full color, 35mm color film for Hollywood never available Government investigated secret agreement that Tecnicolor buying all raw color stock from Eastman Kodak, ruled illegal and they started selling film that could be used in regular cameras Eastman chemical color fades, but three-strip dye still has bold colors Make the theatrical film to become bigger and wider "This is Cinerama"- 3 camera, 3 screen system that envelope the audience Could only be shown in about 2 dozen theaters equipped, only made travelogue, so the gimmick was abandoned 3-D movies--have depth by photographing to shots, "The Bwana Devil" was tremendously popular, 52-54: dozens of 3-D films, require a conversion of theaters and audience had to wear the glasses, 3-D not done right gives headaches, so it faded Anamorphic Widescreen (scope)- not a new idea, but Daryl F. Zanuck made "The Robe" as Cinescope, smash hit, all the 20th Century Fox films were made in Cinescope 1.33:1 units of width to height, all films from original period and television Much wider shots squeezed onto regular film, special lens to distort into wide Academy Flat Ratio 1.85:1, Scope 2.3:1, the standards until today
Panning and scanning for squarer image on television, letterbox shows entire film with black bars Just go to 70 mm film, giving wider, richer image, bigger soundtracks, by 1970s it wasnt worth the extra cost IMAX Theater takes all these gimmicks in controlled environment and they are powerful Movie sound moves from low-fidelity optical soundtracks, introduction of the audiophile Magnetic Stereophonic Soundtracks brought into film, more ease to do stereo film and higher fidelity for high sounds Other Ways to Differentiate Products No big budget on television, blockbuster era begins in 1950s Made itself more of the adult media, television was very tame, brought in more sex Production Code radically changed, The Miracle Decision (Italian film banned by New York State Censors, sued up to the Supreme Court who declared that movies are given protection under the First Amendment, freedom from censorship) Otto Preminger- "The Moon is Blue", "The Man With The Golden Arm", violate code and showed without code seal distributed by United Artists, very successful so Hollywood started fighting the Production Code 1966- Code is abandoned, self-labeling put into affect 1968- went to Washington D.C., brought Jack Valenti to run the MPAA and create the ratings board, G, PG, R, and X ratings 1969- Midnight Cowboy Rated X wins Best Picture, pictures could label X, did not copyright the X rating Strong move towards the decriminalization of pornography, early 1970s hardcore pornographic films could self-label themselves X Newspapers got complaints, would not take advertisements from X rated films (pornographic or Hollywood) Informally, Hollywood stopped distributing X rated films, edited for R ratings Indiana Jones created the PG-13 rating, very useful for advertising In 1990s, the MPAA created the NC-17 rating, so adult films could be shown--there are no bans on the rating, but they dont make them because they dont make money The content from films had to be different from television Lost mass audience, started to make films for selected audiences following the music and radio businesses (pitching rock and roll music to teenagers) The teenager had money and needed to be entertained, so Hollywood started to make movies for them Hollywood even started glomming onto the power of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley films made lots of money for Hollywood, the teenager became the core demographics American International Pictures- designed for teen exploitation pictures, Roger Corman--street gangs, beach party movies, martial arts films 1970 Roger Corman creates New World Films, in ,,70s Carrie, The Exorcist, slasher films This is the staple of modern American Hollywood film even today Change in Exhibition
Old classic movie houses in trouble, downtown areas were urban ghettoes, for every one that closes, a suburban drive-in was built Great for the families, dates, and had elaborate candy counters Took up too much space and converted them for other uses Beginnings of the multiplex, broke up the classic theaters up to show separate films and give choices The Cineplexes started to be built and exhibition greatly improves, offering all the current major films The Making of Television Shows Started to begin to think they could become television producers, but couldnt adapt to the quick and fast, live mentality CBS "I Love Lucy" by Desilu Production Company, didnt want to do it live and wanted to shoot it in Hollywood, three-camera system simultaneously working faster and cheaper, become the #1 show for years, could be rerun over and over because of film 1952, "Dragnet" simple images, virtue of poverty of image 1953, "Father Knows Best" and "Rin Tin Tin" for Columbia 1954 ABC contracts Walt Disney for 90-minute television production, old animation, Walt promoting the Disney empire (incredibly popular!), cheap B Westerns, multichapter (Davy Crockett becomes the craze of America) show is a smash hit 3 other Hollywood majors got into the same style of production, but they died, didnt have the appeal, canceled but spun off Western series as separate shows 1957, more than half of the top television shows were these westerns and they have become full-fledged television producers Sale of theatrical films to television Thought it would hurt the profits of the theatrical business Dec. 1955- Howard Hughes started selling RKO to the highest bidding station around the market, a windfall profit of 15,000 a film By 1956, all of Hollywood studios were selling films to television Independent stations needed to programming and showed old films 1960-1961- major stations noticed the ratings; NBC shows films on Saturday, every night of the week a film was in primetime, birth of the ancillary market 1966- ABC bought "Bridge on the River Kwai" for 1 million dollars a play NBC and Universal decided to make new Hollywood movies, Made-for-TV movies, "Fame is the Name of the Game" 1971-"Brians Song", very popular, changing the image and made them more about the current issues of the time 1977 brings the "Roots" miniseries to the ABC Network, some of the biggest ratings ever Gigantic productions became the miniseries, which by the 1980s gives get miniseries fatigue 5-31-06 1960s bumpy ride for Hollywood, a crapshoot, more and more riding on less film with blockbuster mentality One film could keep a studio set for years or could doom a studio Stars start to retire or die, moguls leave the scene, and by 1970 the old guard is gone
1966- the conglomerate takeover begins Business formation in the post-WWII moves from vertical/horizontal integration to the conglomeration, expand to different businesses not tied to each other to compensate for business cycles Very skilled, run by entrepreneurs, seeking out unvalued assets to cash in All of the Hollywood majors were sitting on valuable real estate; the valuable rights to old films were going up in price Gulf Western steps in and buys Paramount, 1966 Transamerica buys United Artists, 1967 Kinney Company buys Warner Bros., 1968 Kirk Kerkorian buys MGM, 1968 Disney does not get bought out, and instead conglomerates/diversified itself Bemoan the transition because of the importance of suits, but it probably saved the industry who went into an even larger slump 1968-1972, nothing worked in Hollywood, TV networks decide they dont need anymore films (no more high bids) Conglomerates were unsentimental to the tradition, used their business practices--cut costs/big budget films, people laid off, fewer films, start selling off assets: backlots, ranches, props and costumes Is anything working in Hollywood? Success of Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, and Easy Rider--low budget films targeted to youth Core audience becomes the youth and counterculture Many of the famous directors of 1970s, 1980s first film credits in 1968-1972, great time to break into Hollywood The clones were very unsuccessful, including Dennis Hoppers follow-up Opened the doors of Hollywood to a new generation of filmmakers who would eventually turn the business around First Black filmmakers to break into Hollywood, all black cast films were very popular Films were crafted based on the budget, take of black theaters, the beginning of the "blackploitation" films African-American directors given reign to make films In 1972 starts to turn everything around--"The Godfather" followed by megahit after megahit, Hollywood comes roaring back, suddenly the Hollywood majors start making money again New Hollywood has been riding on the wave of 1972-1977 for the last 35 years Films reach back to Hollywood roots, genre films, based on best selling novels, traditional narrative structures, benefited by the star power of the old Hollywood (Marlon Brando, Sir Alec Guinness) Not just old-fashioned movies of 1960s, made by a new generation of directors trained Roger Corman, knowledge of the youth and the greatness of exploitation Cast young stars- Robert DeNiro, etc. Combined traditional styles and the new exploitation styles Radically changes its system of advertising...next episode 06/05/06
1972- The Godfather Hollywood turns around from the brink of extinction to a new profitable film system Radical changes in Marketing and Distribution Advertising Before, very traditional ads, trailers, posters, and newspaper advertisements Late 19th century style of advertising By 1970s everyone was selling product through the television set- most effective too expensive, gone in 30 seconds, not much of a significant effect Television commercial becomes more sophisticated, savvy about the demographics; advertisers could find their target audiences Predominantly looking for young people to come to the movies, TV advertising works Put it in key programs and at certain specific times, long before, and right before it opens The Godfathers distribution Old days there was "platform release"- first-run theaters to second... Put it out on an unheard of 400 screens- widened out to 800 screens after a week, it played in every neighborhoods of America (beginnings of wide-release, saturation release) Tries to grab its money as quick as possible Became Paramounts greatest hit in history in 2 weeks! Saturation release was the way to go, blockbusters could open in 1000+ screens, could take up to 25% of screens in 2000s Movie success is inevitable- before word of mouth comes out, it has already made money, the films become "unavoidable" 1975 "Jaws"- same formula of "Godfather" Came out at the beginning of the summer and dominated--people werent going to the movies 52 weeks a year, free time was during summer vacation, could attract core audience at the beginning of summer The key to the modern blockbuster in Hollywood! From 1975 onward, every year there was a new ancillary market, money on old product In 1975- Home Box Office went up on cable systems on the market- all movie channel Series of government deregulatory movement allows cable to spread, also at the same time deregulated satellites (telecommunications) 1965 Early Bird satellites, spun around the earth at the same time as the earth, so it created the illusion that it would be parked above, could send signals 24 hours a day across the country Excess transponder space began being offered cheaply, HBO rented space and transmitted to the cable systems Extra fee for the extra channel--offered movies uninterrupted, less censorship, more recent films Hollywood gets a new ancillary market 1976- Ted Turner uplinks his station WTBS to satellites to offer to cable, give the station as part of the package, first commercially sponsored cable network Why would we pick up a broadcast station, why not just build a network for cable and ignore the FCC? USA Network- just for cable, no ties to broadcast
Cable networks never get a significant part of the audience, be more like a radio station, one kind of person attracted by one type of programming and find advertisers that wanted to sell to that person 1979- ESPN- all they showed was sports attracting young males, fabulously successful One after the other, specific programming channels come out in 1980s on Most used Hollywood movies- almost everything made extra money 1977- "Star Wars" Rediscovered the idea of merchandising- a further way of profiting Didnt invent merchandising, Disney had been doing it, but not on the scale of "Star Wars" Became very important, movies could be green lit for their "merchandising potential" Could be very profitable, or be a huge failure "The Phantom Menace"- merchandising can go overboard 1990s- Disney Stores and Warner Bros. stores covered the country 1978- "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" Record were incredibly popular, rediscovered the soundtrack tie-in, a free commercial for your film The big musicals in 1950s-1960s could have soundtracks Hollywood recognized the marketing potential of the soundtrack Importance of sales of music and the promotion of music 1979- home video becomes a potential for most of the popular 1956- videos were invented, but by 1960s Sony was minimizing the system 1975- comes out with the Beta Max system, by 1977 VCR competition Hollywood looked at this as a piracy device and tried to keep it from being sold US Supreme Court- declared that the Beta Max system is street legal device Use it as a new distribution device, thought it might even replace the theaters Were greedy and sold the first videos for 50-60 dollars, got price resistant Around 1980, people bought the videos and began renting the videos to people for $1 The videocassette rental market exploded, Hollywood didnt like it Could sell millions of popular units for under $20, other titles stayed expensive and rental companies would have to buy them Home video market has been transferred to the DVD market Amount of money brought in exceeds the money at the box office; success of a film in home is based on the popularity of film in theater Huge ancillary market for Hollywood 1980- Ronald Reagan elected president, a friend to Hollywood Pro-business Republican, his administration was very sympathetic to the expansion of Hollywood Went back into the ownership of theaters because of the lax ideas Global entertainment conglomerates come into being Late 1980s- wants to be involved in many different business but they were all related
A success in one area could be exploited in every aspect of the field, SYNERGY Through merger, acquisition, and takeover become allied with other entertainment fields Time Warner merger is the prime example, complementary businesses and all the different entertainment aspects 1989-"Batman" Put out by WB, based on a good property, go beyond the blockbuster ideals Time Magazine advertises the movie, comic books, and paperback novelizations Sequels, spun off an animated series, merchandising Showed what the modern global entertainment conglomerate can do, create a tentpole franchise Viacom-Paramount merger, dominated commercial cable networks Disney Company expanded from the inside to become a global entertainment conglomerate- worldwide distributor, etc. 1990s- sports franchises were added to the mix, but it was short lasted Fox- 1985 sold to Rupert Murdoch and New Corp., brought in a publishing empire Takes Fox in a new direction and created a new network television station Built up a lineup of affiliates around the country, do things the big networks wouldnt carry, primetime animation ("The Simpsons"), raunchier programming ("Married with Children"), real secret was that no matter what the ratings are, the cheaper the programming the more profit you could make ("Americas Most Wanted"), beginnings of tabloid/reality television In the late 1990s- networks make cheap shows, primetime game shows ("Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" 1999-2001), transitioned to reality programming ("Survivor") to the most popular show on television "American Idol" 1990s- the formula worked A deregulatory move allowed Hollywood to own television networks, Viacom bought CBS, Universal bought NBC, and Disney bought ABC, Paramount and Warner Bros. created UPN and WB Sony corporation brings together entertainment software with entertainment hardware Sony buys Columbia and Matiyusha buys Universal, proprietary software could allow their standards to dominate, not such a good idea FCC American television stations must be owned by American licensors, so they were blocked from the network business 1990s- Six Global Entertainment Conglomerates- Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Disney, Sony and Universal Dot COM boom, web was new way to deliver entertainment, "Blair Witch Project", alerted Hollywood to the power of the web, AOL-Time Warner merger in 1999 Synergy would give the advertising potential to a new height Other Hollywood majors became involved in Internet Dot Com bust in 2000--millions more advertisement didnt boost the box office as much, web was overvalued and overhyped Most companies have been pulled back from the conglomerations; the successful parts are being fragmented from unsuccessful parts
Enormous challenge- the nature of the digital age Distribution and Exhibition- music business lost control of its product, took at least a decade to adjust Movie business has to face a world where movies can be distributed quickly digitally