Movie Studios
When people refer to " Hollywood movies" they are usually referring to those produced by one of the major motion picture studios which have dominated the industry since the 1920s. Although there are many other centres of movie production around the world (notably Bollywood - Mumbai) the Hollywood studios have tended to dominate. There are many reasons for this - the historical (they were churning out motion pictures while the rest of the world was fighting WWI) and economic (they are part of huge media groups which own most of the world between them). In the beginning, back in the 1920s & 30s, each studio was known for specialising in certain types of movie - the MGM musical, the Warner Bros gangster pic - but such distinctions have long since disappeared.
History
It is important to have some sense of the history of the Hollywood studios. From the 1920s till the 1950s they were an efficient factory system that churned out a product (movies) on a production line (the Hollywood and Burbank backlots). Film-making, although very much a craft, was a regular job with regular hours. Within the studio system you just turned up for work, whether you were a camera operator, a director, a writer or a star, and got on with whatever project the studio told you to do that day. Although this stifled some people's creativity, it was a wonderful environment in which to learn and polish skills. And there were some great characters around - on both sides of the camera.
- Columbia Pictures - A History from All Movie Guide
- 20th Century Fox - ditto
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - ditto
- Paramount Pictures - ditto
- Universal Studios - ditto
- Disney - link to the main page on this site
- ReelClassics - guide to the great movie studios
- A Guide to the great studio executives and movie producers
Hollywood in the 1920s & 1930s
- Greatest films of the 1920s - Filmsite.org
- Silent Ladies & Gents - information on stars of this era
- Silent Movies - search for the relevant ones
- Hollywood Thirties - a fansite, but hs some useful starters
Hollywood in the 1940s & 1950s
- Hollywood's Golden Age - the 1940s
- HUAC - read a brief history of the 'Hollywood blacklist' here
- HUAC & Censorship - how the system crumbled.
Movies about Movie-making under the studio system
- A great movie, and a good guide to what Hollywood was like in the very early days is Chaplin (1992), a biopic of the much loved silent movie star.
- Barton Fink (1991) covers Hollywood in the 1940s, following the adventures of a frustrated screenwriter.
- Guilty By Suspicion (1991) starring Robert de Niro, is an interesting look at the effect of McCarthyism on one man. Quintessential Hollywood in the 1950s.
Hollywood Today
Today the main studios (and their websites) are
These companies have the power to finance, produce, distribute and exhibit a feature film.
There is much debate about the future of Hollywood - have the 'money men' taken over? Has all creativity been stifled? Read up on the current issues with PBS's Frontline (video excerpts too!)
Task:
In small groups you will be allocated a movie studio. You need to find out
- Who founded the company and when? Write a brief history of the company - in your own words. Don't get too bogged down in this - think about what your audience need to know.
- Who owns it now and where are their main offices?
- What have been its major releases over the last five years?
Name the films, the directors, their genre and their stars.- How successful was it in last year's summer blockbuster season?
- What major films is it due to release in the next three months?
- Check the news files for a news story related to your studio that has occurred in the last three months. Summarise that story and evaluate its news values.
You will present your findings to the rest of the class.
