Post by Prime etc. on Aug 12, 2021 6:00:11 GMT
The only thing I agree with in her long winded article is that studios inherit audiences, they don't get them from scratch. The audience is always there.
But I disagree with everything else--the studios always had money access.
It has to be the greatest falsehood of the business.
Hollywood began by avoiding Edison's patent lawyers and yet they were able to take over completely. Not only the US but England, Italy etc.
They could only do this if a) they had lots of money b) connections in advertising and c) government connections.
They had a built in advantage over the American or British founded companies which needed access to the marketplace just to break even. Republic Pictures, Monogram, and many others that are forgotten now.
In the 60s and later they consolidated their ownership--they merged and re-merged and the senior executives simply increased the desire to remove European cultural stamp from the works they were financing.
So after the 60s they got rid of the Charlton Heston or Gregory Peck type lead--Eastwood fit into the 70s liberalization--Harrison Ford, Arnie, Stallone, Bruce Willis-at the same time the smaller companies which specialized in B movie genres went out of business or were bought up-or the distribution companies were swallowed---then in the 90s they focused on the likes of Jim Carrey, Will Smith became the new action star, Vin Diesel etc...
The elimination of a strong healthy and European cultural presence is what we have seen.
It has eaten away the artistic passion and intensity like a school that slowly reduces standards for faculty and it trickles down to the students and when they graduate and return to the school as the teacher-they carry on the continued degradation of the art form.
But I disagree with everything else--the studios always had money access.
It has to be the greatest falsehood of the business.
Hollywood began by avoiding Edison's patent lawyers and yet they were able to take over completely. Not only the US but England, Italy etc.
They could only do this if a) they had lots of money b) connections in advertising and c) government connections.
They had a built in advantage over the American or British founded companies which needed access to the marketplace just to break even. Republic Pictures, Monogram, and many others that are forgotten now.
In the 60s and later they consolidated their ownership--they merged and re-merged and the senior executives simply increased the desire to remove European cultural stamp from the works they were financing.
So after the 60s they got rid of the Charlton Heston or Gregory Peck type lead--Eastwood fit into the 70s liberalization--Harrison Ford, Arnie, Stallone, Bruce Willis-at the same time the smaller companies which specialized in B movie genres went out of business or were bought up-or the distribution companies were swallowed---then in the 90s they focused on the likes of Jim Carrey, Will Smith became the new action star, Vin Diesel etc...
The elimination of a strong healthy and European cultural presence is what we have seen.
It has eaten away the artistic passion and intensity like a school that slowly reduces standards for faculty and it trickles down to the students and when they graduate and return to the school as the teacher-they carry on the continued degradation of the art form.
So much so that a studio executive of today would be completely alien to the environment in Hollywood in 1970 or 1960 etc. They speak a different language.