Hollywood:Studio System, Stars and the

Golden Age

FS2 Producers and AudiencesWednesday 14th November 2007

Aims and Objectives

• To gain understanding of the major Hollywood studios during the golden age

• To explore the relationship between stars and studios

Hollywood

Dream Factory

Tinsel Town

Walk of Fame

Oscars

Celebrity Lights, Camera, Action

Types of OrganisationMonopoly – one company maintains domination within a sector

Oligopoly – few companies with domination in one sector

Conglomerate – one large company, that owns smaller companies in different sectors

Multinational – one company based in many countries

Why Hollywood?

• Climate

• Landscape

• Lighting

• Real estate

• Labour costs

The Golden Age

The studio era 1931-1951

The Big Five…

Warner Brothers

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO)

Paramount

Twentieth Century-Fox

…and the little three

Universal

Columbia Pictures

United Artists

Stages of Production

Production: Fordist model

Distribution and Exhibition: Run-Zone-Clearance

Studio Contracts

• Up to 7 year contracts

• Control of image and career

• Exhibition: Block and Blind booking

Before After

Rita Hayworth

Marilyn Monroe

HomeworkDue: Tuesday 20th November 2007

Part 1 Cinema as institution: Read pages 4-15, then complete Q1-4 on p.15

Part 2 Warner Brothers:Using the information from the reading research contemporary Warner Brothers, focus on ownership, products and vertical/horizontal integration.