The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry

by McDonald, Paul; Wasko, Janet

• ISBN13: 9781405133876
• ISBN10: 1405133872
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-02-11
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

The contemporary Hollywood film industry is characterized by continuity and change. While many well-established Hollywood studios continue to dominate the film business, the industry also has witnessed various changes during the past two decades. The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry is a collection of essays by leading scholars that examine the U.S. film industry as an international phenomenon, from the l980s to present day. It explores a host of challenges and changes facing Hollywood, and includes important discussions of the industry's labor and star systems, as well as intellectual property and state relations. Essays consider the role of independent producers, the global marketplace for Hollywood product, corporate changes, and various new media windows, including video, DVD to cable, satellite, and online channels of delivery. Offering a balanced, fresh, and international approach to the important contemporary period in Hollywood, this text is designed specifically for classroom use in undergraduate and graduate level film courses. Contributors include: Paul McDonald, Janet Wasko, Tom Schatz, Philip Drake, Charles Acland, Eileen R. Meehan, Frederick Wasser, Randy Nichols, Jeff Smith, Susan Christopherson, Manjunath Pendakur, Ronald V. Bettig, John Trumpbour, Joel Augros, Peter Kramer, Krishna P. Jayakar, David Waterman, Tamara L. Falicov, John A. Lent, Nitin Govil, and David Newman.

Author Biography

Paul McDonald is Professor in Film and Television Studies at the University of Portsmouth, UK. He is the author of Video and DVD Industries and The Star System: Hollywood's Production of Popular Identities and co-editor for the International Screen Industries series from the British Film Institute.

Janet Wasko is the Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon. She is the author of How Hollywood Works, Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy, and Hollywood in the Information Age: Beyond the Silver Screen. She also edited A Companion to Television and Dazzled by Disney? The Global Disney Audience Project.

Table of Contents

About the Contributors

Figures and Tables

Preface

Introduction

the Structure of the Industry

the Studio System and Conglomerate Hollywood

Finance and Production: Creating the Film Commodity

Distribution and Marketing in Contemporary Hollywood

Theatrical Exhibition: Accelerated Cinema

Ancillary Markets

Television: From Challenge to Safe Haven

Ancillary Markets

Video and DVD: Hollywood Retools

Ancillary Markets

Video Games: Promises and Challenges of an Emerging Industry

Ancillary Markets

Recorded Music: Charting the Rise and Fall of the Soundtrack

Industry Dynamics

Hollywood Labor Relations: the Effects of Media Concentration on the Film and Television Workforce

the Star System: Producing Hollywood Stardom in the Post-Studio Era

Hollywood and the State: the American Film Industry Cartel in the Age of Globalization

Hollywood and Intellectual Property

International Territories

Hollywood and the World: Export or Die

Britain: Hollywood UK

France: A Story of Love and Hate

Germany: A Very Special Relationship

Italy: the Rise and Fall of the Italian Market

Latin America: How Mexico and Argentina Cope and Cooperate with the Behemoth of the North

East Asia: for Better of Worse

India: Hollywood's Domination, Extinction and Re-animation (with thanks to Jurassic Park)

Australia and New Zealand: Expats in Hollywood and Hollywood South

Index

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