Integrative Arts 10
Notes on the Hollywood Studio System

1. What are the three elements of the studio system?
Production - This is the actual business of making movies.
Distribution - The huge network by which the big movie studios brought their films to the public. This aspect of their business included promotion and tracking. The studios used a variety of means to determine how long different films should play in which theaters.
Exhibition - This aspect of the business dealt with the theaters. Before being hit with over ten years worth of anti-trust lawsuits, the big studios owned the theaters that were the most lucrative. These were biggest theaters with the highest seating capacities, situated in the most densely populated areas.

2. What is the difference between an ‘A’ film, and a ‘B’ film?
‘A’ film - What is referred to as an ‘A’ film, in Hollywood is a film with a high budget, big name stars, the best, directors and producers available, etc. ,the best of everything. Batman, Hunt For Red October, and Forrest Gump are all examples of the typical Hollywood ‘A’ film.
‘B’ film - A ‘B’ film is a low budget, quickly made film. With ‘B’ films, the emphasis is on speed and efficiency to turn out a movie that will hopefully produce a profit. ‘B’ films do serve a purpose though. For almost all who work in the industry, ‘B’ films serve as a training ground. Some examples of ‘B’ films are Bikini Carwash Company Part 3, Reservoir Dogs, and anything featuring Shannon Tweed.

3. What percentage of first-run theaters did the major studios need to control most of the revenue?
The large studios only needed to own 16% of the total U.S. theaters, to yield them 90% of the total box office profits. The "big five", altogether, controlled over 70% of the total first run theaters in the United States as of 1940.

4. What was the most important aspect of owning theaters?
Location, location, location! The major studios concentrated their ownership in the largest theaters with the highest seating capacities in heavily populated areas. In addition to this, the big studios worked together to reduce competition. This arrangement coupled with the practice of owning only the biggest and most lucrative theaters in major U.S. cities, allowed the big studios were able to maximize their profits as much as possible.

5. What was Vistavision and why did it develop?

6. How did television contribute to the downfall of the studio system and help in it’s resurgence?
Television obviously stole a great deal of audience from the movies. Besides being a new and novel medium, it was a cheaper and more convenient form of entertainment. The studios were forced to come up with new ways of attracting audiences. The studios created all manner of promotions and crazy giveaways as well as other means to put themselves back on top.
On the other hand, television was not a death sentence for the studios. They also profited from it. Many television companies bought films from the studios to put on television. Also, once the studios threw their hats in the television production ring, they too were able to profit from television. It is also important to note also, that studios enjoyed a resurgence during WW2.

7. What are the problems of the dissolution of the studio system on the visual style and structure of motion pictures?
The committee system had a lot to do with this. Another problem was that for a long time, the studios believed that they were only a few years away from collapsing. The prosperity that the studios were used to receiving was slipping away, and many saw this as a sure sign that there were only a few years left. As a result, many studios liquidated their vast libraries and other assets.
All of this panic had a profound effect on the motion picture industry. The studios began to pump out movies as quickly as possible in order to make as much money, as fast as possible. This movie making frenzy yielded a lot of movies that were essentially the same picture over and over. This practice carried over year after year and effectively marginalized the different genres of pictures that came out of Hollywood. In other words, there is a certain "type" of movie that Hollywood produces today that stays within a set of parameters that have been come about as a result of the dissolution of the studio system.

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