1. The Hollywood Studio System Essay
Hollywood is the film industry of the United States. It is extremely famous
worldwide. Hollywood has connotations of money, glamour and fame. It is
also most commonly associated with big stars. Studying the history of
Hollywood is important as it gives film audiences an idea of how the process
of film making has changed over time.
The Hollywood majors are the main Hollywood studios which emerged. The
first five majors were Warner Bro’s, RKO, FOX, Paramount and MGM
however three other studios were also considered as majors. These three
studios are Universal, Columbia and United Artists. The first films which
started of the US film industry were called talkies. These were silent films
which featured famous actors such as Charlie Chaplin. The first talkie which
was released was called ‘The Jazz Singer’ This was the start of US film
industry. It all began in New York and then gradually began to become more
popular.
Vertical Integration was the main reason for the power of the studios. It means
that all three stages; production, distribution and exhibition were owned.
Production refers to the actual stages of making the film. Distribution is the
process of transporting the film over to theatres and cinemas. Exhibition is the
process of the screening and audience showings. It is referred to as the
merger. For a certain period of time, all three areas of film were controlled by
the Hollywood studios. Years ago, each studio would only show films from
one studio. It enables power as it allows each company to make more money
by being in control of which cinemas can show their films.
The studio system of film is the arrangement of film production and
distribution. It was dominated by the five majors. The occurred during the
golden age of Hollywood. It is referred to as ‘the golden age’ as it is the period
of time in which Hollywood was at the height of its power. The studINio
system was similar to that of Henry Forde however it was integrated into the
film industry. An important part of the system was something known as ‘book
blocking.’ It meant that studios could make a lot of movies no matter what the
budget and quality of the film was. Book blocking involved a studio selling
multiple films to a cinema as a unit. The studio produced long term contracts.
There are many Advantages and disadvantages of the Studio system.
An advantage of the studio system would be that the bigger companies would
make more profit. This is because they received better crew and better
equipment to produce higher quality films which allowed them to receive more
money. Another benefit was the idea of have a guaranteed audience. This
meant that their films would defiantly be seen and that they were certain of
having an audience meaning they would still be making money. The final and
most important benefit is the idea of them being in control. They were able to
be in control of both the process and the product meaning things could go
exactly as they wanted it to go.

2. There are also some disadvantages that came with the studio system. One
disadvantage could be that the smaller companies lose out on profit as the
other five majors may be receiving all the money. This could be due to
audiences only wanting to see films containing big stars which were only
generally produced by the big five. It also made it difficult for smaller
independent films to be released. There is also a disadvantage for the big
five. They may also lose money as they have to purchase better equipment
and crew. Some stars also resented being controlled by studios.
In the 1950’s power was challenged. An example of an incident that occurred
was the De Havilland case. Olivia Mary De Havilland was an American
actress. She went through a court case due to her having an unfair court
case.. Many major stars within the industry began to rebel and agents were
having to negotiate deals. The antitrust laws also came into action. These
were also referred to as the competition laws. These showed signs of a
downfall which was part of the lead up to the end of the golden age of
Hollywood. The studio system began to crash which saw a huge change to
the change of the structure in Hollywood. If films were not being produced
correctly, then companies would lose out on money.