The Death of Hollywood and the Politics of Monopoly

Ever notice Hollywood doesn't make creative, adult-oriented films anymore? Sure, there are great. American films for grownups but they tend to be indie.

Wonder why?

Here is one answer by the great writer Matt Stoller:

"Both the Paramount Consent Decrees and the Fin-syn rules were designed to break creative industries into a three-tiered structure: production, distribution, and retailing. Producers were prohibited from vertically integrating into the traditional distribution business. That way, there are fewer conflicts of interest in the content business; producers had to create high quality work, and if they didn’t, distributors could choose to sell someone else’s art. Policy removed power as the mechanism of competition, and emphasized art."

Movie Box Office

Variety is one of the preeminent movie industry trade journals. It publishes entertainment news, articles about trends in the industry and box office results.

Current box office results are here .

More resources:

Try this link for current and historic (yes! older films) total Box Office takings

Always interesting to see what makes money (not what you think). Plus, shows you importance of international BO. PLUS, that you CAN make millions doing small movies.

This site also contains international results.
 
Here are some great stats from the National Theatre Owners' website: includes grosses and average ticket prices over time, among other things.

Film Gross and Box Office

Variety is one of the preeminent movie industry trade journals. It publishes entertainment news, articles about trends in the industry and box office results.

Current box office results are here.

Try this link for current and historic (yes! older films) total Box Office takings

Always interesting to see what makes money (not what you think). Plus, shows you importance of international BO. PLUS, that you CAN make millions doing small movies.

More current and historical data.

This site also contains international results.
 
Here are some great stats from the National Theatre Owners' website: includes grosses and average ticket prices over time, among other things.

Blog Editorial: Hollywood and the Remake Problem

There are too many Hollywood remakes.

According to this article, there are 30 remakes in the mix. And that's in addition to the films that have been remade already in the last few years.

Why?

But more than anything, economics is driving the trend, says Villanova University film Professor John O'Leary. "The powers that be in the film industry are feeling the heat from a bad economy and a changing distribution system," he points out via email, adding that studios are so afraid of failure that they don't dare venture into any uncharted waters. "They go to stories that have already been successful with the American public (even if they were in another medium or at another time) and make them again."

Read that again. The professor is saying that people are afraid to take chances and don't understand that's what made the originals successful. 

Our culture is afraid or intellectually unable to engage with its present. We've mastered the great ideas of the past, and miss the point that these great figures thought creatively and responded to their present. And what worked in the past may not work today.


Folks, this is a sign of a culture that's stuck. And you see this in finance, energy, politics, law and other walks of American life. 

It's the age of double down.


Can't wait to see what breaks this logjam.