Jude White
A2 Media
9315
Hollywood Studio System (by Jack Spencely)
The Hollywood studio system is a method of distribution and production by several major film studios in Hollywood. The system began when Hollywood was established in the early 1900s. This was when a man named Thomas Edison held most of the moviemaking patents and was suing many of the independant film makers. These independant companies moved to the area called Hollywood to escape the rules and confinements of New Jersey, as well as for better filming locations overall.
The first motion picture studio built there was in 1919, by Al Cristie, and soon after many more studios began to arrive all cross Hollywood, and thus began it's golden age. All of these studios were became part of what is known as the Hollywood studio system. There were five major studios during this time, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, MGM and finally RKO (Also known as the big five). Along with the big five there were also the little 3. These studios were Universal, Columbia Pictures and United Artists. They owned little or no theatres and so couldn't guarentee that their films would be shown.
This was during a time when actors were purchased by Film studios and then would only star in their films however in 1948 there was a supreme court ruling which stated that they couldn't own actors, without an exclusive contract and seperated distribution practices and exhibition. Which meant that studios couldn't own the theatres where they showed their films. With the arrival of television, which competed for audience members the studio system was brought to the end.
Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers was originally formed by Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. It is currently has a revenue of $12 Billion making it the largest of the big five studios and still is today. It originally started as just film distribution and production but has since diversified into several different several different platforms such as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation and, originally, The WB TV network. Warner Brothers is possibly the best known film studio known with numerous films. Its older films were focused around the gangster genre, like 'Scarface' and 'Casablanca', and this is what Warner brothers is known for. In more recent years however Warner Brothers has created several extremely popular film series such as 'Harry Potter' and 'The Dark Knight'.
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox is the second largest of the big five. It is part of the Fox Entertainment studio which has an overall income of $13.28 billion. Its orgins lie in a merging of 20th century pictures and Fox film corporation. As said previously it is now part of the Fox Entertainment studio which also contains 20th Century Fox Television and formerly Fox animation studios. Fox has been the producer of numerous sucessful films, especially during the later half of the 1900s and in the 2000s. Such films like 'Alien', 'X-Men' and pssibly most famously 'Star Wars'.
Paramount
Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film studio, a TV production Company and a motion picture distributor. It's current revenue is $3.7 billion and is Americas oldest running studio, originally as the Famous Players film company before they changed their name. It is also a subsidiary of Viacom, a global mass media company. It contains not only a film industry but paramount Animation and Paramount Television as well. It has been involved with large films such as the 'Star Trek' reboot and 'Mission Impossible', however some of it's older films, like the Godfather, are just as successful.
RKO
RKO, or 'Radio Keith Orpheum' pictures was previously one of the big five film studios until it dropped out when it was dissolved in 1957. In 1981 however it was revived as a new company RKO Pictures Inc. which has since changed its name to RKO Pictures LLC. Despite their exit from the big five they are still responsible for some of the most popular and classic films such as 'King Kong' and 'Citizen Kane' as well as numerous different theatrical movies.
MGM
The final film studio to be a member of the big five and still be active as a poplar company today. MGM or 'Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer' was founded in 1924, one of the later addititions to the big five, when three different film companies were taken over by Marcus Loew. In 1971 there was a plan to merge the studio with 20th Centruy Fox, but the plan never came to fruition. It is part of MGM Holdings Inc. which has a revenue of $1.444 billion. MGM is responsible for several successful film series such as 'The Hobbit' and the newer series of 'James Bond' films. They are also responsible for the film 'Poltergiest', a very popular horror movie.
Columbia Pictures
Columbia pictures was the first of the little three, and currently makes up one of the big six in the present day after RKOs drop out. They have been recently acquired by Sony Pictures in 1989, a group that has a revenue of $8 billion overall and also merged with the TriStar film group as well. Columbia have been involved with several popular films, including the 'Ghost Busters' movies and the 'Spider-man' series more recently.
Universal Studios
Universal Studios Inc, also known as Universal Pictures, owned by Comcast through the subsidary NBCUniversal and is currently one of the big six. It is also a member of the MPAA, Motion Picture Association of America, and was founded in 1912, making it the fourth oldest major film studio. They have a revenue of $4.23 billion. They have several box office records due to films such as "ET the Extra Terrestrial" and "Jurassic Park".
United Artists
The United Artists Media Group (UAMG) was founded by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks in 1919. The intention of this studio was so that they could control their own interests rather than leave it down to the large commercial companies. More recently MGM aquired a controlling interest in the company and it was relaunched very recently. Because of this they are techically part of MGM now and operate on the same income and revenue.
