What Was The Studio Basic Agreement

The Big Five`s ranking in terms of profitability (closely linked to market share) was largely consistent during the Golden Age: MGM was number 11 in a row, 1931-41. Paramount, the most profitable studio of the early sound era (1928-30), faded for most of the next decade, and Fox was number two for most of the mgM reign. Paramount began a steady ascent in 1940, which passed mgm two years later; From there until its reorganization in 1949, it was again the most financially successful of the Big Five. With the exception of 1932 – when all companies lost money except MGM and RKO lost a little less than its competitors – RKO was before the last or (normally) last of the golden age, warner being usually hanging at the back of the field. Among the smaller majors, the Little Three, United Artists, held well at the back, Columbia being the strongest in the 1930s and Universal being ahead in most of the 1940s. [1] Thus, in 1929, nearly 75 per cent of Japanese cinemas were linked to either Nikkatsu or Shochiku, the two largest studios of the time. [9] Although RKO was an exception, the directors of the West Coast studios, the „Filmmogule“, had been in service for a few years: Louis B. Mayer at MGM, Jack L. Warner at Warner Bros., Adolph Zukor at Paramount, Darryl F. Zanuck (at 20th Century Fox of 1935), Carl Lammle at Warner Bros. The period, which ranges from the introduction of sound to the beginning of the sinking of the studio system between 1927 and 1948, is described by some film historians as the golden age of Hollywood. The Golden Age is a purely technical distinction not to be confused with the style of film criticism, known as classic Hollywood cinema, a style of American cinema that developed from 1917 to 1963 and is still characterized today.

During the so-called Golden Age, eight companies formed the major studios that advertised the Hollywood studio system. Of these eight, five fully integrated conglomerates merged ownership of a production studio, sales department and major theatre chain and entered into contracts with actors and film professionals: Fox Film Corporation (20th Century Fox), Loew`s Incorporated (owner of America`s largest theatre circuit and parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures and Warner Bros. Two majors – Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures – were organized in the same way, even though they never had more small theatre tours. The eighth of the greats of the Golden Age, United Artists, owned a few theatres and had access to two production sites owned by members of its control partnership group, but it mostly played the role of support distributor, lending money to independent producers and publishing their films. In the mid-2010s, major studios moved to the production of mainstream films that cater to the public (genre films, sequels, 3D films and superheroes). As these films risk losing money in movie receipts (and some even have), independent companies have opened up the possibility of producing films that, in recent years, have angered other great studio films for the Oscar for Best Picture. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which produces the Academy Awards each year) generally awards Oscars for best film to high-quality, heavy-quality films, not mainstream popular film. In recent years, multiple awards for independent films such as Spotlight (Open Road, 2015), Moonlight (A24, 2016) and Parasite, (Neon, 2019) have had a great influence on the cashing of other great studio films and perhaps the fate of the major studios themselves, and this is still today with the latest wave of independent films. This persistent dominance of independent film is proof that its success does not depend on a film format, be it 3D, CinemaScope or a large format like IMAX. The latest results of the Cannes Film Festival and the lack of American films that have won these awards may have influenced the dominance of independent film.