True Industries Find Little Room To Grow

By Galen Annest

Nestled within the thriving city of Los Angeles is a small neighborhood with international popularity. Hollywood, Calif. is credited with producing the worlds most successful and profitable films. With media conglomerates such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Universal, and Columbia, Hollywood is responsible for the highest grossing films worldwide.

Recently, Hollywood has received some negative attention from those who are concerned about the future of film and entertainment economics. This article will address these concerns, and explore how it affects the producers that find themselves beyond the borders of Hollywood.

“In 1915, the Supreme Court ruled that the exhibition of motion pictures was a business, ‘pure and simple,” and that it is natural to control as much of the market as possible,” said Bill Kunz, associate professor of communication at University of Washington Tacoma. “Almost a century later, the end result is that six major studios and their corporate subsidiaries claim over 90 percent of the box office in most years, and there is almost no space for ‘true’ independent production.”

With budgets, revenues, and resources that outnumber any foreign or domestic competitor, the main Hollywood film producers are criticized for monopolizing the entertainment industry, and smothering independent filmmakers. These large companies are making it increasingly difficult for those who want to produce film as a medium of art because they control the majority of the entertainment market.

“When I go to a movie I want to be entertained,” said Michael Case, a media consumer from the Tacoma area. “I am not there to learn or be enlightened; I just want to eat popcorn and escape my daily routine.”

Despite the tendency of the general public to support the major motion picture companies, foreign and independent production companies still manage to survive. They do so by differentiating themselves from traditional Hollywood productions, and by capturing a small contingent of entertainment consumers.

The smaller companies cannot outdo the special effects and action scenes that Hollywood is famous for, but they do possess a competitive edge. These producers are able to represent specific cultural traits and tell stories that do not conform to the homogenous films produced by the six large corporations, and appeal to those who view film as an expression of art and diversity.

“Independent and foreign film producers are not the only ones that have suffered from the conglomeration of media enterprises,” said Richard White, a retired film producer in Los Angeles. “Smaller production companies like the one that I worked for competed for the same market share as companies like 20th Century Fox, and didn’t stand a chance. At least the independent and foreign market found a niche, and are able to stay afloat.”

The giants of Hollywood have yet to extinguish the market for foreign and independent film, but with the money that they have, smaller producers that cater to the same audience are at a serious disadvantage.

Interestingly, several foreign producers manage to outsmart the almighty Hollywood by creating films that do not conform to the traditional script formulas. Films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Il Postino” (shown in the U.S. as “The Postman,”) “Like Water for Chocolate,” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” gained a widespread audience in their country and beyond.

Similarly, independent films such as “The Blair Which Project,” “Passion of the Christ,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” and recently “Paranormal Activity” have competed with the Hollywood releases and emerged as box office favorites.

The Hollywood giants are not altogether bad. They generate a great deal of revenue and employment for the American economy, and are able to fund and produce new films that would be impossible without large amounts of money.

James Cameron’s “Avatar,” whose release out-earned Cameron’s earlier box office giant “Titanic” as the top grossing film of all time, has created a stir among the film industry and its critics.

“Avatar” is praised for its cinematic genius, and for pioneering a new frontier in film. With Cameron’s integration of computer animation and live acting, the release of “Avatar” created a viewing phenomenon unlike any other film. The special effects and computer science behind this masterpiece would have been impossible without 20th Century Fox’s multi-billion dollar corporation.

Despite the skepticism from film buffs and economists, foreign and independent films persist by attracting a large enough audience to cover the costs. Though they do not achieve the status of Cameron’s works, they do provide audiences in the United States and abroad with an alternative to mainstream media. For now, the high demand for mainstream entertainment keeps the economic scale between Hollywood and the rest of the film-producing world tipped in favor of the small Los Angeles neighborhood.