Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Analytical Table of Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Case Studies
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Introduction: Problems of Definition and the Discourse of American Independent Cinema
- Part I American Independent Cinema in the Studio Years (mid-1920s–late 1940s)
- 1 Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: Tendencies within the Studio System
- 2 Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: The Poverty Row Studios (1930–50s)
- Part II The Transitional Years (late 1940s–late 1960s)
- Part III Contemporary American Independent Cinema (late 1960s–present)
- Epilogue: From Independent to ‘Specialty’ Cinema
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: Tendencies within the Studio System
from Part I - American Independent Cinema in the Studio Years (mid-1920s–late 1940s)
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Analytical Table of Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Case Studies
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Introduction: Problems of Definition and the Discourse of American Independent Cinema
- Part I American Independent Cinema in the Studio Years (mid-1920s–late 1940s)
- 1 Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: Tendencies within the Studio System
- 2 Independent Filmmaking in the Studio Era: The Poverty Row Studios (1930–50s)
- Part II The Transitional Years (late 1940s–late 1960s)
- Part III Contemporary American Independent Cinema (late 1960s–present)
- Epilogue: From Independent to ‘Specialty’ Cinema
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The independent producer is a man who is dependent on the exhibitors, the studios and the banks.
Walter Wanger, independent producerINTRODUCTION
During the studio era the American film industry was dominated by eight companies, the Big Five (Paramount, Loew's [MGM], 20th Century-Fox, Warner Bros and RKO) and the Little Three (Columbia, Universal and United Artists). The Big Five were vertically integrated companies: they produced their films at self-owned studios; they developed a network of offices in the United States and around the world to market their films and deliver them to the theatres; and they owned a relatively small number of theatres in the United States and in key European countries where they exhibited their own (as well as each other's) films. The Little Three were organised in the same way as the Big Five but were not integrated on the same level: Columbia and Universal produced and distributed their own films but did not own any theatres, while United Artists was mainly a distribution company even though, for a time, it owned a small number of theatres in certain key markets. According to Douglas Gomery, the eight studios produced about three-quarters of all features made, while this product was responsible for about 90 per cent of the box office takings. This suggests that roughly one-quarter of all films were made and distributed outside the eight studios, while 10 per cent of all dollars spent on cinema-going were for films made and distributed by non-studio outfits.
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- American Independent CinemaAn Introduction, pp. 19 - 62Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2006