The Political Economy of Film

1. The Political Economy of Film • Why do we expect film to influence behavior? • Advertising: campaign; product • Marketing: science of creating demand • Who controls the production of film?

2. Monopolies of Film • Edison Trust • The Motion Picture Patents Company 1908 • Lasted only a few years • Produced short “one-reelers” • Golden Age (1930s/40s): • A new monopoly, based on distribution, not technology. Retailers/exhibitors took over production to meet their needs. • High quality, but uncontroversial, genre films

3. Monopolies of Film • The 3rd Monopoly: Marketization of Hollywood • 1960s studies began to fail • Corporate ownership • Outsourcing; Independent production • Free agents

4. Impact of the change in production Decentralized control “Film industry is no longer even a shadow of the monopoly it once was” p. 47 “Balance of power has changed in the film industry—from the executives in Hollywood to the market.” Domestic and international market influence Is this a good thing?

5. Who Makes em? 7 companies of Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) 92% of domestic receipts Owned by larger companies Film production is ultimately approved in corporate board rooms (conservative bent) Hollywood elite (writers, producers, directors) not that different from other elite More cosmopolitan

6. Dual influence • Corporate profit motive: broadly popular films (least common denominator) • Action films, special effects, sequals • X2 • Cultural (liberal) elites desire to make certain films (ideology; peer pressure) • Last Tycoon • What Just Happened? De Niro says he doesn’t care about the numbers, we here to be leaders

7. Who watches em? Democrats watch more movies Church goers watch less movies Foreign sales can account for 60% of film industry’s revenue 14-24 year old watch movies more frequently (50+ less so) Not much variation by income ($50K, 60K, 70K, 80K) More educated watch more movies