Same author and a shortened version of some of the same content as “The Big Picture – The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood.” Even so, plenty of insightful additional content that makes this worth reading.
A few excerpts that caught my eye:
p 81 – “…No matter hwo great their acting skills and box office drawing power, stars cannot get lead roles if they are uninsurable. Great acting skills and box office drawing power may make the star, but insurance is what it takes to make the movie.”
p 166 – Teens have three great advantages over adults (as target audiences) for movie studios. First, they tend to predictably cluster around the same TV programs on cable networks, such as MTV, which make them much less costly to reach than moviegoing adults who, if they watch TV at all, tend to be scattered among the most expensive programming in prime time. Second, once in multiplexes, teens tend to consume prodigious quantities of popcorn and soda, which is a powerful attraction to the theater chains that book movies for a wide opening. Third, teens buy electronic games, sports equipment, fast food, and other licensable items, which make them an appealing audience to merchandising partners with the capability of providing the multimillion dollar “tie-in” that help publicize studio movies.”
p – 185 – “Studios today… tend to green-light four types of movies for wide openings: remakes (King Kong), sequels (such as Star Wars: Episode III), or video game extensions (such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).
p – 185 – “If Hollywood is originality-challenged, it is … because they must take into account the underlying reality of today’s entertainment economy … (studios must) create audiences from scratch for each and every film …. (which) has become just as important a creative product as the film itself … (the six major studios supply a film plus) the publicity campaign capable of driving a herd of moviegoers from their homes to the theater on opening weekend.”
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