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Students Name

The Name of the Course

Date (for instance, 7 September 2012)

The Business of Movie Making

Q#1: What are the challenges and benefits involved in converting the film industry to digital

technology in the areas of production, distribution, and exhibition?

In the area of exhibition, and partially, distribution, digital cinema creates an opportunity to

build theaters more economically, as well as to exploit the satellite, cable distribution and

digital video projection for more than just motion pictures. The multifunctionality of the

digital age products and services provides a wide variety of exploitation areas, bringing

cinematography closer to people. The film industry becomes more accessible, as well as more

competitive. At the same time, a shift to digital film production inevitably leads to the

challenges in the communication area. Films created digitally require huge changes that

ought to be made, for instance, in the area of TV broadcasting, creating new expenses, whose

necessity can be questioned.

Q#2: How was the studio system organized in the golden age, and what factors contributed to

its decline?

The studio system is the means of film production, as well as film distribution during the so-

called Golden Age of Hollywood. Studio systems can be roughly characterized as

monopolies, who kept directors, writers, actors and the rest of the personnel on a short leash,

controlling both production and terms of distribution. The decline of the studio system can be

attributed, first of all, to the establishment of the federal antitrust action (the United States of

America vs. Paramount Pictures Inc. case ), which led to the separation of the film production

from film distribution and exhibition, and second of all, to the arrival of the epoch of

television.

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Q#3: In what major ways does the independent system differ from the studio system?

The film production is conducted separately from its distribution and exhibition. Directors,

writers, actors and other personnel involved in movie making are not tied up by unpleasant

long-term contracts; the manipulative techniques of the studio representatives are minimized.

Q#4: How is a movie financed and why are movies so expensive to make?

The film financing is a stage that occurs prior to the pre-production stage of film making,

namely, during the development stage. Ordinarily, there are five common methods of film

financing, which include: (1) government grants and subsidies; (2) tax schemes, namely tax

deductions for film producers; (3) private equity and largely unregulated speculative funds

based on return from high-risk investments, known as hedge funds; (4) debt finance; (5)

equity finance. Movies are so expensive to make, because movie creation requires and

involves a lot of people and technology. The viewers are interested in a big and impressive

show; in order to make one and make it look unbelievably real and entertaining, money must

be spent; after all, filmmaking is a form of art, and the filmmakers are rather ambitious

artists, who aim at creating something that has never been done before, and usually, such

project is rarely based on a beautiful idea, it is based on costly attributes.

Q#5: How are movies marketed and distributed? Have these aspects changed between the

studio and independent systems?

The studio systems monopolized the marketing and distribution sector of the film industry,

thus, creating the necessary additional sales of films through manipulative booking methods.

The independent system revolves around the artistic vision captured through the film, its

creative value. The marketing of independent films is commonly associated with limited

release, though a more wide release may also be the case, if the film evokes issues of great

importance. The distribution of independent movies is frequently based on the screenings at

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international film festivals, which take place before the actual release. Such marketing

peculiarities generally come from the lower budgets that these movies have.