Hollywood Studio System
- Natasha
Studio System
The Hollywood studio system is a system that ensures that Hollywood's biggest studios were in complete control of the movies they made and how the movies were distributed, it largely aided the success of Classic Hollywood due to this system. The biggest studios at that time were decided into two groups, 'The Big Five' and 'The Little Three'. The reason for this compartmentalising was due to the five most major studios at this time owning their own theatres, and therefore could guarantee that their films would be shown. The other studios who did not own their own theatres were referred to as 'The Little Three'. The stars were owned by the studios, and the studios specialised in specific types and genres of films.
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The Big 5
This group consisted of MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO and Fox.
Warner Bros.
Warner Brothers was founded by Albert, Jack, Sam and Harry Warner as a film distrobution and production company, however the brand has diversified into several different platforms including television, animation and a TV network. The brand has a current revenue of $12.9 billion. They are responsible for films such as 'Scarface' and 'Casablanca', showing that their specialising genre focused around the gangster theme, however, recently the studio has produced film series such as 'Harry Potter' and 'The Dark Knight', therefore they are clearly reaching out into different styles of movie. In relation to the Horror Genre, Warner Bros. has been responsible for 7 Horror movies from 1991 to 2010.
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20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox is part of the Fox Entertainment studio, which originates from the merging of 20th Century Pictures and Fox Film corporation and branches into television and animation. It has a revenue of $28.9 billion and is responsible for films such as 'Alien', 'X-Men' and 'Star Wars'. In reference to the horror genre, 20th Century Fox has produced only one film in this genre from 1991 to 2010.
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Paramount
The brand Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film studio, TV production Company and motion picture distributor. It is America's oldest running studio. The company formally known as Famous Players film company re-branded as Paramount Pictures Corporation in 1935. The studio's current revenue is $3.7 billion and has been involved in producing films such as 'Star Trek', 'Mission Impossible' and 'The Godfather'. Paramount Pictures has released no films in the horror genre from 1991 to 2010.
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RKO
Radio Keith Orpheum pictures, having dropped out in 1957, was previously one of the big five film studios in Hollywood. In 1981 it was revived as a new company, RKO Pictures Inc. which has since rebranded as RKO Pictures LLC. Despite the studio's exit from the big five RKO are responsible for classic films such as 'King Kong' and 'Citizen Kane' and the company also branched out into theatrical movies.
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MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer is a film studio which is part of MGM Holdings Inc. which has a revenue of $1.4 billion. The studio is responsable for films such as 'The Hobbit' and the newer 'James Bond' movies. In relation to Horror, MGM has released 2 films of this genre from 1991 to 2010, and has previously produced majorly successful horror movies such as 'Poltergiest'.
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The Little 3
This group consisted of Universal, Columbia and United Artists.
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Columbia Pictures
Columbia pictures (which became one of the big six after RKO dropped out) has been a part of Sony Pictures since 1989, which has a revenue of $8 billion. Sony also merged with the TriStar film group, clearly presenting the company's large size. Columbia pictures has been involved in the production of films including 'Ghost Busters' and 'Spider-man'. In relation to horror, Sony Pictures has produced 7 films in the genre between 1991 and 2010.
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Universal Studios
Universal Studios Inc (Universal Pictures) is owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal. It is currently one of the big six and is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in addition to having a current revenue of $4.2 billion with a history of producing 'ET' and 'Jurassic Park'. In relation to the genre researched, the studio has only produced 2 horror movies between 1991 and 2010.
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United Artists
The United Artists Media Group was founded with the intention of controlling their own interests and not having to rely on large commercial companies. The company MGM has acquired controlling rights over United Artists, therefore they are technically one company and have the same revenue. They have produced horror films such as 'The Horror Show' in 1989.
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The Big 6
Currently, this group consists of Walt Disney Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros.
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Number of films in the horror genre released by Hollywood studios, 1991 to 2010 (minimum of 20 releases)
Number of films in the horror genre released by Hollywood studios, 1991 to 2010 (minimum of 20 releases)
I made the graph above to clearly present the most likely film studio to release a horror film according to recent releases and dates. The two most likely studios to produce a horror movie which I have researched are Sony Pictures (Columbia Pictures) and Warner Bros, closely followed by DreamWorks.
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