Features of the Hollywood Studio System

The Hollywood Studio system, had a big role in the success of the Classic Hollywood era. It was formed in the 1920's when during the Golden Age, eight companies created the 'major studios' that created the Hollywood Studio system. The biggest studios at this time were grouped into two groups called The Big 5 and The Little 3. During the Classic Hollywood era, production companies would have to do something called 'block booking', where the studio would sell multiple films they have made as a unit. One of these movies would usually be an A-list popular movie and the rest would be B-list movies with less budget.

The Hollywood Studio System was made of eight different companies which were separated into two different groups called The Big 5 and The Little 3.
The Big 5 consists of:
-MGM
-Paramount
-Warner Brothers
-RKO
-and Fox
{Explain what the little 3 is}The Little 3 consists of:
-Universal
-Columbia
-and United Artists

Vertical Integration is when the production company has complete ownership of the production, distribution and exhibition of the film. This means they receive all of the profits made.
Horizontal Integration is when the production company expands into other areas of one industry. so this means the company is able to develop in particular areas of the production, or the can buy another company that is able to deal with these areas. The studio system was solely seen using vertical integration, which was seen being used by the Big 5. It was more likely for the Little 3 to use the horizontal integration.

Warner Bros: explain briefly how it was formed, who is in charge and what roles they all have, the genre of films they make and the actors they generally use
Warner Bothers was founded on April 4th 1923. It is one of the most respected and successful studios in the world. It all began when the brothers (Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack L Warner) brought their company together in 1923. Warner Bros. had particular genres. Up to the mid-1930's and onward, mew genres were formed such as 'the swashbuckler cycle', 'the biopic' and later on 'film noir'. One of Warner Bros' most famous actors was Bette Davis who joined them in 1932 and stayed with them for years to come. Today, their most commonly used actors consist of people like Mark Christopher Lawrence and Scott Krinsky.
Warner Bros' production company uses vertical integration, so they have complete control over the production.

Paramount is another production company in the Big 5. It is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world. It was founded in 1912. Adolph Zukor, Jesse L Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille are credited as Paramount's principal founding fathers. Brad Grey is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Other executives include Rob Moore, Frederick Huntsberry, Adam Goodman and Amy Powell. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Paramount Studios had a very European sophisticated taste for films. Paramount's genres in this time were comedies, westerns, cutting-edge, bioptic films, documentary-style and war films. Paramount's films were largely male-dominated, fast moving and very cutting-edge. The early stars of Paramount were classics such as Mae West, Mary Pickford, Gary Cooper and Alan Ladd along with so many others. An extremely popular Paramount director is Alfred Hitchcock who created the famous film 'Psycho' (1960) and also 'Vertigo' (1958), another classic.
Paramount Pictures, like Warner Bros, used and still uses vertical integration meaning they have full control over their production. For example, Hitchcock would have full control of the making of Psycho.

Universal Studios is a member of the Little 3. It was founded on April 30th 1912. It was first founded by Carl Laemmle who was the President of the studios. He gave up daily needs to begin forming the studio. He was part of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust which took fees from exhibitors so they could make and show their films. Laemmle avoided payment by producing his own pictures. He started with the Yankee Film Company with two partners. This eventually evolved into the Universal Studios which we know today.
In the Classic Hollywood Era, Universal made very low-budget horror movies such as Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). They also made westerns with director Tod Browning and W.C Fields and Abbott and Costello comedies.
Actors who were seen a lot in Universal movies were Colin Clive Boris Karloff and Mae Clarke.
Universal Studios produced and distributed their movies, but however didn't own their own theatres. This means Universal had horizontal integration.


United Artists was founded February 5th 1919 and another member of the Little 3. The founders included Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W Griffith, the four leading figures of their time. Their film genres was generally varied from Romance to Comedy to Westerns. United Artists gave actors the opportunity to be in control of their own careers as actors often felt owned by their studio. The founders of the company were often in their movies. U.A created some famous films such as The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), A Woman Of Paris (1923) and one of the most famous films, West Side Story (1969).
United Artists had horizontal integration since they did not own the entire company, only the production and distribution.

Hollywood played an extreme part during the Great Depression. Even during this time, hundreds of people still went to the cinema. The industry had financial issues when it came to paying for the theaters and converting their films in sound. In 1933 40% of the movie attendance had fallen. To solve this problem, the industries had to trim the salaries, production costs and close a third of the nations theaters. There was a noticeable change to the genres and characters of the movies during the early years of the Depression. Gangsters, prostitutes, sleazy politicians and lawyers were the kind of characters in films around this time. The types of movies made were commonly gangster movies or films about money or politics. People found seeing these movies a form of escapism to forget the problems around them. At this time of the Depression, the most realistic films were ones regarding social problems, a lot of these films by Warner Bros or Columbia Pictures.

The fall of the Studio System took a long period of time from the late 1940's to the late 1960's. It all began in the post war era. There was the Supreme Court decision in 1948 which is said to be the beginning of the end for the Studio System, United States v. Paramount Pictures. This decision banned block booking which is when a studio would sell multiple films to a movie theatre at once. This caused the studios to be a lot more selective in the films they sold, therefore making an increase in the production value and more freedom to independent filmmakers. The Little 3 greatly benefited from this change while The Big 5 didn't as they did not own their own theater chain.
The growth of television popularity was putting a great deal of pressure on the film industry. Short programs, news programs and cartoons slowly took  over TV. The showing of late night movies therefor made for less audiences at the movie theatres. Studios reacted by filming their movies in colour and started using wide screen and stereo sound. However television was proving to be unstoppable and the rates of movie theatre attendance was dropping at a rapid speed.
The star system fell when established stars began to refuse roles they did not want, resulting in studios becoming more selective and demanding with contracts.


Conclusion
The current system uses synergy. Particularly Casino Royale  and Spider Man 3 who use something called Sony Synergy. Both these movies contain content from Sony. The films are distributed by Sony Pictures, the Spider Man games are made for PSP and Playstation 2, both Sony products. Casino Royale uses product placement with the Sony Vaio notebook, Cyber Shot Camera and Ericson phone and the soundtracks for the Spiderman movies are from Sony Music Entertainment. In todays system, companies like Sony can spread their company using synergy. It enhances the companies image and increases profit.
The current system also uses horizontal integration. Almost every studio will not have their own theater chain. Every system has several common actors in their films, those actors usually being A-List. For example, the production company Marvel Studios commonly sticks to the same actors, (Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansen etc.). Almost every studio will be horizontally integrated. Compared to the old studio system, where some studios would prefer vertical and create everything for themselves. Studios today would rather hire other companies to do certain parts of the work as they can afford to pay for the work to be done (granted that it is within their budget).