Yannis Tzioumakis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748618668
- eISBN:
- 9780748670802
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748618668.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key ...
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This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key individual films and film-makers. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex dynamic relations between independent and mainstream American cinema.The main argument revolves around the idea that American independent cinema has developed alongside mainstream Hollywood cinema with institutional, industrial and economic changes in the latter shaping and informing the former. Consequently, the term ‘independent’ has acquired different meanings at different points in the history of American cinema, evolving according to the impact of changing conditions in the American film industry. These various meanings are examined in the course of the book.The book is ordered chronologically, beginning with independent filmmaking in the studio era (examining both top-rank and low-end independent film production), moving to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of independent filmmaking as the main method of production for the Hollywood majors as well as exploitation filmmaking) and finishing with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring areas such as the New Hollywood, the major independent production and distribution companies and the institutionalisation of independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes a number of case studies which focus on specific films and/or filmmakers, while a number of independent production and distribution companies are also discussed in detail.Less
This introduction to American independent cinema offers both a comprehensive industrial and economic history of the sector from the early twentieth century to the present and a study of key individual films and film-makers. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex dynamic relations between independent and mainstream American cinema.The main argument revolves around the idea that American independent cinema has developed alongside mainstream Hollywood cinema with institutional, industrial and economic changes in the latter shaping and informing the former. Consequently, the term ‘independent’ has acquired different meanings at different points in the history of American cinema, evolving according to the impact of changing conditions in the American film industry. These various meanings are examined in the course of the book.The book is ordered chronologically, beginning with independent filmmaking in the studio era (examining both top-rank and low-end independent film production), moving to the 1950s and 1960s (discussing both the adoption of independent filmmaking as the main method of production for the Hollywood majors as well as exploitation filmmaking) and finishing with contemporary American independent cinema (exploring areas such as the New Hollywood, the major independent production and distribution companies and the institutionalisation of independent cinema in the 1990s). Each chapter includes a number of case studies which focus on specific films and/or filmmakers, while a number of independent production and distribution companies are also discussed in detail.
Yannis Tzioumakis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748618668
- eISBN:
- 9780748670802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748618668.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The chapter examines the impact of the Paramount Decree of 1948, a Supreme Court decision that aimed to break the oligopoly of the studios in the American film industry, on independent production. ...
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The chapter examines the impact of the Paramount Decree of 1948, a Supreme Court decision that aimed to break the oligopoly of the studios in the American film industry, on independent production. The decision, alongside a number of other factors that included audience declines, the introduction of television and changes in the industry, turned the film studios from producers to financers of top-rank independent production, effectively adopting this mode of filmmaking as their preferred method of operation. Top-rank independent filmmaking then became interchangeable with studio filmmaking, even though a number of creative filmmakers continued to make films that prevented Hollywood cinema from complete standardisation. The chapter also examines how United Artists emerged as the most successful Hollywood studio in the post-Paramount Decree era, primarily through its support of top-rank independent production. Case study: Stanley Kramer and its Lomitas Production films for United Artists.Less
The chapter examines the impact of the Paramount Decree of 1948, a Supreme Court decision that aimed to break the oligopoly of the studios in the American film industry, on independent production. The decision, alongside a number of other factors that included audience declines, the introduction of television and changes in the industry, turned the film studios from producers to financers of top-rank independent production, effectively adopting this mode of filmmaking as their preferred method of operation. Top-rank independent filmmaking then became interchangeable with studio filmmaking, even though a number of creative filmmakers continued to make films that prevented Hollywood cinema from complete standardisation. The chapter also examines how United Artists emerged as the most successful Hollywood studio in the post-Paramount Decree era, primarily through its support of top-rank independent production. Case study: Stanley Kramer and its Lomitas Production films for United Artists.
