Condensed Producers and Audience Notes.

• Hollywood studio system - golden age between 1930 and 1948. 
• 'Big five' - Paramount, Loew's , Fox, Warner Bros and RKO.
• Smaller companies - Columbia, universal and united artists. 
• Each studio was controlled by a mogul. 
• Paramount had more than 1,000 theatres - best hold over exhibition. 
• RKO  was the least commercially successful and no longer exists. 
• MGM - most famous at the time. 
• Studio system end after world war two - which led to a decline in cinema going.
• Advertising budgets are extremely high. 
• Most films don't break even.
  
  Key words: Production line model; vertical integration; the package; treatment; blockbuster / high concept film.
  
  • No guarantee of financial success.
  • Hollywood often 'repackage' already successful elements.
  • Of every 10 films made in Hollywood, 6 will lose money, one will break even, one will make a small profit, one making a significant profit and an extremely successful one. 
  • Success is measured by profits.
  • There are 3 stages to film making - production, distribution and exhibition.
  •  Whoever invests in a film has significant power over its outcome.
  • Script treatment - Detailed storylines, possible stars and location.
  • green lit means that the studio agrees to fund the next stage.