Contents:
Part 1. Box Office Champions, Chaotic Dynamics and Herding 1. Rank Revenue and Survival 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Exhibition 1.3 Tournaments 1.4 Data 1.5 Survival Model 1.6 Results 1.6.1 Survivors 1.6.2 Survival Rates 1.6.3 Rank and Revenue 1.7 Conclusions 2. Dynamics and Contracting 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Supply 2.2.1 Runs and Revenues 2.2.2 Booking and Supply 2.2.3 Contracting 2.2.4 Adaptation 2.2.5 Release Strategies 2.3 Discovery and Dynamics 2.3.1 Search 2.3.2 Bose-Einstein Distribution 2.3.3 Other Models 2.4 Revenue Distributions 2.4.1 Data 2.4.2 Revenue Concentration 2.4.3 Rank and Revenue 2.4.4 Revenue Distribution Dynamics 2.4.5 Identifying the Dynamic 2.5 Explaining the Industry 2.5.1 Launching the Opening 2.5.2 Adaptive Contracting 2.5.3 Admission Pricing 2.5.4 Rentals 2.5.5 Decentralisation 2.6 Conclusions 3. The Breakdown of Herding 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Information and Demand Dynamics 3.3 The Model 3.4 Estimates 3.5 The Stable Paretian Model 3.6 Bifurcation 3.6.1 Path to Equilibrium 3.6.2 Correlations 3.7 Results 3.8 Conclusions Part 2. "Wild" Uncertainty, Tough Decisions and False Beliefs 4. Uncertainty and Stars 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Related Literature 4.2.1 Motion Picture Uncertainty 4.2.2 Stars 4.2.3 Pareto and Levy Distributions 4.3 Modelling Star Power 4.3.1 Modelling Probability Mass 4.3.2. Risk and Survival 4.4 The Movie Data 4.4.1 Sources 4.4.2 The Run 4.4.3 Revenues, Budgets and Profits 4.5 Estimation Results 4.5.1 Revenue Concentration 4.5.2 Opening and Staying Power 4.5.3 Pareto Distribution 4.5.4 The Probability of a Hit 4.5.5 Stars and Hits 4.5.6 Stars and Profit 4.6 'Greenlighting' Movies 4.7 Conclusions 5. Does Hollywood Make Too Many R-rated Movies? 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Production 5.3 'Greenlighting' 5.4 Ranking by Success Rates 5.4.1 Box Office Revenue Success Rates 5.4.2 Return on Production Cost Success Rates 5.5 Ranking by Stochastic Dominance 5.5.1 Revenues 5.5.2 Production Budgets 5.5.3 Rates of Return 5.5.4 Profits and Losses 6. Openings, Legs and Blockbusters 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Cascades 6.3 Performance Statistics 6.4 Modelling the Box Office 6.4.1 Budgets 6.4.2 Sequels 6.4.3 Opening Screens 6.4.4 Genre and Rating 6.4.5 Stars 6.5 Conclusions Part 3. Judges, Lawyers and the Movies 7. Motion Picture Antitrust 7.1 Motion Picture Economics 101 7.1.1 Discovering Demand 7.1.2 Determining Supply 7.1.3 Structuring Incentives 7.1.4 Contracts 7.2 The Feature Motion Picture 7.3 Integration and Licensing 7.3.1 Admission Prices 7.3.2 Runs and Clearance 7.3.3 Exotic Deals 7.3.4 Block Booking and Blind Selling 7.3.5 Integration and Contracts 7.4 The Courts' Analyses 7.4.1 Bidding for Licenses 7.4.2 Controlling the First Run 7.4.3 Leveraging Monopoly 7.5 Paramount's Effects 7.6 Conclusions 8. Paramount and the Stock Market 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Studio System 8.3 The Paramount Litigation 8.4 Stock Prices 8.5 Was a Cartel Feasible? 8.6 Winners and Losers 8.7 Conclusions 9. Stochastic Market Structure 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Market Power 9.3 Motion Pictures in the Era of Paramount 9.4 Instability 9.5 Turnover of Leaders 9.6 Standard Models are Wrong 9.7 The HHI Does Not Exist 9.8 Conclusions Part 4. A Business of Extremes 10. Profit and the Curse of the Superstar 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The Stable Hypothesis 10.3 Profit 10.4 The Stable Distribution 10.5 Estimation 10.6 Stable Probabilities 10.7 Nobody Knows 10.8 Superstars and Profit 10.9 Averages 10.10 The Curse of the Superstar 10.11 Success Breeds Success 10.12 The Angel's Nightmare 10.13 Contracting 10.14 Conclusions 11. Artists 11.1 Introduction 11.2 On Becoming a Superstar 11.3 Artists and Kurtosis 11.4 Career Expectations and Opportunities 11.5 Luck or Talent? 11.6 Competing for Stars 11.7 Artist Contracts 11.8 Pay When You Do Know 11.9 Director Contracts 11.10 Conclusions 12. Extreme Uncertainty 12. 1 Introduction 12.2 Complex Systems 12.2.1 Chaos 12.2.2 Complexity 12.3 Universality 12.4 Deep Order 12.4.1 Increasing Returns to Information 12.4.2 Nobody Knows 12.4.3 Dominance of Extreme Events 12.4.4 Self-similarity 12.4.5 Runs, Legs and Chaos 12.5 Complexity and the Stable Paretian Distribution Epilogue: Managing when "Nobody Knows Anything" 12.6 Probabilities 12.7 Inside and Outside the Studio 12.8 Risk and Decision Bias 12.9 Narrow Framing and Sure Things 12.10 Financing Movies 12.11 Causality and Kim Basinger 12.12 A Skeptical Attitude

Contents:
Part 1. Box Office Champions, Chaotic Dynamics and Herding 1. Rank Revenue and Survival 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Exhibition 1.3 Tournaments 1.4 Data 1.5 Survival Model 1.6 Results 1.6.1 Survivors 1.6.2 Survival Rates 1.6.3 Rank and Revenue 1.7 Conclusions 2. Dynamics and Contracting 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Supply 2.2.1 Runs and Revenues 2.2.2 Booking and Supply 2.2.3 Contracting 2.2.4 Adaptation 2.2.5 Release Strategies 2.3 Discovery and Dynamics 2.3.1 Search 2.3.2 Bose-Einstein Distribution 2.3.3 Other Models 2.4 Revenue Distributions 2.4.1 Data 2.4.2 Revenue Concentration 2.4.3 Rank and Revenue 2.4.4 Revenue Distribution Dynamics 2.4.5 Identifying the Dynamic 2.5 Explaining the Industry 2.5.1 Launching the Opening 2.5.2 Adaptive Contracting 2.5.3 Admission Pricing 2.5.4 Rentals 2.5.5 Decentralisation 2.6 Conclusions 3. The Breakdown of Herding 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Information and Demand Dynamics 3.3 The Model 3.4 Estimates 3.5 The Stable Paretian Model 3.6 Bifurcation 3.6.1 Path to Equilibrium 3.6.2 Correlations 3.7 Results 3.8 Conclusions Part 2. "Wild" Uncertainty, Tough Decisions and False Beliefs 4. Uncertainty and Stars 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Related Literature 4.2.1 Motion Picture Uncertainty 4.2.2 Stars 4.2.3 Pareto and Levy Distributions 4.3 Modelling Star Power 4.3.1 Modelling Probability Mass 4.3.2. Risk and Survival 4.4 The Movie Data 4.4.1 Sources 4.4.2 The Run 4.4.3 Revenues, Budgets and Profits 4.5 Estimation Results 4.5.1 Revenue Concentration 4.5.2 Opening and Staying Power 4.5.3 Pareto Distribution 4.5.4 The Probability of a Hit 4.5.5 Stars and Hits 4.5.6 Stars and Profit 4.6 'Greenlighting' Movies 4.7 Conclusions 5. Does Hollywood Make Too Many R-rated Movies? 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Production 5.3 'Greenlighting' 5.4 Ranking by Success Rates 5.4.1 Box Office Revenue Success Rates 5.4.2 Return on Production Cost Success Rates 5.5 Ranking by Stochastic Dominance 5.5.1 Revenues 5.5.2 Production Budgets 5.5.3 Rates of Return 5.5.4 Profits and Losses 6. Openings, Legs and Blockbusters 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Cascades 6.3 Performance Statistics 6.4 Modelling the Box Office 6.4.1 Budgets 6.4.2 Sequels 6.4.3 Opening Screens 6.4.4 Genre and Rating 6.4.5 Stars 6.5 Conclusions Part 3. Judges, Lawyers and the Movies 7. Motion Picture Antitrust 7.1 Motion Picture Economics 101 7.1.1 Discovering Demand 7.1.2 Determining Supply 7.1.3 Structuring Incentives 7.1.4 Contracts 7.2 The Feature Motion Picture 7.3 Integration and Licensing 7.3.1 Admission Prices 7.3.2 Runs and Clearance 7.3.3 Exotic Deals 7.3.4 Block Booking and Blind Selling 7.3.5 Integration and Contracts 7.4 The Courts' Analyses 7.4.1 Bidding for Licenses 7.4.2 Controlling the First Run 7.4.3 Leveraging Monopoly 7.5 Paramount's Effects 7.6 Conclusions 8. Paramount and the Stock Market 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Studio System 8.3 The Paramount Litigation 8.4 Stock Prices 8.5 Was a Cartel Feasible? 8.6 Winners and Losers 8.7 Conclusions 9. Stochastic Market Structure 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Market Power 9.3 Motion Pictures in the Era of Paramount 9.4 Instability 9.5 Turnover of Leaders 9.6 Standard Models are Wrong 9.7 The HHI Does Not Exist 9.8 Conclusions Part 4. A Business of Extremes 10. Profit and the Curse of the Superstar 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The Stable Hypothesis 10.3 Profit 10.4 The Stable Distribution 10.5 Estimation 10.6 Stable Probabilities 10.7 Nobody Knows 10.8 Superstars and Profit 10.9 Averages 10.10 The Curse of the Superstar 10.11 Success Breeds Success 10.12 The Angel's Nightmare 10.13 Contracting 10.14 Conclusions 11. Artists 11.1 Introduction 11.2 On Becoming a Superstar 11.3 Artists and Kurtosis 11.4 Career Expectations and Opportunities 11.5 Luck or Talent? 11.6 Competing for Stars 11.7 Artist Contracts 11.8 Pay When You Do Know 11.9 Director Contracts 11.10 Conclusions 12. Extreme Uncertainty 12. 1 Introduction 12.2 Complex Systems 12.2.1 Chaos 12.2.2 Complexity 12.3 Universality 12.4 Deep Order 12.4.1 Increasing Returns to Information 12.4.2 Nobody Knows 12.4.3 Dominance of Extreme Events 12.4.4 Self-similarity 12.4.5 Runs, Legs and Chaos 12.5 Complexity and the Stable Paretian Distribution Epilogue: Managing when "Nobody Knows Anything" 12.6 Probabilities 12.7 Inside and Outside the Studio 12.8 Risk and Decision Bias 12.9 Narrow Framing and Sure Things 12.10 Financing Movies 12.11 Causality and Kim Basinger 12.12 A Skeptical Attitude

Film piracy began almost immediately after the birth of the film industry. Initially it was a within-the-industry phenomenon as studios stole from each other. As the industry grew and more money was involved, outsiders became more interested in piracy. Stolen material made its way offshore since detection was less likely. Hollywood's major film studios vigorously pursued pirates and had the situation fairly well under control by the middle 1970s - not eliminated but reduced to a low level - until videocassettes arrived. This work begins with a discussion of some of the earliest cases of piracy in vaudeville, and then considers how the problem continued to grow caused by the lack of legal resource available to performers, and the ways film exhibitors cheated the film distributors and companies and the measures that the distributors and companies took to prevent piracy over the years. Also examined are the practices of American theater owners who tried to cheat Hollywood, especially through the practice known as bicycling - extra, unpaid for screenings of a legitimately held film - and altering paperwork to reduce the money owed to distributors on films screened on percentage contracts. Also examined, to a lesser degree, are Hollywood's own efforts to cheat, including the disregard of copyrights held by others.

"Moviegoing in America" catalogs the social and cultural change that has attended America's favorite pastime from the days of the nickelodeon to the dominance of the multiplex. Bringing together an impressive range of historical scholarship, Gregory A. Waller charts the evolution of film exhibition and reception as a function of changing patterns of American community, identity, and consumption.

Pairing notable current research with extensive primary material - drawn from trade accounts, popular magazines, and exhibitor handbooks - "Moviegoing in America" deepens our understanding of the role of film in everyday life by exploring the movie theater as commercial venue, physical environment, public sphere, community centerpiece, and all-important site where audiences experience the movies and experience themselves as an audience.

The meteoric rise of "Killer Diller"

Barry Diller has been a major player in the entertainment industry for more than thirty years. Always on the cutting edge, he revolutionized television with such groundbreaking concepts as the movie-of-the-week and the miniseries. He greenlighted the megahits Raiders of the Lost Ark, 48 Hours, and Terms of Endearment. Now, industry insider George Mair takes you behind the scenes for a perceptive, penetrating, and completely captivating look at both the public persona and the private life of a legendary media mogul. Learn the truth about:

• The critical acclaim—and the controversy—behind The Simpsons and Married . . . With Children
• The abortive CBS-QVC merger: what went wrong and why
• Hardball and heartbreak on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
• Wheeling and dealing with Hollywood heavyhitters Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, Marvin Davis, Michael Eisner, and many, many more!

"He taught movie executives to put some passion into their jobs. The business is a better place because of Barry."—the late Dawn Steel studio head and onetime Barry Diller protégé at Paramount

"He really is the brightest of the bunch." —Julia Phillips Academy Award(r)-winning producer bestselling author of You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again

It is often said that the greater Los Angeles area is the largest movie set in the world. Film and television series filming sites are, however, located all over the United States. This guidebook documents over 1500 locations where 1,106 movies and 48 television series have been filmed. Arranged by state and then alphabetically by movie title, each entry includes the year of release, the two main stars, a plot line and a description of the location. Filming sites located in Los Angeles are excluded. All sites are accessible to the public. The indexes make it possible to quickly locate a favorite star, favorite movie or favorite location.

Worms in the Winecup is the extraordinarily hard-hitting autobiography of John Bright, a screenplay writer who gained a major reputation with his first Hollywood script, Public Enemy, the classic gangster drama starring James Cagney. The book provides a vivid, often savage, commentary on Hollywood and the motion picture industry, with uncompromising portraits of Darryl F. Zanuck, Mae West, Errol Flynn, John Barrymore, B. P. Schulberg, Walter Wanger, John Howard Lawson, Elia Kazan, and countless others, including his writing partners, Kubec Glasmon and Robert Tasker. Bright writes of the Communist Party in Hollywood, the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, and the House Committee on Un-American activities. At times bitter, at times tragic, this book is refreshingly frank and open, so much so that it could never have been published while John Bright was still alive. Bright is honest as he discusses his wartime experiences and his "exile" in Mexico. Complete with a filmography and an introduction by distinguished film historian Patric McGilligan, Worms in the Winecup is both entertaining and thought-provoking. An emotional and insightful read for students of political history, film scholars, screenwriters, and film enthusiasts.

From their very inception, European cinemas undertook collaborative ventures in an attempt to cultivate a transnational "Film-Europe." In the postwar era, it was DEFA, the state cinema of East Germany, that emerged as a key site for cooperative practices. Despite the significant challenges that the Cold War created for collaboration, DEFA sought international prestige through various initiatives. These ranged from film exchange in occupied Germany to partnerships with Western producers, and from coproductions with Eastern European studios to strategies for film co-authorship. Uniquely positioned between East and West, DEFA proved a crucial mediator among European cinemas during a period of profound political division.

From the kinetoscope, used by one viewer at a time, to the lavish movie palaces of Hollywood's golden era, the experience of watching films has varied enormously across film. Exhibition, The Film Reader traces the emergence of a culture of moviegoing, exploring the range of venues in which films have been shown and following the fluctuating status of film and the continuing struggle over audiences.
Contributors explore the meanings conveyed to spectators through exhibition sites and practices, and raise key issues of distribution, access and consumption.
Essays by: Dudley Andrew, Anthony Downs, Gary Edgerton, Anne Friedberg, Kathryn Helgesen Fuller, Douglas Gomery, Thomas Guback, Ben M. Hall, Ina Rae Hark, Charlotte Herzog, Russell Meritt, William Paul, Suzanne I. Schiller, Gregory Waller, Barbara Wilinsky.

The Politics of Nordsploitation takes a transnational approach to exploring Nordic ‘exploitation’ films in their industrial contexts, viewing them as not only political manifestations of domestic considerations but also to position Nordic film cultures in a global context. Incorporating a wide range of films, from international cult classics like They Call Her One Eye (1974), homegrown martial arts films like The Ninja Mission (1984) to contemporary crowd-sourced fan productions like Iron Sky (2012), this volume examines the remarkable diversity of genre-based, commercially and culturally exploitative film production throughout the Nordic countries – emphasized here through the term ‘Nordsploitation’. This volume provides a historical exposition of largely ignored marginal films and film cultural patterns. It also outlines how influential these films have been in shaping the development of Nordic cinema. The effects are visible in the films of the new millennium as previously marginalized practices now enter the mainstream. With sharp insights and new research, The Politics of Nordsploitation redefines the concept of ‘exploitation’ and its role in small nation cinemas.

This book explores why word of mouth is the most important determinant of a movie's success. Beginning with a discussion of the enduring appeal of movies, and why the box office has survived the disruption of television and will likely survive the disruption of streaming services, Owen Eagan goes on to discuss the unpredictable nature of movies and ways to mitigate their risk. His astute analysis sheds light on the role of film festivals, film critics, Oscar campaigns, and word of mouth in influencing a film's success. Eagan concludes with a summary of why word of mouth is the most influential among all the variables that affect a film's outcome. Expertly synthesizing quantitative analyses of box office data with illuminating insights from industry experts, this concise and engaging book presents findings with important implications for scholars, industry insiders and marketing professionals alike.

This book explores the complex interplay of culture and economics in the context of Philippine cinema. It delves into the tension, interaction, and shifting movements between mainstream and independent filmmaking, examines the film distribution and exhibition systems, and investigates how existing business practices affect the sustainability of the independent sector. This book addresses the lack or absence of Asian representation in film distribution literature by supplying the much-needed Asian context and case study. It also advances the discourse of film distribution economy by expounding on the formal and semi-formal film distribution practices in a developing Asian country like the Philippines, where the thriving piracy culture is considered as 'normal,' and which is commonly depicted and discussed in existing literature. As such, this will be the first book that looks into the specifics of the Philippine film distribution and exhibition system and provides a historical grounding of its practices.

This work explores the film histories and cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, tracing the 20th-century development of each country's domestic film prodcuction and cinema audiences. The author discusses the place in cinema history of international figures such as Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjostrom, Carl Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman, directors of films like "Vampyr", "Ordet", "Wild Strawberries", and "Cries and Whispers". The author looks at national film makers: August Blom, Bodil Ipsen, Lau Lauritzen and Nils Malmros; and also discusses contemporary film-makers like Gabriel Axel, the Kaurismaki brothers and Lars Von Trier. In discussing the film culture of each country, each section considers three specific questions: state control and support of film production; the cultural characteristics of Nordic film which both unify and define each country; and film production, content and form. In a final chapter, the authors assess the direction and future of the Nordic cinemas.

Theme parks break attendance numbers with the promise of "stepping inside" a film's world. Pop-up "experiences" are a regular part of promotional cycles. All this is accepted in the contemporary media environment-but why? What is the appeal of film tourism, and what can its rise tell us about contemporary fandom? Fan Sites explores why and how we experience film and television-related places, and what the growth of this practice means for contemporary fandom. Through four case studies-Game of Thrones tourism in Dubrovnik, Croatia and Northern Ireland, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks in Orlando, Florida, fandom of The Prisoner in Portmeirion, Wales, and Friends events in the United Kingdom and United States-this book presents a multifaceted look at the ways place and fandom interact today. Fan Sites explores the different relationships that fans build with these places of fandom, from the exploratory knowledge-building of Game of Thrones fans on vacation, the appreciative evaluations of Harry Potter fans at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, to the frequent "homecoming" visits of Prisoner fans, who see Portmeirion as a "safe vault" and the home of their fandom. Including engaging accounts of real fans at each location, Fan Sites addresses what the rise of fan tourism and places of fandom might mean for the future of fandom and its relationship with the media industry.

In this volume, Charlotte Brunsdon analyzes a wide range of contemporary film and television programmes, from British soap operas and crime series such as "Crossroads" and "Widows" to Hollywood movies such as "Working Girl" and "Pretty Woman".;As well as interpreting the pleasures and meanings that these programmes offer - particularly for women viewers - the book is concerned with the nature of media criticism, particularly feminist criticism, and the problematic aesthetics of popular culture. Why have feminist media critics been so interested in the soap opera viewer? What are the "race" politics of the TV crime series? What is meant by "quality" in television? And was the fuss about the erection of satellite dishes on British homes really about architectural values?;The book brings together Charlotte Brunsdon's key writings on film and television and its criticism, with new introductions which contextualise and update the arguments, and recent work on the "post-feminist girly" in recent Hollywood cinema. Brunsdon's focus is on the tastes and pleasures of the female consumer as she is produced by popular film an television - and by feminist criticism.

Projecting the Past analyses the ways in which the Hollywood and Italian film industries have resurrected ancient Rome to address present concerns. Through case studies of Spartacus, Cleopatra, Nero and Pompeii, the book explores cinema's use of the past to excavate present issues of nationhood, colonialism, gender and cinema itself.

Charlotte Brundson's key writings on film and television are bought together with new introductions which contextualise and update the arguments. The focus is on the tastes and pleasures of the female consumer as she is produced by popular film and television.

This guide sets out in one comprehensive volume the major economic, financial and business considerations which independent producers need to bear in mind when making films in or with other countries within Europe. A key feature of the guide is its practical structure, which follows the chronology of the production of a film, from the film's concept and the formation of a production company to its final distribution strategies. The information is set out in chart and checklist format for easy reference, providing immediate answers to specific questions. Pecularities unique to each country are summarized. This arrangement allows for easy reference by the stage of a film or by a particular country, and also allows for easy comparison between countries. This guide is a management resource for film production in Europe. It should be useful reading for film and television professionals. "Arthur Andersen y Cia, S.R.C." is an international firm of auditors, business consultants, and tax advisors which is wholly owned by Spanish professionals. It is also a member of the Arthur Andersen Worldwide Organization.

Film Policy is the first comprehensive overview of the workings of the international film industry. The authors examine film cultures and film policy across the world, explaining why Hollywood cinema dominates the global film market, and the effects of the rise of television and video on the international industry.
In a series of case studies drawn from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia, the authors explore the relationship between Hollywood cinema product and national film cultures, and trace the development of international and national film policies, looking at issues of financing, regulation, protectionism and censorship.

Media Production Agreements is an invaluable reference tool for film, television and video producers and has been written specifically for all those involved in the media industry. Providing legal information and sound advice on the structuring of deals and negotiated agreements, this authoritative guide identifies potential pitfalls in the drafting and arrangement of contracts and proposals. Media Production Agreements contains legal agreements which independent producers, writers and all those involved in the film and television industry are faced with at the outset of a project. Typical agreements and sample contracts are presented in the text and practical explanatory notes provide clarification, caveats and advice. Contracts and agreements discussed include: * option and literary purchase * writer's and director's agreement * co-production agreement * distribution agreement * location agreement * non-disclosure agreement * release from a living person * release for extras * name product and logo release agreement * licence to reproduce still photographs.

Since the late 1990s a new language has emerged in film scholarship and criticism in response to the popularity of American directors such as Wes Anderson, Charlie Kaufman, and David O. Russell. Increasingly, adjectives like 'quirky', 'cute', and 'smart' are used to describe these American films, with a focus on their ironic (and sometimes deliberately comical) stories, character situations and tones. Kim Wilkins argues that, beyond the seemingly superficial descriptions, 'American eccentric cinema' presents a formal and thematic eccentricity that is distinct to the American context. She distinguishes these films from mainstream Hollywood cinema as they exhibit irregularities in characterization, tone, and setting, and deviate from established generic conventions. Each chapter builds a case for this position through detailed film analyses and comparisons to earlier American traditions, such as the New Hollywood cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. American Eccentric Cinema promises to challenge the notion of irony in American contemporary cinema, and questions the relationship of irony to a complex national and individual identity.

Film Policy is the first comprehensive overview of the workings of the international film industry. The authors examine film cultures and film policy across the world, explaining why Hollywood cinema dominates the global film market, and the effects of the rise of television and video on the international industry. In a series of case studies drawn from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia, the authors explore the relationship between Hollywood cinema product and national film cultures, and trace the development of international and national film policies, looking at issues of financing, regulation, protectionism and censorship.

The Stock Market Crash of October 1929 threw American society into complete turmoil. As millions of Americans became unemployed and the standard of living plummeted, a turn onto the road to recovery required a concerted effort of government and private industry resources.
"Hollywood in Crisis" is a detailed study of the American film industry in the 1930s. Specifically, Colin Schindler looks at Hollywood as an agent of Roosevelt's New Deal. From escapist musicals to gangster movies and Westerns, even to the radical films of the Warner studios, Schindler illustrates how the studios helped foster feelings of unity and patriotism.
Drawing from studio archives and interviews with such prominent figures as Henry Fonda, Frank Capra, and even the leader of the Hollywood Communist Party John Howard Lawson, Schindler's study redefines the way in which this segment of Hollywood's Golden years will be viewed.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415103134

Budgets and Markets highlights the decisions involved in budgeting and marketing European films. It looks at the origin, development, production, distribution, financing and profit of thirteen European films, including such critical and popular successes as Tacones Lejones (High Heels) by Pedro Almodovar; Oci Ciornie (Dark Eyes) by Nikita Mikhalkov; Peter's Friends by Keneth Branagh and La Discrete by Christian Vincent. Detailed financial data is reinforced by interviews with the producers of each film. The core of the analysis is based on the question 'Was this film made at the right price for the right market?'.