Star System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Star System - Essay Example Studios would then, select promising young actors and would create personas for them, often by inventing new names and even new backgrounds. Some of the stars that went through the star system include Cary Grant (born Archie Leach), and Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur), and Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.) The evolution of the motion picture industry can be divided into roughly four phases. The technological phase, in which key film making technologies were introduced, began around 1891 and ended at 1903 with the first narrative film, The Great Train Robbery. The pre-studio era, characterized by standardization of film content into specified length and set of conventions lasted from about 1903 to 1915 with the first feature film, Birth of a Nation (McGowan, 1965). During this era the director-unit system, came to dominate. The studio era of vertically integrated firms commenced around 1915 and entered decline in 1948 with the United States Supreme Court decision that forced the Hollywood studios to exit the exhibition business. It was here that the central producer system evolved and became dominant. And finally, the post studio era began in the mid 1950s and is still with us today. The industry structure and business strategies that dominate each of these phases were crafted and negotiated during the transition periods from one phase to the next. The studio system emerged as a result of distinct strategic developments that coalesced into a strong configuration. The first development was the emergence of vertical integration, Gomery, (1986). Most of studios (though not all) saw the joint ownership of production, distribution, and exhibition as creating synergies that are essential for competitive advantage. Control of exhibition allowed the studios to offset the risks of production, and control over distribution permitted coordinated release that is essential for national marketing. Second, after a period of resistance, primarily due to fear of excessive salary demands, all the studios acquiesced to the human resource strategy star based system. Working of the System structure The central producer system, with a managerial hierarchy in the form of the top producer team, deviated from the common practices of management in the conventional film industry. First, the top producer team was often deeply involved in the conceptualisation and detail of the project. Second, and more importantly, resolving of tension between functional specialisation and project leaders was not biased in favoring of one or the other. Rather, the perennial struggle between functional departments and project managers was resolved by bringing top management downward into the process. What made the central producer system so effective was the way in which process and content were balanced and closely integrated. The producer team exerted its influence in critical transitions in the development of movie projects worked in specially designated departments. Scripts that were seen as promising were selected for further development by the team. This development consisted of intense analysis and discussion of every aspect of the script. The team brought to bear its collective experience. The script was examined from the perspective of narrative logic, motivation, and appeal to audience. At the end of the