Used in the UCB Media Resources Web site with permission. We are presently living through a bizarre period in American film history. In Hollywoodian terms, we have a script in which the Robber Barons meet the Great Depression. Executive salaries soar to all-time highs at a time when more and more Americans are 'downsized' or put into permanent part time employment.
Television screens grow in size while multiplex theater screens shrink.
More films than ever before are being made by African-Americans, but the stereotypes have never been more malignant. In the latter, the principal object is to generate attractive, reasonably priced products. In a 'relationship business,' however, the profit motive is only part of the industrial dynamic. Status in the eyes of one's competitors, being recognized as a player, is crucial. Because that imperative is of little concern to shareholders or corporate overlords, studio managers must cloak their reality in a value system in which 'good' executives are those who associate with and can provide access to the most attractive clients.