Transcript american film: television, foreign markets & ratings

AMERICAN FILM: TELEVISION,
FOREIGN MARKETS & RATINGS
TELEVISION
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1946 saw record profits for Hollywood
TV took off in 1947-48; box office receipts fell
during the late 1940s-50s
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The population moved to the suburbs, abandoning the
cities
Mass transit was used less as more people bought cars
Veterans married, had children, & therefore less free time
They bought homes & consumer goods, had less money
THE GROWTH OF TV
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In 1947, there were only about 14,000 sets in the US
By 1953, there were over 32,000,000
By 1959, about 90% of all homes had sets (today, 98%)
H’WOOD ATTEMPTS TO ENTER TV INDUSTRY
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NETWORK OPERATION & STATION OWNERSHIP
The studios seemed appropriate network operators
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Had the facilities to produce programming for TV
They had huge libraries of films
Key was ownership & operation of TV stations (O&O’s)
Studios were prevented by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) from obtaining TV stations
The FCC cited 2 reasons
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The studios would be involved in exhibition
Past antitrust violations prevented them from operating stations in
“the public interest”
FCC therefore protected TV industry from outside competition
Ensured that radio networks (NBC, CBS, ABC) also controlled TV
Restricted application of antitrust rule to companies outside of
broadcasting
Drove DuMont TV Network, associated with Paramount Pictures,
out of TV industry
ALTERNATIVES TO BROADCAST TV
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THEATER TV
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Some studios tried large-screen TV in theaters
Required interconnected theaters
This required the use of radio waves
The FCC did not approve it
PAY-TV
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Paramount tried pay-TV
Did not use airwaves; used wire connections
However, Congress interfered with these plans
Many Congressmen owned TV stations
TV Networks created “grassroots” groups to pressure
Congress
Congress gave authority to the FCC
The FCC did not allow pay-TV
COOPERATION WITH TV INDUSTRY
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TV PRODUCTION
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Initially, studios refused to allow their studio
space & personnel to be used for TV production
However, networks wanted 35mm material
1954, ABC-TV made a deal with Warner Bros. by
which studio made hour-long, 35mm Westerns
for the network
By 1960, 40% of Warner’s production for TV
Today, Hollywood center of TV production, & all
studios rely on TV for a significant portion of
their profits
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FEATURE FILMS ON TV
Initially, studios resisted renting their films to TV
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Didn’t want their films to cut into theater attendance
This ended in 1955 when RKO sold its films to TV
They no longer owned theaters
By this time, TV could afford movies
Increasing TV revenues compensated for
shrinking theater revenues
Today, ½ of films released need TV to provide a
margin of profit
LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF PARAMOUNT
CASE & TV
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“B” PICTURE disappeared; had been used
to train personnel
TRAINING ON TV; new talent began on TV
instead of in B movies
DECREASE IN FILMS: 50-60 per studio in
1941, 10-12 in 1950s (80%)
CONTRACT SYSTEM died; talent now hired
for each film individually
CONGLOMERATION; all majors shrank
drastically, & most absorbed by huge
conglomerates
FOREIGN MARKETS
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Domestic market shrinking in 1950s &
1960s
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Fewer people were going to movies
There were fewer theaters to rent movies
Foreign markets had always been
important to Hollywood
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Even in silent era, Hollywood exported films to
other nations
With sound, made versions of films in other
languages
Established dubbing studios to dub films in
other languages
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In 1950s, foreign markets became more attractive
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Most of countries had no TV to compete with movies
Many still had film industries that were destroyed by
WW2
Hollywood could sell the films cheaply in foreign markets
Where Hollywood was prohibited from removing profits,
they started businesses or bought goods to export
At the same time, appropriated best of foreign film
industries
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Hollywood bought the best talent & brought it to the US
They “co-opted” ideas from European Art films
SELF-REGULATION & RATINGS
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Late 1950s & early 1960s, Production Code
weakened; replaced by RATINGS SYSTEM
in 1968
THE END OF THE CODE
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1952, The Miracle banned in New York
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Supreme Court decided (in 1915) that “motion
pictures are a business, pure & simple”, w/o freedom
of expression
In response to Miracle case, decided that movies enjoy
the same freedom of expression as other media
Theaters could still decide not to show movies that
were not approved by the PCA, & not much desire to
make such movies
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By 1966, studio control over movie content
minimal, as they no longer made movies
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
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The first film that tested the Code
But film’s distributor, Warner Bros, backed down
Blow-Up
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American society & values were rapidly changing
Resulted in more adult content & fewer self-restraints
The British film, Blow-Up, was to be distributed by MGM
Rejected by PCA for a nude scene, so MGM released it
through a subsidiary company
1968, Supreme Court upheld constitutional power
of states & cities to prevent exposure of children
to books & films that could not be denied to adults
THE RATINGS SYSTEM
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1968, MPAA announced the ratings system:
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G - General Audiences, all ages admitted
M - Mature Audiences, parental guidance suggested
R - Restricted, children under 16 would not be admitted
without an accompanying parent or adult guardian
X - No one under 17 admitted
Trademarked all category symbols except X
Anyone not submitting a film for rating could apply
X or any other symbol, except those trademarked
Philosophy was that no one would dictate to
filmmakers what kind of films they could or could
not make
CHANGES IN RATING SYSTEM
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M became GP (General audiences, Parental
Guidance Suggested), then PG: Parental
Guidance Suggested
1984, PG split into PG & PG-13
1990, X changed to NC-17: NO
CHILDREN UNDER 17 ADMITTED
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X had come to symbolize hard-core porn
Used by distributors to advertise their films
MPAA trademarked “NC-17: NO CHILDREN
UNDER 17 ADMITTED”
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G: “General Audiences-All ages admitted”
Nothing in theme, language, nudity & sex, violence that
would be offensive to parents of younger children
Not a “certificate of approval,” doesn’t signify a children’s
film
PG: “Parental Guidance Suggested; some material may
not be suitable for children”
Should be examined by parents; parent must make decision
Theme may call for parental guidance; may be some
profanity; some violence or brief nudity; no drug use
PG-13: “Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may
be inappropriate for children under 13”
Sterner warning to parents to determine for themselves the
attendance in particular of their younger children
Goes beyond boundaries of PG rating in theme, violence,
nudity, sensuality, language, or other content
R: “Restricted, under 17 requires
accompanying parent or adult guardian” (age
varies)
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The film definitely contains some adult material
May include hard language, or tough violence, or
nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse
NC-17: “No children under 17 admitted” (age
varies)
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Most parents will consider it too adult for youngsters
under 17; no children will be admitted
Does not necessarily mean “obscene or
pornographic”
Reasons for application of an NC-17 rating can be
violence or sex or aberrational behavior or drug
abuse
Advertising & Trailer Policy
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Film advertising is included in self
regulation
All advertising for rated films must be
submitted to the Advertising
Administration
Includes print ads, radio & TV spots,
press books, videocassette packaging
& theatrical & home video trailers