During cinema’s silent era, the accessibility of this phenomenal new medium easily allowed many people around the world to contribute to the contagious growth of the film industry. In “The World-Wide Spread of Cinema” by Ruth Vasey in The Oxford History of World Cinema edited by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, Vasey describes film as a “cottage industry, accessible to any enthusiastic entrepreneur with a modicum of capital and know-how” (Nowell-Smith 53).
The rise of film production across Europe required ambition, money, energy, and commitment. Although none of these factors prevented thousands of movies (and film stars) being produced and distributed internationally, almost ninety-odd years since America entered the film industry, European cinema is still trying to keep up with the transatlantic titan.
As I really enjoy European cinema, it fascinated me to read this chapter because, although I knew that profiteering American oligopolies essentially halted the production of European films, I did not realize it was due to the fact that agents in foreign countries were working to distribute American films, not European.
Despite the failure of Film Europe, this actually provided many lessons for future filmmakers. Any film produced in Europe today often has a distributor or investor in another country. Many Irish films are funded by the Irish Film Board, as well as Film4, the BBC, or Channel 4 if it's a documentary. The latter three are British companies. Even In Bruges, by Martin McDonagh has a mountain of European distributors and was produced by four different companies: Blueprint Pictures (Irish), Film4 (British), Focus Features (owned by NBC Universal), and Scion Films (British).
I think that no truer words were said than the last sentence in the main paragraph of page 55, which sums up my response: "In retrospect, it is apparent that the effective control of the domestic market by American producers was the factor that resulted in much of the world’s motion picture commerce becoming a one-way affair” (Nowell-Smith 55).
References:
Vasey, Ruth. "The World-Wide Spread of Cinema." The Oxford History of World Cinema. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell- Smith. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 1999. 53-62. Print.
In Bruges IMDB entry: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/
The rise of film production across Europe required ambition, money, energy, and commitment. Although none of these factors prevented thousands of movies (and film stars) being produced and distributed internationally, almost ninety-odd years since America entered the film industry, European cinema is still trying to keep up with the transatlantic titan.
As I really enjoy European cinema, it fascinated me to read this chapter because, although I knew that profiteering American oligopolies essentially halted the production of European films, I did not realize it was due to the fact that agents in foreign countries were working to distribute American films, not European.
Despite the failure of Film Europe, this actually provided many lessons for future filmmakers. Any film produced in Europe today often has a distributor or investor in another country. Many Irish films are funded by the Irish Film Board, as well as Film4, the BBC, or Channel 4 if it's a documentary. The latter three are British companies. Even In Bruges, by Martin McDonagh has a mountain of European distributors and was produced by four different companies: Blueprint Pictures (Irish), Film4 (British), Focus Features (owned by NBC Universal), and Scion Films (British).
I think that no truer words were said than the last sentence in the main paragraph of page 55, which sums up my response: "In retrospect, it is apparent that the effective control of the domestic market by American producers was the factor that resulted in much of the world’s motion picture commerce becoming a one-way affair” (Nowell-Smith 55).
References:
Vasey, Ruth. "The World-Wide Spread of Cinema." The Oxford History of World Cinema. Ed. Geoffrey Nowell- Smith. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 1999. 53-62. Print.
In Bruges IMDB entry: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/
Lainey, You make a good point about the ways in which American films came to dominate the European market and the roles that European distributors played in hastening the process. What do you think of the effects of WWI as well as the introduction of sound in driving the "Hollywood takeover" of cinema worldwide?
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