by Edward Jay Epstein
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Product Description
In this unprecedented, all-encompassing, and thoroughly entertaining account of the movie business, acclaimed writer Edward Jay Epstein reveals the real magic behind moviemaking: how the studios make their money.
Epstein shows that in Hollywood, the only art that matters is the art of the deal: Major films turn huge profits not from the movies themselves but through myriad other enterprises, from video-game spin-offs and soundtracks to fast-food tie-ins, and even theme-park rides. The studios may compete for stars and Oscars, but their corporate parents view wth one another in less glamorous markets such as cable, home video, and pay-TV.
Money, though, is only a small part of the Hollywood story; the social and political milieus–power, prestige, and status–tell the rest. Alongside its remarkable financial revelations and incisive profiles of the pioneers who helped build Hollywood, The Big Picture is filled with eye-opening insider stories. If you are interested in Hollywood today and the complex and fascinating way it has evolved in order to survive, you haven’t seen the big picture until you’ve read The Big Picture.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Great info, a bit dry, 2008-09-26
I read a lot of non-fiction books about the film industry in general. This one was full of useful info but it didn't explore any new territory. It was written factually without much regard for easy reading. Useful to learn about some of the business practices in Hollywood if you haven't learned much already. A decent primer.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
There is No Net , 2008-03-03
Epstein gives a fascinating account of the rise of Hollywood in the early part of the 20th century, focusing on the role intellectual property law played in the that development (the fact that patents in technology related to the making and showing of movies were controlled by the Edison Trust, located on the East coast, forced would-be movie moguls to relocate to the West coast away from courts sympathetic to the Edison Trust). He also explains how historical and legal developments (studio ownership of the means of production and the resulting anti-trust lawsuit brought by the federal government) led to the rise and fall of the studio system by the 1950s, and how federal legislation made it impossible for television networks to produce their own shows in the 1970s, a void the movie studios rushed to fill. Epstein details of the creative accounting methods and other legalisms that the six major movie studios use to maximize profit in the modern world of movie finance, where licensing revenue and home video sales far outweigh box office receipts.
jeffbrownlegal@gmail.com
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 An authoritative, mesmerising read, 2007-05-01
If you want to understand how Hollywood became what it is today then this book ticks all the boxes: it tracks Hollywood from its beginnings in the early-20th century and the early part of the book focusses on the development of the big six media corporations in the world and who runs them and why TV and DVD are now far more important to the bottom line than straight theatrical release.
Some of the real examples of Hollywood's incredible loss-making ability are startling: one studio's 'greatest success' actually lost over US$60m, and you learn that the drivers of money and power are not the strong but actually it all boils down to children: what they want and don't want fuels the whole industry.
Fascinating stuff and very easy to read...five stars, no questions asked.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
a good book about recent changes in the industry, 2006-09-26
Edward Jay Epstein's book provides an excellent overview of how business has changed in Hollywood since the 1970s. The book will give the reader a chance to think about how the industry moderates its relentless pursuit of money occasionally in order to pursue loftier goals. The book is particular strong in identifying key industry leaders, such as Lew Wasserman, who were able to respond quickly to changing circumstances and to rebuild the studio system in a new form after the rise of television. For a more complete history of the studio system, see Douglas Gomery's recently published book. But this one is a good read and it does a good job of recounting the recent history of the industry.
6 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
 The New Hollywood Chicken/Egg Theory Exposed, 2005-11-16
Hollywood quality controlled by the bottom line? Gee, what an original concept. The question is, does Tinseltown point its checkbook any which way new media outlet winds blow or does it take a moral philosophical stance in a chaotic evil-is-hip era defined by a fantasy video game role playing culture of death?
Do most films today suck because they're only made for kids? And should it not matter because they're an easy target audience? That's a cop out. In the days of old Hollywood, moguls created demand across a wide demographic spectrum. Only advances in home media in the past 30 years have disaffected the issue of quality.
Epstein's new age filmic disorder tome basically applies cold harsh statistical reality to a cultural traffic accident and doesn't make a reasonable value judgment on what's happening. He's too busy dotting his is and crossing his ts with stat data to care. His beef is to say that's the way it is. Tough cookies.
As such, stating the facts and stressing the obvious is not rocket science when the largest demographic of Americans in 40 somethings are left out in the cold in ageist exclusion. Mature adults would rather stay at home because suits have decided only kids are worth making movies for. So they fear good filmmaking.
Any entertainment consumer with a clue is staying away in droves because the current generation of talent have no brains, style, taste or creativity for anything except that which will appeal to the lowest common denominator. And when the dream machine's quality control chicken is its egg, apathy becomes its own vice.
So don't blame the the demise of Americana on the rise of home video. Instead, blame the missing vision and low IQ of modern media decision makers and end users. Generations X and Y rule the roost. At the end of the alphabet, only Z is left. Does this signal our end days? Take in the latest 50 Cent flick to decide.
If we live in a world where movies and music contain no more important civil messages and merely serve as escapist pastime and we experience societal downfall as a result, soon there will be no bottom line to speak of. A show business peddling dreck to kids while good will falls to ruin doesn't deserve to survive.
The only useful thing this book has to say is that corporate entities make most of their profits in direct home DVD sales. So if you're making a movie, bypass bohemian green lighters who set the substandards and go straight to digital video. Not only is quality old hat these days. Film itself is an endangered species.
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