What is the Hollywood studio system?

Answer 1

The Hollywood studio system, which was especially influential during the 1920s and 1930s, is credited with producing some of the most legendary stars. In these early years, studios spent a considerable amount of money to help locate, establish, and groom potential stars. A typical studio in this era provided both training and coaching for its most promising recruits--almost always at its own expense.

It was in 1935 when the talent scout profession first emerged on a large scale. That same year, Ladies Home Journal published the top ten places where talent scouts found potential stars. Places in the listing included Broadway, vaudeville, and radio. With their extraordinary expense, potential stars were initially seen as an investment. Studios took the time to create a career campaign for a client because the thought was that, with the right training and the right talent, the studio would regain all that it had invested--plus much more.

The process of becoming a star invaded every aspect of a person's life. The stars essentially became the property of the studio once they signed a contract. In turn, the studio did as much as possible--even sometimes dictating social activities--to ensure proper exposure of their best stars.

At the time, actors and actresses operated on a strict, seven-year contract basis, with options every six months (for contract players.) If, after a six-month interval, a star was not drawing his or her share at the box office, the newcomer was dropped from the contract. However, if they were doing well, they were elevated to the next salary level until re-evaluation during the next option period.

This situation kept the power in the studio's hands. An actor's contract also entitled the studio to assign them to any role it chose, as well as loan out its stars to other production companies. Because of this, stars very often found themselves playing roles they weren't too crazy about. In essence, actors in the studio era really had no power or control over their own careers. Their futures and their careers were at the mercy of the studio that signed them.