Before a film reaches the cinema screen, and its audience it must go through a three stage process. Firstly and most obviously it has to be produced, following this it must then be distributed, and finally exhibited. Before the introduction of the studio system in the 1920s all of these processes were controlled separately. Although this gave the makers of films, such as directors and producers, room to express their creativity it placed a heavy constraint upon the amount of movies that could be made, and financial profits. However, despite Hollywood's uneasy birth, by the 1920s it had become one of the worlds leading film producers (Dirks, 2002). This was largely due to the introduction of the producer, or studio syste

The mass production of films meant that a small selection actors and actress's were repeatedly appearing in high profile roles, and thus becoming stars. Generally handsome and pretty, these stars were selected specifically because they would appeal to a mass audience, as Cook explains, 'On the one hand, it can be used to attract financial backing for a film, and on the other, it provides a signal for exhibitors and audiences that this will be a p[particular type of film...In the star your producer gets not only a 'production' value in the making of his picture, but a 'trademark' value, and an 'insurance' value, which are very real and very potent in guaranteeing the sale of this product to the cash customers at a profit.' (Cook, 1994, p.50) The big names during the 1920s included, Harold Lloyd, Gloria Swanson, Tom Mix, Norma Talmadge, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and a relatively small selection of other actors. The studio system and the major studios had created what many describe as the golden age of Hollywood (Dirks, 2002).

The system, which effectively mirrored the business techniques of private sector manufacturing companies, was being widely used in the film industry by 1914. Before this it was the director who handled virtually every stage of the film making process. He would be responsible for employing staff and paying their wages, film sets, all forms of purchasing, and paying invoices. Unsurprisingly things would often run inefficiently, and create heavily inflated post-production budgets. Recognising that their were obvious flaws within the 'director-unit system' one company decided to employ a general manager and, as Bordwell et al explains, 'The general manager established a production office in the centre of the studio lot, which became a clearing house for all departments. These departments 'assumed definite duties and responsibilities.' (Bordwell et al, 1991, p.135)

'Without the previous level of control and profit guarantees, the big banks were now reluctant to finance films. So the studios finally decided to leave the production of films (and much of the financial risk) primarily to outside independent producers...The antitrust action spell

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1485
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)