'Out Of Gas'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
I just keep thinking about United Artists, and wondering if it isn't time for something similar.
Explain. I mostly know United Artists as, well, a chain of movie theatres. And a studio, too. So I don't know what you mean by studios not being relevant.
I'm excited that I finally know what the singer isn't talking about in that song -- he's not talking about moving in!
Ha, yeah, it took me half the song to figure that part out.
United Artists was a movie studio founded by actors Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplain, Mary Pickford and director D. W. Griffith, to give themselves creative control of their own work.
Did it work?
There's been a couple of articles in the LA Times recently making a pretty persuasive case that, no, in fact, the studios are not, in fact holding all the cards, Kevin. They just think they are.
Or, they're holding all the cards, but that the future is in video games.
Okay, I'm very tired, stuck in an airport, and trying to type all these thoughts out on an iPhone, so I need to stop with the crappy metaphors.
I guess I'm just trying to say that The Way It Always Has Been is not even remotely close to the same thing as The Way It Always Will Be, and continuing to behave as if it is only plays into the studios' hands. History says again and again that no monopoly on power or control ever lasts. I refer you again to the story of Unites Artists. Or just ask the major record labels how Business As Usual is going.
Yes, P_C, it did. Sure, they're gone now, but nothing lasts forever, which is kind of my point.
Most importantly, the UA legacy lived long after most of its founders were dead. Not bad for a crazy scheme all the older studios said would never work, and desperately tried to stop.
Isn't Tom Cruise in charge of United Artists now?
Is it UA he's in charge of now? Are they still around? Bloody hell. Tired. Airport. iPhone. To hard to fact check my own points, but I think my points still stand.
Yes. Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner bought UA.
And, of course, I knew that was ridiculous as I was typing it: Paula Wagner is actually in charge. [link]
Are they still around?
I'm not sure they are around the way they used to be. History (or at least FINAL CUT) has written that the HEAVEN'S GATE debacle (the movie, not the cult) killed them, and yet you still see releases under their name.
I don't think they've been artist-controlled for decades, though (unless Cruise did take it over and they are again). I know after HEAVEN'S GATE, MGM bought them for their distribution arm, and did away with the production side. But as I said, things still come out with their name, so I don't know if it's an "in name only" thing or not.