Isn't Tom Cruise in charge of United Artists now?
Yeah, I could do that, but I'm paralyzed with not caring very much.
Spike ,'Showtime'
The Minearverse 5: Closer to the Earth, Further from the Ax
[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.
Jesse - Nov 20, 2007 9:47:16 am PST #8403 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Sean K - Nov 20, 2007 9:50:11 am PST #8404 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
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.
Tamara - Nov 20, 2007 9:52:25 am PST #8405 of 10001
You know, we could experiment and cancel football.
Yes. Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner bought UA.
Jesse - Nov 20, 2007 9:53:10 am PST #8406 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
And, of course, I knew that was ridiculous as I was typing it: Paula Wagner is actually in charge. [link]
Frankenbuddha - Nov 20, 2007 9:54:47 am PST #8407 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
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.
Kristen - Nov 20, 2007 10:02:08 am PST #8408 of 10001
I don't think they've been artist-controlled for decades, though (unless Cruise did take it over and they are again).
He did. Lions for Lambs was their first release, I think, as the new UA.
I don't think anyone can accurately predict what the future holds. I think people will try new things. Some will work, some won't. Personally, I don't think the studios will ever truly go away. But, if they did, I'm pretty sure SAG, WGA and DGA would be phased out along with them.
Scrappy - Nov 20, 2007 10:04:46 am PST #8409 of 10001
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
The Studios per se may go away, but the multinational conglomerates which own them won't. They are the ones trying to pay as little as possible for content and theones which control a lot of the distribution of that content.
Trudy Booth - Nov 20, 2007 10:06:12 am PST #8410 of 10001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
Are there really "studios" as such anymore? Or even "networks"?
From what I can see, the opposition is multi-national conglomorates that just happen to produce, among their other products, film and television.
Not that it would be impossible for an artist-generated UAish thing to happen again, but they wouldn't be competing against film studios -- they'd be up against GE.
Kristen - Nov 20, 2007 10:07:36 am PST #8411 of 10001
"Studios" was just faster to type. But you're right.
Tom Scola - Nov 20, 2007 10:16:08 am PST #8412 of 10001
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
The studios have power because they have:
- The ability to secure financing for production. (If you walked into a bank and asked for a loan to make a film, they would laugh and laugh and laugh).
- The ability to market and distribute the product.
#2 is becoming more and more irrelevant thanks to the Internet. #1 is more tricky. If someone is going to take the risk of financing you're venture, they're obviously going to want some measure of control.