This is a book about the business of film. In the popular imagination, the film business consists of a handful of big-name Los Angeles studios, the films these studios release, and the movie stars that appear in them. While it is true that the major studios are responsible for producing and distributing the movies that receive the most public attention and attract the most dollars, the film industry is more than just these few companies and their output.

Technological developments have shaped and will continue to shape the filmmaking process, as well as the very nature and kinds of films that are made. Enabled by the digital revolution, alterations to the basic industry architecture prevalent almost since film's beginnings are currently occurring in dramatic and unforeseen ways. Driven by extraordinary advances in new forms of production and distribution, moviemaking is now at the threshold of a radical and transformative evolution.

New challenges and rewards abound, however, for those that understand the business elements of the film industry. This Business of Film clearly provides the bedrock knowledge one needs about the movie industry's past, present, and future, and shows how the business has responded and adapted to advances in technology, economics, politics, and culture. Readers will ultimately comprehend how the film business might well react to upcoming, unpredictable events--and be in a better position to embrace and exploit those developments.

This Business of Film is of particular use to filmmakers working both inside and outside the studio system; producers and distributors of movies made for theaters, television, video, and DVD; animators; motion-picture investors and financiers; sales agents, both domestic and foreign; talent agents and managers; theatrical exhibitors; and the thousands of vendors providing the services required to create and market these movies.

Jam-packed with the most current, pertinent information available, and readily appreciated by cinema tyros and experts alike, This Business of Film masterfully provides the tools necessary to generate film-industry success.

From the Hardcover edition.