Hollywood

Hollywood is the American film industry centered in Los Angeles, encompassing studios, filmmakers, and businesses that produce and distribute films worldwide.

Studio system: A production model in which major studios control film development, production, talent, and distribution. Its concentrated control shaped how Hollywood films were made and marketed.
Thomas Edison: An American inventor whose companies controlled influential early motion-picture patents and equipment. Patent disputes involving Edison’s interests helped push independent filmmakers toward California.
Louis B. Mayer: A film executive who co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became one of Hollywood’s most powerful studio heads. His management helped define the authority of the studio chief in classical Hollywood.
Classical Hollywood cinema: A style of filmmaking built around clear causality, continuity editing, and goal-driven characters. It is the narrative form most closely associated with Hollywood’s studio era.
Star system: A studio-era practice of promoting performers as marketable public personalities under controlled contracts. Hollywood’s star-making machinery shaped celebrity culture beyond the film industry.
Film distribution: The process of making films available to audiences through cinemas, television, and digital platforms. Distribution gives Hollywood films access to domestic and international audiences.
Motion Picture Patents Company: A film-industry trust formed in 1908 to control key motion-picture patents and licensing. Its patent restrictions contributed to independent production outside its control.
D. W. Griffith: An American film director whose work helped establish influential techniques of narrative filmmaking. His productions helped demonstrate cinema’s capacity for large-scale storytelling.
Hollywood musical: A film genre that integrates songs and dances into a dramatic or comic narrative. The musical shows how Hollywood made spectacle part of storytelling.
Film rating system: A classification system that advises audiences about the content and suitability of films. Hollywood ratings mediate conflicts between creative expression, parents, and public standards.

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