Variety
This is a moment of both angst and opportunity for Hollywood filmmakers. Major cracks have opened up in the studio infrastructure. There have been regime shifts at three studios, bankruptcy looms over another, costs are being cut mercilessly and both production and development money is hard to come by. Another cloud hanging over the biz is the uncertainty about the long-term viability of the traditional business model that sends pics through a pipeline that starts with the box office and wends through various video-on-demand, pay TV, DVD and other TV licensing windows. At the same time, the overall pace of production is finally picking up among studios and indies, after setbacks from the WGA strike and the economic crisis. While there’s agreement that the old system doesn’t work, the filmmaking fraternity is doggedly finding ways around the system — indeed, creating a new system. The show must go on, after all. Variety reports on the ying and yang of opportunities in Hollywood today.