Hollywood distributors are the mother of all monopolies. If they decide to support foreign films, I shall be extremely happy.
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Did you know that Hollywood has bought the rights of many foreign films and has remade them with US actors. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It is probably a lack of ideas that plagues H. The most refreshing American films are the independents.
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The Golden Age started when the German and European intelligentsia had to flee the madman and injected fresh blood into the H. machine.
How do you think foreign films do get distributed in the U.S. and often in the North American continent? A monopoly is when only a few companies command a market. There are over one-hundred distribution companies in the U.S. alone and many of them also distribute around the world.
As America was built by foreign emmigrants doesn't leave out Hollywood as one of them. It's still Hollywood.
The independents are not as independent as one thinks -- the money often comes from big studios who elect to give the producer/director free rein. Miramax is a good example except for Weinstein sometimes being criticized for getting too involved with aesthetic control. With Michael Moore's new film was financed by Disney (and thereby hangs a tale). He and the Weinsteins are now looking for a new U.S. distributor for the film since Disney didn't want Buena Vista to be involved.
What happens in other countries is not clear to me. In Canada the film industry is totally dependent on a few powerful US distributors.
Canada info
You also have Canadian distributors, most notably:
(excerpted from link)
Malofilms and Alliance Communications Corp. are Canada's biggest producers/distributors. They distribute their own films, other indepedent Canadian films and sometimes, and most profitably, foreign films for which they've acquired Canadian rights. Alliance Releasing made big profits in 1994 by distributing Pulp Fiction for Miramax Pictures. In 1995, it distributed "Seven" for New Line Cinema.
It's really a fledging industry there but I have a feeling it won't me for long.
That Hollywood dominated the market is just the reality that the emigrants who organized it were highly successful. Hollywood no longer means the city as it has been planted all over the globe. Perhaps if the Canadian filmmakers become more assertive?
One problem is that the really good Canadian actors and directors have migrated to Hollywood.
