USA Movie Industry

Most things that are done in the USA aren’t done lightly or on a small scale, and the movie industry has by no means been left behind. If you had to name a few of your favorite movies, chances are at least some of them were produced and filmed in the USA.

The United States has the largest film industry in terms of revenue, and the majority of the industry is based in Los Angeles, California. Despite most the filming and production occurring in California, only five of the major film companies are actually based in California, the rest have their headquarters on the East Coast of the USA. The five that are based in California are: Walt Disney Company; Touchstone Pictures; Hollywood Pictures; Pixar Animation Studios and Miramax Films.

The history of the world’s movie industry began in Hollywood in 1911, when the first movie studio was built - Nestor Studios. It was built in an old building to the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard. In the same year that this studio was built, 15 other independent studios set themselves up in the Hollywood area. It has been since then that Hollywood has been world-renowned as the home of the movie industry. Since the mid 1950’s the Hollywood movie studios are also regularly used to film television programs. The ‘Hollywood’ sign is one of the world’s most recognizable town names - and it was erected on the Hollywood Hills in 1923 actually to advertise a new housing development in the area, but it was later refurbished to how it is today.

The first movie ever shot in Hollywood was called In Old California in 1910, which was a story about California in the 1800’s when it belonged to Mexico. Many film makers were attracted to Southern California over other parts of the USA because of it’s reliable climate and diverse landscapes that were available for shooting. Sound was first added to movies in Hollywood in the 1920’s, and The Jazz Singer was the first movie made with synchronized voices in 1927.

The Golden Age of Hollywood, as it is often called, spanned from the late 1920’s through to the late 1950’s, when thousands of movies were produced and released from Hollywood film studios. The majority of Hollywood films followed a very similar pattern of slapstick comedy, Western, musical, or animated cartoons. The creative teams for each movie studio generally remained the same meaning that the style of the movies from each studio stayed very similar throughout the years. For example, Alfred Newman worked at 20th Century Fox for over 20 years. As well as this, studios tended to use the same actors in their films, with MGM claiming to have contracted “more stars than there are in heaven”. Over the years many movie studios opened up theatres all around the country to showcase their movies - drawing in huge amounts of money.

MGM studios were the largest and most profitable studios throughout Hollywood’s Golden Era - and it had some of the biggest film stars of the time. Some of the most famous actors that worked with MGM include: Jean Harlow; Clark Gable; Lionel Barrymore; Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.

Also in this era came the creation of the Walt Disney Animation Company in 1937. The company produced one the most successful movie of the era - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In 1939 MGM produced arguably the most successful movie of all time - Gone With The Wind.

1939 was one of the most successful years in Hollywood’s history with the release of many movies that are still popular and well-known today including: The Wizard of Oz; Wuthering Heights; Only Angels Have Wings and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The golden era also brought about famous movies such as Casablanca, King Kong and Top Hat.

The phrase Blockbuster movie originated in the USA, and although originally it referred to how well it went in the box office, it is now better used as a phrase to describe a type of film. Arguably the first every blockbuster movie in the USA was Jaws (1975) - which saw over $1 million in ticket sales. After the success of Jaws, movie studios tried to emulate it, by producing event movies that had a wide commercial appeal. Movies became increasingly high-budgeted and advanced, and some of the first big blockbusters include Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Godzilla.

These days the movie industry is still huge business in the USA. Many of the world’s greatest movie producers, writers and actors originate from the country. Just some of the most notable figures include: Woody Allen, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Sydney Pollack, Quentin Tarantino and Mel Gibson.