We inhabit a culture in which movies, TV, music, literature, and
advertising form an increasingly integrated media environment.
Contemporary Hollywood movies are no longer really successful unless
they launch a consumer product line -- a soundtrack album, computer
games and websites, amusement park rides, clothing apparel, spin-offs
and sequels -- and unless they perform in international markets as
well as in the U.S.  Celebrated filmmakers, such as Martin Scorsese,
Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and John Woo, move easily across the
media -- creating TV series, computer games, and commercials, in
addition to feature films.  In this environment, distinctions between
art, entertainment, and commerce that once seemed self-evident have
become hopelessly blurred.

Much has changed in Hollywood over the last few decades.  Movie
studios have diversified into related fields, such as theme parks and
television production.  The studios themselves have been absorbed
into transnational conglomerates that view film production as merely
one source in a worldwide stream of revenue.  New distribution
technologies -- cable, satellites, home video, the Internet -- have
turned the family home into Hollywood¹s most lucrative exhibition
market.  International markets now challenge the U.S. market as the
primary source of movie industry revenue.

This course will examine Hollywood¹s changing role as a site of
cultural production, concentrating on the rise of television, the
tensions between blockbuster and independent movies, the growth of
international markets, the impact of new technologies, and the
continuing challenges faced by women and minorities in the
entertainment industries.  We will then trace changes in Hollywood's
narrative strategies, visual and sound styles, stars, and genres --
particularly as these have been redefined by new markets, new
technologies, and new artists.

Grades will be based on a combination of short papers and exams.
There will be an evening screening session.