Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and the Studio System’s Last Hurrah

In this smart, well-researched history, film scholar Schatz (The Genius of the System) explores what he calls the “conglomerate era” of Hollywood, the period between 1989 and 2004 when a series of mergers and acquisitions between media companies resulted in films with a “sustained level of artistry and prosperity.” He argues this was the most important period in Hollywood since the collapse of the studio system a half-century earlier and warrants consideration as another “golden age.” The success of Warner Bros.’ 1989 Batman, Schatz explains, was fueled by the merger between the studio’s parent company and Time Inc., which enabled massive marketing and merchandising campaigns. Giant media companies during this era were also able to fund technological innovations, spurring an explosion of animated films, including Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Pixar’s Toy Story, and Dreamworks’ Shrek. The book closes in 2004 with a trio of franchise hits: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, Alfonso Cuarón’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning final installment of his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Throughout, Schatz ably balances board room machinations with insightful critical analyses of the period’s most influential films. This is a must-read for cinephiles. (May)