While the days of the old studio system in Hollywood are long gone, changes continue to take place in the film industry time and again. One such example is the history of Paramount Pictures, a former studio giant. Paramount’s output boasts some of the most beloved films in Hollywood history, from classic to contemporary, dating back to its days as one of the Big Five studios.
In the wake of the studio system came corporate Hollywood, as evidenced by the Gulf + Western takeover of the studio, heralding a new way of conducting business in the film industry. Along the way, Paramount devolved from being an independent studio to a subsidiary, on to its current form as a subsidiary of Viacom-CBS.
Bernard F. Dick’s Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood details this transition for Paramount and the industry as a whole, emphasizing that the art of the deal is at the crux of today’s film industry. Along the way, many key figures–both on and off the screen–are also discussed in this overview, offering an intriguing history relating to this turbulent period. Dick’s newly-released paperback version of this work was released in September 2021.
Engulfed: The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood is available for purchase through the University Press of Kentucky.
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