| In the study of the American film industry, the term "studio system" is so widely used that the vagueness of its meaning generally goes unnoticed. What was the studio system? The "studio system" was not a vague conception, it was very real and gave firm support to the whole industry. This study answers this question by focusing on the initial step in film production - the selection and acquisition of source material such as plays, novels, short stories, and original material which provided the base for the films, which in turn provided the base for the industry. The research is founded primarily on data from the Warner Brothers archives from 1930 to 1949.;This study shows how the Warner Story Department used a specific business plan to support the systematic production of films. The plan was an integral part of the studio system; it was a very orderly way of doing business, a coordinated exercise of strategic judgments, that enabled the obligations of the industry to be met. The business plan attempted to be flexible during shifting financial climates. It created a type of "regulated economy" within which the department was able to create its own inside supply of material when the costs of meeting its own demand for outside sources were too high. The ability of the Story Department to choose one type of material over another, for example, a story written by a departmental screenwriter over a Broadway play, allowed it to lower costs without jeopardizing film output. The construction, operation, and dismantling of the business plan used for the acquisition of source material for 867 films over twenty years is carefully examined and defined, and reveals the business plan as the starting point for the studio system production of motion pictures. |
