General

Hollywood studio execs hit hard by the recession

With DVD sales way down, so are the big studios’ revenues

Who are the real victims of the recession? Wealthy Hollywood studio executives. The economic downturn has caused movie studios’ profits to plummet because they can no longer count on DVD sales to salvage terrible movies like Land of the Lost; DVD buying is way down in North America, and the DVD market has been almost killed off in other countries due to piracy. With a lot less money coming in, and with production costs continuing to rise, studios are taking out their frustration by firing executives, with several major studios booting out their top people. But don’t worry, the studios have a solution: pour more money into “branded entertainment”—movies based on franchises that have strong brand recognition and can guarantee a good opening weekend. That’s why we’re about to see Battleship: the Movie and a movie about Lego. With great ideas like that, how can Hollywood possibly be suffering financially?

Los Angeles Times

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