The Movie Game: The Film Business in Britain, Europe and America (Film Studies)

The Movie Game is the first ever comprehensive guide to the industry on both sides of the Atlantic. The book outlines the game rules for the Majors, Independents, Foreign Sales Agents and the European subsidy system. Europe has always been the 'hidden' half of the American film equation. The Majors were built by native Europeans and have always been highly dependent on European talent and revenues. The Independents finance their films through pre-sales to Europe, and many of the leading producers are native Europeans who have relocated to the movie colony. While the American Majors thrive on high-risk free-market capitalism, Europe's media groups are enmeshed in political straitjackets designed to defend the 'national interest'. Quotas and subsidies have herded European cinema into a cultural ghetto from which it is very difficult to conduct rational debate. The MEDIA Programme seems only to have intensified the problem. Inspiration is drawn from the European film-makers who have succeeded in rising above the 'subsidy trap' mentality. The book concludes with profiles of producers such as David Puttnam, Claude Berri, Pedro Almodovar and Luc Besson. They are the human face of the industry and prove that however bureaucratic the world becomes, there will always be mavericks who stand out and make their voice heard.


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