In college, I took a bunch of film studies classes. It was clear from the beginning that my professors did not like Hollywood or Hollywood movies, favoring instead to teach us about the French New Wave, cinema vérité and experimental documentaries. They would rebuff or refuse to answer questions pertaining to Hollywood studio movies. Their unspoken feeling was clear: commercialism and art do not and should not mix.I was reminded of this when reading David Spaner's Shoot It!: Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film, just published from Arsenal Pulp Press. It's clear that Spaner has somewhat of a chip on his shoulder when it comes to Hollywood movies, favoring anything independent over anything forged from the major studios, and he makes little effort to bury his disdain for Hollywood in the book (the first part is subtitled: Why Are Movies So Bad These Days?).
After a rather biting forward laying out the mission of the book, the bulk of Shoot It! traces the history of the movie business from the rise of the Hollywood studio system, to the creation of the unions, the Production Code, the dark Blacklist period all the way to the present. Throughout Spaner keeps his focus on independent filmmakers, and how the ever-growing reach of Hollywood studios affected their ability to make and market their films. The second half of the book explores filmmaking outside of America--Europe, South Korea, Romania--sharply contrasting their artistic approach with the corporate machine of Hollywood.
