Abstract: In 2020, widespread shutdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted how we make, distribute, and watch media. Around the world businesses, cities, and borders closed in order to quell the spread of the virus, while Hollywood adapted to many of the changes often relying on its global reach for production networks and distribution. Pandemic Hollywood examines the impact of the pandemic on film and television content, production, workers, distribution, and theatrical exhibition. This book argues that the pandemic revealed existing weaknesses and contradictions of industry production methods and hiring pipelines, while also accelerating the reliance on foreign markets and digital distribution that had been in motion throughout the 21st century. In contrast to Hollywood Shutdown, this book will rely on qualitative interviews and will be aimed at a scholarly audience.
Topic: pandemic effect
Hollywood Shutdown: Production, Distribution, and Exhibition in the Time of COVID
Abstract: Hollywood Shutdown examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hollywood beginning with the closure of movie theaters in China over Chinese New Year and ending with Mulan’s bumpy September release on the streaming platform Disney+. One goal of this book is to answer the question: What happened when the coronavirus closed Hollywood? In order to answer this question I look at the pandemic’s effect on production of film and television, the various changes and trends in distribution, and finally the influence on the theatrical exhibition. In each section I consider different aspects of the business and examine studio, network, distributor, and exhibitor choices made during the evolving crisis. This book will be short (30,000 words) and aimed at a general audience.