Movie money

Our weekday mornings around here usually consist of making Joseph some breakfast (today, some tortillas with cheese and, of course ketchup), me getting the previous day's dishes washed, Joseph slowly but surely distributing around the apartment all his toys and books so neatly put away the night before, reading a few books, me trying to sneak in a shower, getting the boys dressed for the day, and listening to These Days on the radio in the background. This show is one of my favorite things about living in San Diego, and the best way I have to feel a part of this community, being otherwise generally focused on my apartment and the playground. The host, Tom Fudge, is interesting and smart, and open about his biases in a very not-annoying way. Each day covers four to six topics about current events in San Diego or more general social trends with relevant guests, and I usually find at least two topics really interesting.

Today a topic that sounded boring to me - money in Hollywood - turned out to be fascinating. The guest was Edward J. Epstein, the author of The Big Picture, The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood. Did you know that in 1947, about 100 million Americans went to the movies, but last year only about 30 million did, less than 10% of the adult population!? And that is with an obviously much larger population now. (This explains something I've often wondered about - where are all these people who spend $10.50 on movie tickets every week? Answer: They mostly don't exist.) Also, essentially no movie at all makes money at the box office - the six major studios only bring in about 13% of their revenue from the box office. The money is all in licensing with clothing lines, fast-food toys, video games, et cetera. Hence entertainment megacorporations like Viacom who own TV stations, radio stations, theme parks, music labels, and publishing houses are set up to cross-market their products. Also, the largest movie-going population is teenagers, who (sigh) seem to be the focus of all corrupting media influences.