The New Hollywood Economy

Abstract

Today, production expenses in Hollywood have gone through the roof, and yet the demand for escapism remains as strong as ever. For the movies thrive on such fantasies—whether large-scale disaster films, or smaller scale, more opportunistic work. Some people get into the movie business because they have a passion for film. But as mainstream films become ever more expensive, routinely costing $100,000,000 or more simply to produce, it seems that the old system of making movies is broken. A relatively new studio in Hollywood, The Asylum, is dedicated to doing just that; giving the viewer something the majors won’t. Something like Sharknado (2013). This chapter examines The Asylum’s relentless output of genre films and other cinematic outliers that challenge mainstream cinema.