ACT I : PROLOGUE

THE LANDSCAPE -- THE PARADOX

As we canvass our global landscape, it is both a reflection and a realization of society’s impact upon itself.  War, not peace, is the way of the world.  Fear and uncertainty permeate the air with the threat of nuclear warfare at our doorstep.  The 21st Century necessitates a paradigm shift in consciousness, an awakening to the power of peace, and our collective evolution as a civilized and progressive society.  The need has never been greater for leadership and vision in politics, government, industry and in our communities.

The Hollywood industry is one of the most powerful and influential enterprises in the world, its visual voice heard around the globe.  The goal of Hollywood, inasmuch as it is a business, is to generate box office receipts.  Society, in return, receives the impact of Hollywood’s impressions and the messages they instill.  It would appear that Hollywood has analogous obligations and responsibilities in its quest for box-office success.   

The drive for profit and social responsibility is the paradox that faces not only the Hollywood industry but exists at the core of every institution with a focus on economic voracity.  The question remains, “Can Hollywood achieve a balance in its quest for box office success?“

What will be the evolution of Hollywood Power in the 21st Century?  As a filmmaker, I assume an inherited responsibility to address this fundamental question.  I interviewed some of Hollywood's most powerful and successful filmmakers in the entertainment industry - a revealing look at what Hollywood's Power Elite had to say...

ACT II: HOLLYWOOD'S POWER ELITE

THEIR VIEWS, ASPIRATIONS, VISIONS

"Hollywood is a balance of art and commerce, it just depends on what side of the scale you rest on.  Everybody individually has a moral responsibility, but it gets very dangerous setting standards, precedents or moral guidelines.  Hollywood's responsibility is to entertain first and any residual value beyond that is wonderful and nourishing.  I'd like to think I've done a lot of movies that have influenced people or had some food for thought, hopefully, they entertained first.  China Syndrome was a turning point.  Between the film and Three Mile Island, there was a 15 to 20 percent shift in the country from going pro-nuclear to anti-nuclear."

"Hollywood films are the most watched films.. The level of consciousness in Hollywood is one mainly of economics.  When we add the question 'What is our ethical responsibility?' that’s a very important question.  Filmmakers are asking people to surrender their brain to you.  That's an amazing power.  That is a very serious responsibility.  You're at the core of what has always been the paradox of the movie business.  It's the most expensive art form on earth, so it's always been this balancing act between true art and commerce... I personally hope that I can continue to make movies that are entertaining and about something.  That to me, that's the job....blending artistry, entertainment, intelligence and social commentary, and technology, all together, that’s when movies are really cranking on all cylinders, that's what they're supposed to do.”

"The media has always been powerful, but now we're in the midst of a revolution.  What we do with the increasing power of this medium and how it applies to people's everyday lives is becoming an area of increasing responsibility.  The Hollywood community consists of individuals bound together by intense competition.  We have to get more in balance, return to a respect of the creative process.”  On the decision-making element.  "You hope that you're dealing with people that have a strong sense of values making decisions.  Then the decisions are easy.  I remember when the top 4 movies of all time were in turnaround.  It says you have to trust your own instincts.  People driven by passion are usually right."  On personal ideology.  "I really look at things in terms of good storytelling, in terms of areas of responsibility and I also embrace entertainment.  You know, I don't think that's a bad word.  I loved making Schindler ‘s List but I also loved making E.T.  And I think they both exhibit values.  So, I think anytime we can create experiences that move people and make people think about things, and frankly, just give them a chance to laugh and cry, then that's a contribution...Frankly, you know, this is hard work, and you have to spend a tremendous amount of your life pouring yourself into doing this.  And for me, if it's not heartfelt while I'm doing it, then why do it.  I've never done anything because I think it might be successful and it might make money.  That has never, ever motivated me."

"I think outside of the home and parents, entertainment and the media are probably the most important influences that have an impact upon our children particularly.  We have, at times,  added to the fracture of our society through an emphasis on violence and not enough [emphasis] upon the commonality of our humanity.  I believe that  people are starving for product that really challenges their humanity and challenges the way they think about the world around them and themselves.  But there is a great fear [in Hollywood] that a constant diet of this won't work, so they're replaced by pictures that are not empathetical to the human healing, you know things that blow us up and butcher us, relatively vacuous content.  I think that's a cynical copout (filmmakers who say films just "reflect" society).   The question has to be asked, "How participatory has this industry been in shaping the attitudes of that reflection.  It's a total negation of responsibility to say that it's a reflection of society as though we're not participant in that society.   The material body has to be fed but there is an interior spiritual life that has to be fed.  We're not emphasizing those things; that's why our society has this malaise.  We are abandoning our generational responsibilities; we can't afford to do that.  I don't consider Hollywood a place, I consider it a state of mind.  The people who are very cynical in our industry say, "well, we can't change the world."  Well, no one is asking you to change the world.  All we're asking you to do is be responsible within the context of your own sphere of reality.  If everybody did that, the world would change.   If we continue to be commerce driven only and not understand the nature of the power we have, we're going to be part of the problem. We can have great commerce and be responsible citizens." 

“Film is the second biggest export we have in this country; that's very powerful.  We have a big responsibility because we now have a common market.  A movie that works in the U.S. works foreign, so we know we're hitting some chord.  We're providing universal entertainment.  We have an obligation to provide good entertainment and to be responsible, but I think it's important that we have choice.  I think we have a right [to be able] to make different kinds of films in this country. I would really not want to see it get to a point where we are restricted more than we are.  On personal ideology.  I really think that from the movies that I've made and the way the audience responds to them, that if you make a good movie, the audience will find it, they will go, they will support it.  And I just want to believe in those people and in my ability to do something a little bit better if I try hard enough."

EDWARD R. PRESSMAN, Acclaimed Producer of more than 50 diverse films to his credit

“Films are the cathedrals of our times.  Hollywood's true power is the ability to elicit emotion, anger, fear and all things that films and great theater are able to do on a mass level.  Everything we do has got to be something we can live with. Hollywood has the enormous power and ability to affect the way people see things.  Many aspects of our culture do and are affected by the movies.  Our heroes, our villains are icons.  Hollywood is a tremendous force, probably the truest expression of the free enterprise system.  There was certainly virtue in the old studio system; they made a lot of very good movies.  [I believe] accomplishment is staying in this business and doing it by playing it straight, living by one's own code, integrity, proper behavior, and it can actually work in this business [of ill repute], especially succeed, and do things the right way and do well.  Something to leave.  That's the beginning of something.”

“As long as movies make money, people will continue to make those movies.  In Hollywood, it comes down to dollars and cents.   To me, it's important to do a good story that is going to grab people and be responsible.  I think there's a place for all kinds of pictures.  That's why this country has freedom of speech, freedom of expression.  As filmmakers, we can help promote change by not necessarily mirroring society but showing the humanity of society.  If we are going to show violence, then let there be a reason behind it.  Not just cartoon violence.  We can effect more change than the public school system.  A movie about AIDS could do more than any presidential commission in terms of awareness.  The stories that we tell, that is what the power of Hollywood is...  The industry is going to re-examine itself strictly on a business level first.  It's up to filmmakers to go in and fight for pictures they believe should be made.  [Visions, goals]  In control of our own destiny.  Not having to rely on other people's money to make the kind of pictures that we want to make.   At the end of the day, as a filmmaker, I want to be proud of whatever it is that I've spent all this time and money working on and I suppose I'd rather have a picture that probably hasn't done as well, but I'm proud of and I can go to sleep at night.”

"There is nothing more powerful than visual images - they form our views on character, personality and culture.  In our quest to be entertaining, we as filmmakers must not lose sense of our moral conscience.  We must use our creative power wisely and continually strive to maintain a balance.  We must re-think our pursuit of the great commercial success devoid of any form of morality.  We do have a responsibility to society to give back while making a profit in our product.  I would hope [in this new era] one of the influences Hollywood would have, on our society and the world at large, is to create a better understanding and tolerance for people of different races, cultures, ethnicity and sexual orientation.”

"George [Lucas] strongly believes that education is at the root of everything, whether it be social, economic, health.  George really didn't get turned on to learning until he went to community college and then on to USC Film School.  Then he became very excited about learning, engaged and challenged, and he felt cheated in his life.  He then became a successful filmmaker, he found about technology, he's a storyteller, he's got kids and all of a sudden, reality strikes.  And he really wanted to do something to try to change education so that all children could be engaged and challenged and learned as they went through their life.  We're talking about life-long learning.  And learning that's relevant.  Education in real world orientation.  Learning that is relevant to kids' lives. Too often what happens in the classroom is abstract and kids go out to life and there's no connection.  So, George then saw the power of technology as a means to that end.” 

“The language of cinema and television has dominated the world with entertainment product.  If we begin to harness that language, we can begin to turn some of the educational problems around and create an environment in which people will want to learn... We are in an information age, a multimedia age and how Hollywood addresses it can make an enormous difference in our society.  [I think] the power Hollywood has is enormous.  You can accept the realities of the economics and not lose your awareness.  To think you have to go to the lowest common denominator to be successful [I think] is just sheer laziness.  Good corporate policy and good social policy must become the same thing, otherwise, a healthy economic climate will not last.  Entertainment is the literacy of the 21st Century.”

ACT III : EPILOGUE

THE POWER OF CHANGE

WILL HOLLYWOOD RISE TO THE OCCASION?

Does Hollywood have a moral obligation to society in its quest for box-office success?  Will Hollywood assume a leadership role in social responsibility or will it continue to perpetuate its obsession with economic gain, not at all tempered by moral conscience? 

The Hollywood industry plays an integral role in society and within that interrelationship lies the opportunity to help shape a socially conscious agenda in the 21st Century.  Power is a gift to be valued - it is gravely abused when employed strictly for economic gain.  Power, consciously wielded, can ignite the genesis of transformational growth and evolution in our world.

Having heard the voices of these Hollywood notables, what impact will this knowledge have on the industry and its residual influence and effect on society?  Hopefully, Hollywood will become inspired to embrace the responsibility inherent in their power.