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Hollywood

Hollywood: Episode 2: The Sequel

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Episode 2

Episode 2: The Sequel

The Sequel

BBC Radio 4 - Hollywood, The Sequel

Is Hollywood losing its grip on the global market - or is the empire striking back?

Francine Stock asks if Hollywood is losing its grip on the global market - or is the empire striking back?

Francine Stock asks if we're witnessing the end of Hollywood as we know it. In the second of two documentaries about the rise and fall of this American empire, she considers whether the digital revolution will mean the USA is losing its grip on the global market. 

Francine will hear from Sally Potter who made her latest drama, Rage, on a telephone and premiered it on the web, and from Tim Bevan, chair of both the Film Council and Working Title, Britain's most financially successful production company, who have a special relationship with a Hollywood studio. 

Francine visits the offices of Clare Binns, who's been described as one of the most powerful women in British film, because she personally chooses which movies are screened in the Picturehouse chain that spans the country. 

Ken Loach calls for cinemas to be put in the hands of the public, like municipal theatres, while Steven Soderbergh, Joe Wright, Peter Weir and Sam Mendes all agree that it's tougher than ever to make mid-budget, intelligent movies for an adult audience. 

The Full Monty scribe Simon Beaufoy considers whether cheaper films means that film-makers no longer have to fix one eye on the global market, and if this will result in a return to a form of national cinema. 

Ultimately, Francine discusses whether the death of Hollywood has been greatly exaggerated, as the empire fights back with 3D.

Produced by Stephen Hughes.

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Francine Stock examines the globalisation of American movies

American movies dominate box offices across the world. Francine Stock examines this early example of globalisation

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Episode 2: The Sequel

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