Teaching Historical Geographies of American Film Production

Abstract

The geographies of Hollywood are multiple, contradictory, ephemeral and tangible. Our preconceived conceptions of space and place play a dynamic role in what elements we tend to focus on when discussing the cultural industry of American cinema. This essay uses Hollywood as a metaphor for the American film production industry and a historical geography of production as a framework to explore major spatial and structural changes within this industry from its inception to the present. It highlights teaching methods and materials from the course A Geography of Film at Southern Connecticut State University. Mode of production relates to the economic process where capital, labor, knowledge and imagination are blended to produce a culturalized product for consumption. The American film industry is a fine example of the commodification of culture.