The Filmed Entertainment Industry in the United States: Economic Trends in the Late 1980s

Abstract

No period in the economic revolution of the American filmed entertainment business has been without its difficulties and volatility. But in the late 1980s, the industry and the companies in it are faced with an exceptionally complex array of problems that will have an impact on the business through to the year 2000. Because this business is global, repercussions will be felt overseas. Uncertain currents and contradictory trends are evident, and they are due as much to the industry's own internal dynamics as to external forces over which companies have somewhat less control. It seems that problems have multiplied as the mass media fields have become increasingly integrated, and as the various sectors have called upon new technology to augment their earning power.