The pending US$83 billion deal is being described as an upending of the existing entertainment order, a sign that it's now dominated by the tech platforms rather than the traditional Hollywood power brokers. Maybe so. But what are those rules' And are they being rewritten, or will moviegoers and TV audiences simply find themselves back in the early 20th century, when a few powerful players directed the fate of the entertainment industry' He used Wall Street financing to acquire and merge his film distribution company, Famous Players-Lasky, the film production company Paramount and the Balaban and Katz chain of theaters under the Paramount name. Together, they created a vertically integrated studio that would emulate the assembly line production of the auto industry: Films would be produced, distributed and shown under the same corporate umbrella. Meanwhile, Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner ' the Warner brothers ' had been pioneer theater owners during the nickelodeon era, the...
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