The word “Hollywood” evokes a specific image: a glittering, self-contained world of sprawling backlots, glamorous stars under long-term contract, and powerful moguls who wielded absolute control. This was not an accidental byproduct of the film industry’s growth; it was a deliberate, revolutionary industrial invention known as the Studio System. Reaching its zenith in the 1930s … Continue reading The Dream Factory: How the Studio System Invented Modern Hollywood and the Price of Standardization