Abstract

The paper discusses the application of the Italian model of industrial and cultural districts to the movie industry based in Hollywood. Such a complex production has passed through a long evolution in which we can identify three stages: a first period characterised by mass production of movies and fordist organisation of production; a second period, much closer to the Italian districtual model, defined by the «flexible specialisation», induced by the mass diffusion of television and the related need to emphasize the identity of each single movie; a third period in which globalisation and outsourcing appear the crucial aspects of the cinema industry. Within such a model, whose distance from the districtual model is progressively growing, communication investments are a strong component of the whole budget, and the progressive decrease of critical elements in the artistic side of production is the most evident limit.