How to Make a Movie (in the 1940s)

This flowchart from the 1940s tells you exactly how to get your movie made. It all stems from the IDEA. As you can see, ideas come from either "Play," "Short Story or Novel," "Newspaper Story or Current Event," "Original Story," "Magazine Article," or "Historical Incident." A critical connection off the left side however is the "Vice President in Charge of Production." He can definitely make things happen! I wonder what the same chart would look like today? I bet most of the ideas today come from those same sources (but we could probably add "Copy someone else's idea" and "Make stupid reality show")

This flowchart is from a complete set of charts showing how the 20th Century Fox was organized back then. All the different studio departments are shown. You can see the complete set here at Infomercantile.

Here's a full view of the flowchart (click here for a REALLY full sized view)

Tags: art, movie

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Comment by Dijana on December 26, 2009 at 2:37pm: OMG this is great! maybe i should use this flowchart for my next exam..lol
thanks for sharing Mark :)

Comment by The Lisa on December 26, 2009 at 10:31am: That is so flippin cool. Sports isn't exactly entertainment, but it is true that back in the day, any athlete would have to earn his recognition through years of hard work & talent on the field/court. These days, kids straight out of high school are getting tons of endorsements and getting wined and dined BEFORE they even hit the major league court/fields. It's so backwards.

There are a ton of really wonderful independent movies that never make it because a big name star isn't attached to it - so a studio isn't willing to distribute it or a financier isn't willing to invest in it. So maybe today's chart would actually originate with "big bad ballin producer" and "big name celebrity." It's sad.

That fantastic chart makes me think of this lovely blog here: http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/

Comment by Eugene on December 26, 2009 at 10:10am: Very cool.

Comment by Kevin on December 26, 2009 at 8:02am: They should do one for today. It would involve rehashing beloved comic, TV show or cartoon from your youth. Original ideas not wanted.