January 10th 2016 marks the 73rd Golden Globe Awards where members of the Hollywood Foreign
Press association give out awards to those working in film and television.
It is the third most-watched awards show, after the Oscars and the Grammys.
In fact, the US entertainment industry is the biggest in the world, so we wanted to
take a look at just one, incredibly successful part.
Just how powerful is Hollywood?
Well, even though “Hollywood” is the name of a Los Angeles neighborhood, it actually
refers to the entirety of American cinema production.
Moving pictures were born around the late 19th century, but their success was stifled.
Thomas Edison owned all the patents on movie-making equipment, and charged a fortune for their
use.
Out in Los Angeles, there was little Edison could do to enforce his patents, and so Hollywood
bloomed.
Since it’s foundation, filmmaking has spread around the world.
In 2014 the global film industry was worth more than $35 billion dollars in box office
figures alone.
Of that, roughly 11 billion comes from the US and Canada.
Yet despite making the most money, they don’t make the most movies.
In 2012, the US released roughly 500 films, while in China, that number was about 750.
But the Indian cinema Industry, also called “Bollywood”, came out with more than 1,600
movies.
That year, India’s movies made an average of about one million dollars each in box office
revenue, while US movies made about $22 million dollars.
Hollywood is incredibly rich, largely because going to the movies is a longstanding American
tradition.
Despite movie attendance dropping due to on demand streaming, more than 1.3 billion movie
tickets were purchased in 2013 in the US.
Attendance peaked a decade earlier in 2003 with 1.7 billion tickets sold.
But while movies are able to influence the public, it is often their stars and creators
who have the real power.
Popular actors and actresses have been known to use their fame and exposure to promote
social causes.
Angelina Jolie has been well known for her charitable work with the refugee crisis, and
Emma Watson was named as the UN Goodwill Ambassador for her efforts to promote education among
girls.
Others donate huge amounts of money.
In 2012, 80s film star Jami Gertz and her husband donated over 10 million dollars to
charity, the most of any media celebrity that year.
Hollywood makes a ton of money, influences filmmakers in other countries, and even helps
charitable causes and human rights situations around the world.
The cinema industry is ubiquitous and successful, and at its heart lies the incredibly powerful:
Hollywood.
Another industry with a sizable amount of influence is the U.S. meat industry.
Learn more about it in our video.
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