🧃 THE BIRTH OF HOLLYWOOD 🧃

In the early 20th century, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, originating from regions like Poland, Russia, and Hungary within a few hundred miles of each other, ruthlessly established control over Hollywood’s fledgling film industry. Men like Adolph Zukor (Hungary), Carl Laemmle (Germany), Louis B. Mayer (Belarus), and the Warner brothers (Poland) exploited the untapped potential of motion pictures, using their experience in vaudeville and garment trades to outmaneuver competitors. By the 1910s and 1920s, they founded Paramount, Universal, MGM, and Warner Bros., consolidating their grip on Hollywood and turning it into a tightly controlled empire under their command.

These moguls engineered the studio system, a monopolistic structure that dominated production, distribution, and exhibition, ensuring no one else could challenge their authority. They locked up theaters and distribution networks, stifling competition, while innovations like the Warners’ The Jazz Singer (1927) cemented their dominance by introducing sound. Their shared cultural instincts enabled them to churn out films that manipulated mass audiences with calculated narratives, securing their market stranglehold. They treated actresses, actors, and crew with callous disregard, enforcing grueling schedules, low wages, and exploitative contracts. Actresses faced particularly harsh treatment, often pressured into compromising situations or typecast to maximize profits, while crew and actors were seen as disposable tools for their machine.

By the 1930s, their studios pumped out films—MGM’s slick dramas, Warner Bros.’ gritty stories—that shaped American culture to serve their interests, maintaining their iron grip on the industry. They sidestepped external pressures like censorship boards, crafting mainstream content to deflect scrutiny while keeping their cultural roots under wraps. Their monopoly crushed smaller players, with stars and workers alike subjected to brutal working conditions and minimal bargaining power. Hollywood became their personal fiefdom, a global industry built on their relentless control and exploitation of talent and labor.