WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.879 Hollywood is one of the most famous places in 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:06.320 the world. But why did movies end up there and 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.900 not somewhere else? Today, you'll learn the real 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:13.140 history of Hollywood and the English people used 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:16.140 to talk about it. Welcome back to the Learn English 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.859 Podcast, the podcast teaching English in context 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.899 so you can learn naturally. If you are a regular 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:24.679 listener to this show, you know that I am from 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:27.460 Southern California and that I spent a number 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:30.339 of years living in Los Angeles. And one of the 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:34.840 most famous parts of LA is Hollywood. And with 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.520 the Academy Awards coming up this weekend, I 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.079 thought this was a great opportunity to talk 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.539 about Hollywood itself. By the end of the episode, 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.899 you will learn why Hollywood was created, when 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:50.600 it peaked, and why it's in decline now. You're 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:52.759 also going to learn the real English vocabulary 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.140 that people use when they talk about filmmaking. 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:58.310 Are you ready to practice your listening comprehension 00:00:58.310 --> 00:01:02.149 and learn the vocabulary? Then follow along because 00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:10.670 we're about to begin. Let's go back to the beginning. 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:14.250 In the 1900s, Hollywood was not famous at all. 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:18.650 it was farmland with orange trees and lots of 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:22.090 open land at the time the movie industry in the 00:01:22.090 --> 00:01:24.549 united states was actually located on the east 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:28.230 coast in new york city and new jersey that makes 00:01:28.230 --> 00:01:30.969 a lot of sense because even now new york city 00:01:30.969 --> 00:01:34.409 is the most important and largest city in the 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:38.250 united states it makes sense that this new industry 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:41.939 of filmmaking was located there So why did filmmakers 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:44.900 leave it and travel all across the United States 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:48.359 to the West Coast? There were three main reasons 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:51.299 for this, and the first one surprises a lot of 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:54.280 people. It was because they were escaping from 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.400 someone named Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison is 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.060 one of the most famous inventors in American 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:03.920 history, but he's also a little controversial. 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:07.739 He helped popularize the electric light bulb, 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:11.300 and early filmmaking technology, which gave him 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:15.360 a lot of power. At this time, making movies was 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:19.400 very new and it wasn't really considered to be 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:23.300 art. People were still learning how cameras and 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:26.419 film worked and they were also fighting about 00:02:26.419 --> 00:02:30.219 who was allowed to use this technology. This 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:33.419 problem became very important for the history 00:02:33.419 --> 00:02:38.259 of Hollywood. A patent is a legal right as to 00:02:38.259 --> 00:02:41.539 who controls a certain invention. And Thomas 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:45.360 Edison had a lot of patents for filmmaking technology. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:49.379 He had patents for cameras, film projectors, 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:53.039 and other important equipment. This led him to 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.080 believe that his companies should be able to 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.039 control who made movies. He created a group called 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:03.710 the Edison Trust. And this group sued filmmakers, 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:06.610 which meant that they took them to court and 00:03:06.610 --> 00:03:09.810 demanded money, or demanded that they stopped 00:03:09.810 --> 00:03:13.469 filming. At the time, many filmmakers were independent, 00:03:13.909 --> 00:03:16.310 which meant that they did not work for movie 00:03:16.310 --> 00:03:19.030 studios, and they just wanted the freedom to 00:03:19.030 --> 00:03:23.389 be able to make films. Instead, they faced lawsuits 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:27.090 and lost their equipment. Understandably, they 00:03:27.090 --> 00:03:30.389 did not like this, so they left. They traveled 00:03:30.389 --> 00:03:33.469 west to California where Edison had less power 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.750 and the courts were more relaxed. This meant 00:03:36.750 --> 00:03:39.330 that they could escape much of his legal control. 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:43.789 Los Angeles' location was also another benefit 00:03:43.789 --> 00:03:48.509 for this. If Edison somehow found them or was 00:03:48.509 --> 00:03:51.849 successful in suing them in court, they could 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:55.889 quickly go across the border to Mexico and be 00:03:55.889 --> 00:03:59.659 out of his reach. Moving from the East Coast 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:04.180 to California was not easy. This was the early 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:08.580 1900s, which meant that this was a long and expensive 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.280 trip. There were no flights that you could take 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:16.100 to quickly get from one coast to the other. But 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:19.660 as more and more filmmakers moved, Hollywood 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:23.800 slowly became the center of the movie business 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.800 in the United States. The second reason why Hollywood 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:29.839 was founded here was because of the weather. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.959 Early movies depended on lots of natural light, 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:36.939 which is light that comes from the sun from being 00:04:36.939 --> 00:04:40.680 outdoors. Remember, this was the early 1900s, 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.639 so strong studio lights did not exist. I know 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.240 that's kind of hard to think of now because every 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.639 YouTube or Instagram creator has a ring light, 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.720 but at the time, filmmakers really had to use 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:57.120 natural sunlight. If you are a longtime listener 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.779 to the show, you have heard me talk about the 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.480 weather in Southern California before. I have 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.920 said it in the past, but where I live in California, 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.740 it is sunny most days of the year. For example, 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:13.699 this past December, it was 22 degrees in Los 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:16.800 Angeles, which is about 71 degrees Fahrenheit, 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.339 and it was sunny. By moving to Southern California, 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.439 filmmakers were able to take advantage of the 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.360 sunny weather. They were able to film for more 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:28.879 days out of the year. That meant they were able 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:31.639 to make more films and, of course, more money. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.899 And the third reason they came to California 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:39.160 is the geography. California has a lot of diverse 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:44.699 landscapes. We have beaches, deserts, mountains, 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:49.899 and cities. You might even see tourism advertisements 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:52.949 that say that In Southern California, you can 00:05:52.949 --> 00:05:56.290 go surfing in the morning and skiing in the afternoon. 00:05:56.550 --> 00:05:59.509 Now that would be a very exhausting day, but 00:05:59.509 --> 00:06:02.990 it's true. From my house, within a two -hour 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:05.930 drive, I can go to the beach, I can go to the 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:09.870 mountains, or the desert. So this diverse landscape 00:06:09.870 --> 00:06:13.189 meant that filmmakers could film many different 00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:15.970 types of scenes without having to travel very 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:18.899 far. A movie could look like it was filmed in 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:21.759 many different countries, even if it was filmed 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:24.819 in just one state. This meant that filmmaking 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:29.040 was easier and cheaper to do. This saved them 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.899 a lot of time and money. By the 1910s, Hollywood 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:36.560 was the center of film production in the country, 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:39.980 and by the 1920s, studios like Warner Brothers, 00:06:40.339 --> 00:06:44.000 Paramount, Universal, and 20th Century Fox all 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.579 were firmly established. Hollywood was becoming 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:51.800 an industry. Then another major change happened. 00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:55.199 For years, movies were silent, actors did not 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.819 speak, and live music was played in theaters. 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:01.600 But this changed in 1927 with a film called The 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.959 Jazz Singer. It was the first successful studio 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.519 film, and it was a talkie. If you have listened 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:12.500 to my episode I did on 1920s vocabulary, you 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:16.060 have heard this term. A talkie was a movie that 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:19.259 had sound in which the actors actually talked 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:28.920 and spoke their lines. This was a major change. 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:33.160 Audiences were shocked and excited. Sound changed 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.980 how movies were made. Writers had to write dialogue, 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:41.480 not just actions. And actors had to speak clearly. 00:07:42.189 --> 00:07:45.209 This meant that some silent film actors became 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:48.970 less popular because they had strange voices 00:07:48.970 --> 00:07:52.829 or different accents that would not work on film. 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:57.069 And after that, silent films disappeared. After 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:59.670 sound films became popular, Hollywood entered 00:07:59.670 --> 00:08:03.829 its most powerful phase, the golden age of Hollywood. 00:08:04.350 --> 00:08:08.129 This period lasted from the end of the 1920s 00:08:08.129 --> 00:08:12.459 to the 1950s. During this time, Hollywood was 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:16.899 dominated by five major film studios. MGM, Warner 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:20.339 Brothers, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and RKO. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:24.720 These film studios controlled actors, movies, 00:08:25.180 --> 00:08:29.579 theaters, and equipment. Every major part of 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:33.059 the film industry. This is called a monopoly, 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:38.179 when one group controls an entire industry. A 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:40.740 key part of the studio system was that actors, 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.399 directors and writers had to sign long contracts 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.980 with a film studio to be able to work. Studios 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:50.039 controlled what roles an actor was allowed to 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:53.019 play, how they looked and how they behaved in 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:56.399 public. This meant that the studio controlled 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.139 an actor's public image, which means how they 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:02.539 were seen by the world. They chose their photos, 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:07.580 interviews and even who they were dating. This 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:11.240 is how Hollywood created the idea of the movie 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.580 star. That freedom and independence that Hollywood 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:18.120 was built on was now gone. But the golden age 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:21.080 was Hollywood's peak in global entertainment. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:25.159 During this time, studios produced a large number 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:27.919 of films every year, including classics like 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:32.159 The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, and Singing in 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:35.649 the Rain. These movies defined American cinema 00:09:35.649 --> 00:09:39.029 and shaped how people around the world imagined 00:09:39.029 --> 00:09:42.789 Hollywood. It also created famous stars like 00:09:42.789 --> 00:09:46.350 Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:49.950 and James Stewart. Even Marilyn Monroe started 00:09:49.950 --> 00:09:54.409 her acting career under the studio system. But 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:58.309 the Golden Age didn't last forever. Because film 00:09:58.309 --> 00:10:01.429 studios controlled movies and where they were 00:10:01.429 --> 00:10:04.789 shown, it was really difficult for independent 00:10:04.789 --> 00:10:09.090 filmmakers to compete. Then in 1948, the U .S. 00:10:09.129 --> 00:10:11.690 Supreme Court ruled that this system was illegal, 00:10:11.990 --> 00:10:15.909 which weakened the monopoly. Actors began to 00:10:15.909 --> 00:10:18.889 demand more freedom and started to renegotiate 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:21.830 their contracts so they could choose which roles 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:26.259 they wanted to take. Then in the 1950s, television 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.700 arrived. Families stayed at home and watched 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:33.720 TV instead of going to the movie theater. This 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.700 further weakened the studio's power and by the 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:41.340 1960s the studio system was mainly gone. And 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:43.740 that brings us to Hollywood today. Hollywood 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:47.139 is still famous but fewer movies are filmed there 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:50.639 today. In Los Angeles there is a line that you 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.870 will see in the news a lot right now. And that 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:57.490 line is, is that nothing films in LA anymore. 00:10:58.389 --> 00:11:01.990 Before, if you were an actor, you had to move 00:11:01.990 --> 00:11:05.529 to Los Angeles because the majority of films 00:11:05.529 --> 00:11:08.710 and TV shows were filmed here. You really had 00:11:08.710 --> 00:11:11.769 to live here if you wanted to work in the film 00:11:11.769 --> 00:11:16.110 industry. Now though, less than 20 % of all TV 00:11:16.110 --> 00:11:19.549 shows and movies are filmed in Hollywood. And 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:22.840 there are a number of reasons for this. The first 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.000 one is the expense. I've talked about this before 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.940 on an episode I did about California, but California 00:11:29.940 --> 00:11:33.500 is one of the most expensive states to live in 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:37.340 in the entire country. And LA in particular is 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:41.679 a very expensive city. Labor is expensive, housing 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.139 is expensive, and there's a lot of regulations 00:11:44.139 --> 00:11:48.279 and permits you need to get to film in LA. All 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:51.419 of that adds to the cost. Other places offer 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:54.779 tax breaks, which are government incentives to 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:58.500 help reduce the cost for film production. Places 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:02.120 like Georgia, Canada, the UK, and even Australia 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:05.519 have become popular filming locations because 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.000 of their tax breaks. Funny enough, New York is 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.000 one of the places that's been offering these 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.940 tax breaks, which has started attracting filmmaking 00:12:13.940 --> 00:12:17.700 back to the state. The second reason for Hollywood's 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:20.919 decline is that technology has improved and has 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:25.620 allowed people to film basically anywhere Green 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:28.299 screens and digital effects means that you don't 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:31.100 have to film outside anymore You can go to a 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.399 studio in a cheaper location and get the same 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:37.480 job done This has led streaming services like 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:41.259 Amazon and Netflix to make their content in places 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:44.279 outside of Los Angeles California has tried to 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.909 reverse this trend recently our current governor 00:12:46.909 --> 00:12:49.169 announced a few months ago that he was going 00:12:49.169 --> 00:12:52.250 to increase the amount of tax incentives and 00:12:52.250 --> 00:12:55.610 try to bring filming back to la but i don't know 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:57.850 how successful it's been and we will have to 00:12:57.850 --> 00:13:01.210 see if this trend changes in the future today 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:05.190 many movies are filmed in other places but hollywood 00:13:05.190 --> 00:13:08.269 is still important for business decisions money 00:13:08.269 --> 00:13:11.679 and contracts I will say that I have a cousin 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.659 who is a lawyer. He is an entertainment contract 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:19.220 lawyer, so he works on the contracts that studios 00:13:19.220 --> 00:13:23.340 have when they start film production. In recent 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:26.019 years, the amount of work that he has had has 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:29.059 really gone down. The amount of work that his 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:32.419 firm is getting has been decreasing because the 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:35.120 number of things filmed in Hollywood has been 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.669 decreasing. So I hope for him and for everyone 00:13:38.669 --> 00:13:42.090 else who works in Hollywood that this trend does 00:13:42.090 --> 00:13:45.809 reverse and that things start to film in LA again. 00:13:46.389 --> 00:13:48.929 I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope you 00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:51.409 learned something new about the history of Hollywood. 00:13:51.610 --> 00:13:53.669 But more importantly, I hope you learned some 00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:56.950 new vocabulary terms that you can use in everyday 00:13:56.950 --> 00:13:59.889 conversation. If you liked this episode, if you 00:13:59.889 --> 00:14:01.970 want more of them in the future, please leave 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:05.149 a comment and let me know. A reminder to look 00:14:05.149 --> 00:14:07.950 at the description of this podcast episode. There 00:14:07.950 --> 00:14:10.330 you will find helpful links and the vocabulary 00:14:10.330 --> 00:14:13.590 list. If you enjoyed this episode, please share 00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:16.029 it with someone you know. You can follow us on 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:19.409 social media or you can go to our website, learnenglishpod 00:14:19.409 --> 00:14:22.129 .com. And remember to follow the show so you 00:14:22.129 --> 00:14:24.169 don't miss our next episode when it comes out 00:14:24.169 --> 00:14:26.769 next week. Until then, keep learning English.