[jamesgatz]

Dreamworks and Corman's AIP/NWP both produced films, but that's where their similarities end. The differences between the two can be summarized by "scale" and "intent."

In terms of scale, Dreamworks was designed to compete directly with the majors. They focused on tentpole pictures produced at Big Six scale. Even with their substantial financial backing, this meant that a single flop could (and did) jeopardize their company. Corman's films, on the other hand, with their minuscule budgets needed only draw a fraction of the business of a Dreamworks release to make a profit and so very rarely (if ever) showed up as a "loss" on his books. Corman's films rarely hit it big, but because of their relative costs, they never had to. Modest returns were sufficient for him to draw profit margins astronomically beyond those of the majors.

In terms of intent, Dreamworks was set up primarily to produce and release the films of its founders, who tended to trade in prestige films, and their desire to produce only Oscar-level films tended to paralyze their production ability; excessively high standards ruined them. When they did get a film off the ground, they tended to bet too large (out of desperation) and lost as frequently as they won. The exact same thing happened to Coppola's Zoetrope when he let himself run amok on One From the Heart.

The lesson from Dreamworks (and Zoetrope) is to manage your risk. Never put yourself in a position where a single failed project can ruin you. Similarly, never produce a film that requires broad mass market success to avoid total financial failure.

[beatle]

American Zoetrope failed because Coppola was self-financing movies people didn't want to watch. Dreamworks failed because they had too many big-budget box office failures AND, because they were a new studio, they did not have a library of old movies that can support their business.

>never produce a film that requires broad mass market success to avoid total financial failure.

You'll avoid financial disaster but you'll never "destroy" Hollywood with this mindset. Copolla and Roger Corman disrupted the movie industry but they did not "destroy" Hollywood.

[wisty]

"For Apple to win, Microsoft doesn't have to lose." - Steve Jobs.

You won't destroy Hollywood by creating a few new studios. But you might change it. That's really what people want to achieve.

[beatle]

your new studio will not disrupt Hollywood if it runs out of money. that is my point. your new studio has to be able to compete with the existing studios. You have to compete with Dark Knight Rising, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Twilight, Pirates of the Carribean, Spiderman, etc. and you have to do it every week, every month, every year for as long as you can.

[wisty]

No, you'll compete with Quentin Tarantino, and the Cohen Brothers, and they don't put out a film every week.

Anyway, you've named some of the best high-budget movies over the last 10 years. They don't release an Avatar every month.