1. Hollywood's Audience Imaginaries: The "Science" of Audience Research and the Making of Media Consumers.
- Author
-
Zafirau, Stephen
- Subjects
CONSUMERS ,FILMMAKING ,MOTION picture industry ,DEMOGRAPHY ,SOCIOLOGY - Abstract
This paper begins with a broad question: How do cultural producers attempt to understand their audiences? Using the case of the U.S. motion picture industry, this paper explores how notions of "the audience" are socially constructed by decision-makers working in the world of commercial film production. Drawing on a wide range of data, including archival sources, interviews with Hollywood decision-makers, as well as particpant observation at a Hollywood talent firm, at a entertainment research firm, and at entertainment industry conferences, I argue that Hollywood film production is increasingly involved in processes that are epistemic. New, "scientific" understandings of audiences within the Hollywood film industry have intensified over the last several decades, stemming largely from this world's increasing reliance on market research. I briefly explore how these epistemic processes are productive, generating new audience categories and dividing media consumers into distinct groups that are seen as having definite properties. Examples of a few of these categories are identified, including those involving particular demographic groups, as well as the recent birth of the "mobile" and "customizing" movie consumer. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007