Hollywood
Overview
Hollywood (할리우드) is a neighborhood in northwestern Los Angeles, California, USA, and became the symbolic center of the global film industry as film production companies gathered there in the early 20th century. Although much of actual filming and production is now dispersed to other cities and countries, Hollywood still functions as a byword for American popular culture and the global media industry as a whole.
Key Details
Geography and Administration
Hollywood is one of the official neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles and sits at the southern foot of the Santa Monica Mountains (산타모니카 산맥). Hollywood Boulevard (할리우드 대로) and Sunset Boulevard (선셋 대로) are representative arterial roads, and together with nearby West Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Burbank it forms a broad media-industry cluster. Administratively it belongs to the City of Los Angeles, but its tourism and cultural identity has an independent symbolic character.
History
The widely accepted account is that the name 'Hollywood' appeared in the late 1880s when the real estate developer Harvey Wilcox (하비 윌콕스) and his wife subdivided a farm site. It was incorporated as a municipality in 1903 and annexed to Los Angeles in 1910 due to water supply problems. In 1911 Nestor (네스터), known as the first movie studio, moved in, and by the 1920s Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros. (워너브라더스), and others had established themselves, forming the so-called 'studio system.' The sign 'Hollywoodland,' erected in 1923 for real estate advertising, later had 'Land' removed and became today's Hollywood Sign. The 1927 sound film 'The Jazz Singer' (《재즈 싱어》) was a symbolic event in the industry's transition, and the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court Paramount Decree (파라마운트 판결) prohibited vertical integration of production, distribution, and exhibition and dismantled the classical studio system.
Industry Structure
The Hollywood film industry has been organized around a small number of major studios. Representative examples include Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and Sony Pictures, and streaming operators such as Netflix, Amazon MGM, and Apple TV+ have joined as agents of production and investment. Traditionally, a 'window' structure leading from theatrical release to home video and broadcast was maintained, but after the spread of OTT, the gap between release and streaming has greatly narrowed.
Symbols and Culture
Representative symbols include the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame (명예의 거리, created in 1960), TCL Chinese Theatre (TCL 차이니즈 극장) and El Capitan Theatre (엘 캐피탄 극장), the Hollywood Bowl, and the Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre. These are consumed as tourism resources and as icons of American popular culture.
Cultural Influence
Hollywood is the frontline of American cultural export and has shaped the narrative grammar and aesthetic tastes of audiences around the world. At the same time, it is an arena where debates over racial and gender diversity, the commerciality of the star system, and the treatment of production workers have been repeatedly raised.
Recent Trends
In 2024-2025, Hollywood is in a period of structural transition. First, as streaming operators have emerged as the center of production and investment, the theatrical market has polarized into large blockbusters and auteur films. Second, in the aftermath of the 2023 writers' union (WGA) and actors' union (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, negotiations continue over the scope of generative AI use, deepfake actors, and residual compensation allocation, and virtual production and volume stages are spreading as standard processes. Third, the 'runaway production' phenomenon, in which filming is dispersed to tax-incentive regions such as Georgia, the UK, Vancouver in Canada, and Hungary, has deepened, and debate over studio utilization rates in the Los Angeles area continues. Fourth, in January 2025, large wildfires across the Los Angeles area caused production halts, premiere cancellations, and adjustments to awards schedules, revealing the vulnerability of the local community and the industry. Fifth, restructuring of large media companies is underway, including the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance and the business split of Warner Bros. Discovery. Sixth, the rise of Korean and global content represented by 'Squid Game' (《오징어 게임》) is directly influencing Hollywood's production methods and distribution strategies, and co-productions and remakes are increasing. Finally, with the centennial of the Hollywood Sign (2023) as an opportunity, tourism and regional regeneration projects have expanded, but urban problems such as conflicts between residents and tourists and homelessness are also being highlighted.
Related Topics
- [[로스앤젤레스]]
- [[아카데미 시상식]]
- [[넷플릭스]]
- [[미국 영화 산업]]