Old Hollywood - Unit producer system

Old Hollywood was very different to the Hollywood which we associate with today. In old Hollywood the producer controlled everything, they was at the heart of the whole film system, the directors was no where near as important as the producer. This one producer and their unit producer system would complete 6-8 films a year by using the cycle of production, distribution and exhibition to market their films and make them as successful as they would like them to be. Each film production company specialized in one type of genre of film, for example MGM would focus mainly on musicals, RKO horror and Warner Bros noir melodrama. This however could be seen as a negative from the audience point of view as they could see the films getting quite predictable and with this they would know whats coming next, the element of surprise would be ruined. Although an advantage on the audiences part would be that it is easier to decide on a film as the audience may have a desired preference.