# Episode 447-  "Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and The Studio System's Last Hurrah"

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Podcast: [Forgotten Hollywood](https://stenobird.com/podcast/forgotten-hollywood-2166799)
Published: 2026-07-23T07:05:19+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/episode-447-power-surge-conglomerate-hollywood-and-the-studio-system-s-last-hurrah--73116433
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73116433/ep_447_power_surge.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1447

## Resource

In this episode I spoke with author Thomas "Tom" Schatz about his latest book "Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and The Studio System's Last Hurrah". Between 1989 and 2004, all the old studios either merged with other media giants or were swallowed up by even bigger diversified behemoths, leading to an infusion of money and fast-tracking the digital revolution. Yet even as CGI and piles of cash fueled a new breed of blockbusters― Batman and Titanic , Toy Story and The Lord of the Rings ―an indie ethos permeated the industry. And at the crossroads of commodification and aesthetic vision, auteurs ranging from Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino to Sofia Coppola and Ang Lee became household names.

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## Transcript

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