Between units and producers : organization of creative work in Czechoslovak State Cinema 1945-1990
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| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
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| Description | So-called state-socialist mode of film production was in fact a peculiar hybrid of local, regional and global models: it was prepared by the Nazi cultural politics (the idea of centralized "dramaturgy" which enabled ideological control) and Aryanization (which made the post-war nationalization easier). After 1945 and later, after 1948 (when Communists took power in Czechoslovakia), it further developed according to local (Bata shoe factory, inspired by American scientific management) and global (Soviet system, silently inspired by Hollywood vertically integrated studios) models. These three levels of organizational tradition - both in terms of production mode and work culture - persisted as mutually interacting ingredients of the state monopoly until the late 1980s and even on. The aim of the paper is to articulate a comparative model for historical analysis of nationalized cinemas in the region, using the Barrandov studios in Prague as an example. The key question it asks is: how was creativity and day-to-day production of films tactically managed in a system where the only real producer was the state? What organizational instruments had to be developed to balance the centralized control with necessary creative freedom? |
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