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88 <^> ^> <^> The Motion Picture Industry
concerned with the analysis of public tastes and reactions, and the interpretation of these factors in terms of film values. This experiment, not having been satisfactory, was discontinued after a nine months' trial. In 1930, the same company created a new studio executive position, the duties of which consisted solely in the measurement of the public's demands for types of motion pictures. This position, which was filled by a man of broad experience in all departments in the industry, required an analysis of style cycles in picture types, a market analysis of demands in specific localities, and consultations with the producer and director of each film.
The Paramount Publix Corporation, since 1930, rather than schedule its entire program in advance for one year, has announced the details of not more than three-quarters of the total number of pictures to be produced. The remaining films are produced and released to conform with changing public taste. In this manner the company hopes to minimize the number of untimely and unsuccessful films. Operation under such a policy requires the carrying of an inventory of more than 7,500 stories, scripts, and scenarios, covering a great variety of subjects. Equipped with such material the company, on short notice and with such additions and alterations as are found necessary to meet current conditions, is in a position to start production on almost any sort of picture.
The experience of one of the major producers in facing the problem of planning production may be considered as a fair example of the experience common to most producers. The belief held by this company until late in 1930 was that the factors involved in estimating the public's tastes in motion pictures could not be organized and that the most satisfactory method of anticipating trends was through the judgment of its executives, who had had long experience in trying to sense public response. Executives of both the production and distribution departments were constantly watching for tangible and intangible evidence which might