A prestige picture is a
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
produced to bolster the
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...
's perceived
artistic integrity
Artistic integrity is generally defined as the ability to omit an acceptable level of opposing, disrupting, and corrupting values that would otherwise alter an artist's or entities’ original vision in a manner that violates their own preconceive ...
, rather than to turn a large profit; the studio may even expect the film to lose money.
History
Prestige pictures are largely the province of major
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
film studios—such as
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
and
Warner Bros.—that produce numerous films every year.
In the 1930s, such studios might release one prestige picture per year.
The films'
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
s drew material from historical events, well-known literary classics, or popular novels or plays.
In many cases, Hollywood film studios have enlisted British actors and directors for the production of prestige films. One producer of prestige pictures within
the United Kingdom's own film industry was
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)[COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...](_blank)
, in which audience behavior towards these types of films was altered into viewing them as
Oscar bait
Oscar bait is a term used in the film community for movies that appear to have been produced for the sole purpose of earning nominations for Academy Awards or "Oscars", as they are commonly known. They are usually released just in advance of Oscar ...
, resulting in moviegoers refusing to see them in theaters during the Fall and Winter of that year, decreasing the films' chances at awards consideration.
[https://www.indiewire.com/2023/02/adults-go-to-movies-but-maybe-not-oscar-nominees-80-for-brady-a-man-called-otto-1234807680/]
See also
*
Art film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...
*
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors D ...
*
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Am ...
*
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outle ...
*
Quality television
*
New Hollywood
The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence.
They influenced the types o ...
*
Indiewood
Indiewood (also known as "speciality", "alternative", "indie" or "quality") films are those made outside of the Hollywood studio system or traditional arthouse/ independent filmmaking yet managed to be produced, financed and distributed by the two ...
References
Further reading
* {{cite web , url=http://gawker.com/5723501/now-is-the-season-for-prestige-picture-fatigue , title=Now Is the Season for Prestige Picture Fatigue , date=3 January 2011 , last=Moylan , first=Brian , website=
Gawker
''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded ...
, access-date=2017-02-04
Film and video terminology