Between Authenticity and Entertainment: The Film Studio as a Brand Land Experience – A Photographic Essay

Since the birth of Hollywood in 1912, film studios have provided interested film audiences with studio tours to satisfy the public’s demand for first-hand insights and experiences into the world of film and filmmaking. However, as substantial industrial changes within the film industry since the 1950s have turned film studios into clearing-houses, economic pressure caused by declining income from auxiliary markets has meant that they are increasingly required to commercialise their corporate brand and intellectual film properties in the form of studio tours and theme parks, which attract millions of visitors worldwide every year. But how do the brand land experiences offered by film studios cater to the inherent needs and desires that consumers seek to fulfil? Based on the researcher’s personal experiences and observations at two major Hollywood studios, this paper uses an introspective photographic essay approach to take a closer look at how consumers experience and engage with the world of film that film studios provide in the form of either studio tours or theme parks.