This documentary is part of the American Cinema Series, which originally aired on PBS. This series is a survey of the American film industry as an art form, as an industry, and as a system of representation and communication. It explores how Hollywood films work technically, aesthetically, and culturally to reinforce and challenge America's national self-image. Using  Paramount Pictures as a case study, "The Studio System" looks at the factory system, perfected by major film studios in 1930s Hollywood. The studio system combined the best talent in the industry and also allowed for individual expression. By the 1950s, television, limited budgets, and non-exclusive contracts meant the beginning of the end for the old studio system. Huge corporations that tend to over emphasize profit own the "New Hollywood".  (60 minutes)