Product Description: What purpose does the news media serve in contemporary North American society? In this collection of essays, experts from both the United States and Canada investigate this question, exploring the effects of media concentration in democratic systems...read more

British Columbia’s billion-dollar film industry trails behind only those of California and New York. This book recounts the story of British Columbia’s rapid rise from relative obscurity in the film world to its current status as "Hollywood North." Gasher positions the industry as a model for commercial film production in the twenty-first century -- one strongly shaped by a perception of cinema as a medium, not of culture, but of regional industrial development. He addresses the specific economic and geographic factors that contribute to the province’s success, such as the low Canadian dollar and BC’s proximity to Los Angeles.Hollywood North is an important book that brings into focus the tension between globalization and localization in the film industry. (view table of contents)