Hollywood Films & Business Themes

Filmmakers Are An Entrepreneurial Bunch.
Their movies often weave story lines illustrating the public’s fascination
with becoming their own boss.

If you had to quickly list entrepreneurial-oriented films Michael Douglas in Wall Street, Justin Timberlake in Social Networking, or Decaprio in Howard Hughes might come to mind…or not. But  the themes are easily found in all kinds of films.

And some of the issues or challenges confronting would-be entrepreneurs or creative types abound with underlying messages.

From ghoulish to odd to real-world here are a few examples.

• Fantastic Four
  Underlying lesson: Investors can be problematic. And if Von Doom is the potential financier’s surname, perhaps rethinking collaboration at the start might be wise.

• Road to Perdition
  Many men and women from 9 to 90, and from every socio-economic status
  and walk of life dream about becoming their own boss someday. So no surprise when the film’s contract killer finds a way to supplement his income by turning his talent for murder and photography into a part-time business.
  Note: See Roger Ebert Reviews. com Road to Perdition

• The Ghost & Mrs Muir
  Struggling to pay for the mortgage on hiter New England cottage, a widow and budding writer is not turning out the manuscripts that the public wants to read. Her prim and proper background isn’t salable.
  So she collaborates with the spirit of a sea captain and pens the tale of his bawdy adventures and she finds literary success.
  Lesson:  Cant go wrong with innovative collaboration.

• Mildred Pierce
  Waitress works her way up to become a wealthy and successful restaurant owner while business and family life unravels.

References

Fantastic Four
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120667/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four_(film)

Roger Ebert.com/reviews Road to Perdition
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/road-to-perdition-2002

The Ghost & Mrs Muir
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/

Mildred Pierce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_Pierce_(film)#Adaptations
http://entertainment.time.com/2011/03/25/tv-weekend-mildred-pierce/