The Hollywood Economist

I've just been reading this great series of articles on Slate by Edward Jay Epstein, who is also the author of the recent book "The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood."

The Slate pieces (under the rubric of "The Hollywood Economist") are truly enjoyable reading for anyone who wants to know more about the inner workings of the movie business. Epstein sifts through all of the industry's conventional wisdom, to find quite a few surprising truths, like why Pixar can't leave Disney. His piece on Sony's Blu-Ray high-definition DVD format is the first intelligent thing I've read on that topic.