Howard Suber is a founder of the Producer’s Program at UCLA and teacher of a legendary course on structure. In this article he looks at the success of the Hollywood film and it’s root (as all good drama he argues) in individualism.

Why do people around the world continue to prefer American films after all these years? I don’t think it’s because our films are “better”; I think it’s because most American films sell something that people want, something they’re hungry for, and can never get enough of.

What they’re selling also explains why today, as always, there are a significant number of people who hate our movies. What American movies are selling is the Unstated State Religion of America: Individualism — the belief that the most important power in the world lies within each person.