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Bring Back the Hollywood Asshole!
In this opinion column for The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Joseph Kahn laments the disappearance of the flamboyant, larger-than-life Hollywood studio executive, arguing that today's more casually dressed, low-key studio bosses lack the presence and authority of their predecessors. He suggests that the old guard's imposing style was not mere vanity but a functional tool of intimidation that commanded respect from artists and kept the industry disciplined and profitable.
Kahn contrasts modern executives, whom he describes turning up to meetings in quarter-zips and Allbirds trainers, with legendary and fictional Hollywood power players such as Robert Evans, and film characters including Griffin Mill from The Player and Jack Lipnick from Barton Fink, all known for their commanding dress and demeanour. He traces the industry's shift away from this culture to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he says hastened cinema's decline in favour of streaming, replacing box-office takings as the key success metric with subscriber numbers and viewing hours.
In short
- Director Joseph Kahn misses Hollywood's flashy, intimidating old-school studio executives
- He says their bold style commanded respect and discipline from artists
- Blames pandemic-driven streaming shift for today's more casual, low-key executives
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The case for more commanding executive presence rests on the belief that such authority served a functional purpose—keeping artists disciplined, ensuring decisive decision-making, and projecting the confident leadership that made Hollywood dominantly powerful. The argument holds that this style of leadership, expressed through distinctive personality and sartorial gravitas, conveyed the expectation that choices would be made and seen through, which modern casual-dress executives may fail to communicate. There is, from this view, something genuinely consequential lost when boardrooms traded power for approachability.
The case against
Critics contend that attributing Hollywood's challenges to executive casualness mistakes symptom for cause. The decline of cinema and rise of streaming represent fundamental technological and market-driven shifts that no executive dress code could have prevented. Moreover, modern leaders can command respect and make decisive choices without relying on intimidation; contemporary research and practice suggest collaborative, accessible leadership is equally—if not more—effective, particularly with creative talent. The old studio system's authority relied on workplace intimidation that caused documented harm; that it produced profit does not establish that intimidation was necessary for success.
Explained simply
Hollywood's studio executives have undergone a significant cultural shift in recent decades. Where an earlier generation was known for flamboyant dress and commanding presence, today's executives typically favour casual, understated style and behaviour.
Filmmaker Joseph Kahn has written that this change represents a loss for the industry. He points to past executives including Robert Evans and fictional film portrayals as examples of figures whose imposing style commanded respect from talent and maintained industry discipline and profitability.
The transformation reflects broader changes in entertainment. The growth of online streaming and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have diminished cinema's dominance, with studios now measuring success by subscriber numbers and viewing hours rather than box-office revenues, fundamentally altering how the industry operates.
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