Last night, I posted a link to the Daily Variety’s “Facts on Pacts” chart, which lists producer deals at movie studios. Consider this a follow-up. Today, the LA Times’ Patrick Goldstein provides an informative look at 20th Century Fox, focusing on the fact that this is the first summer in 10 years where the studio hasn’t had at least one movie reaching $100M in domestic box office. In the article, Goldstein analyzes the studio’s management style:

FOX EXECUTIVES say that after 10 straight summers of success it was inevitable that they’d have an off year. Fair enough. But I say the cruel summer numbers are also the result of a rigidly constructed system that has driven away nearly all of the creative filmmakers and producers who once worked on the lot, putting the studio’s movies in the hands of hacks, newcomers and nonentities who largely execute the wishes of the Fox production team led by studio Co-Chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos.

When it comes to Fox’s movie management skills, I’ve always been of two minds. The part of me who has to balance a checkbook every month is always impressed, since the studio rarely wastes money, avoids colossal blunders and shrewdly steers its risky art-house projects to Fox Searchlight, its specialty film division. But the part of me who loves movies questions whether a studio can go to such lengths to manage risk that it bleeds all the joy, spontaneity and art out of the business.

We tend to talk about the “studios” as if they’re this monolithic entity. They aren’t. Each has its own corporate tie-ins, management style, and history, all of which directly impacts the decisions they make in terms of what projects they acquire and greenlight. Again, as with “Facts on Pacts,” it’s a good idea to know at least something about the buyers.