Lights, Camera, butWhere’s the Action? Actor-Network Theory and the Production of Robert Connolly’s Three Dollars

In Hollywood, filmmaking is dominated by a number of large production studios that have placed increasing emphasis upon contract and freelance labor since the end of the studio era.1 Feature film production in many other countries and cities relies even more extensively on impermanent self-employed freelance workers that are less integrated into the long-range business plans of the major studios/distributors. American economist Jeremy Rifkin remarks,“every film production brings together a team of specialised production companies and independent contractors, each with its own expertise, along with the talent.2 Together, these disparate parties constitute a short-lived network enterprise whose lifespan will be limited to the duration of the project.”3 The project-based nature of employment in this industry is hence comprehensive, with very few large film producing firms, formulating what has been coined a “cottage economy.”4