All this carries a degree of culture shock for the town's older writers and artisans. They can remember when Hollywood was a town built around its Dream Factories. Film was its economic base and, despite ties to New York bankers, its management base was in Hollywood.

Today, as the events of '07 remind us, Hollywood is a mere plaything of the international congloms, and Hollywood product represents a relatively minor sector of the product line. Today's managers are a far cry from the Louis B. Mayers or Lew Wassermans of old. Indeed, to a growing degree, they don't even want to be part of the scene.