>Not to quibble, but I would argue that the wealthy
>corporations do not have a creative stranglehold over the
>production of movies but, rather, over their distribution.

Right. That too. But they aren't going to invest their money in something unless they know throughout the process they will be able to distribute it. That's when they start sending notes to the set. "A little more of this. . . a little less of that". These ideas of "decency" and "conformity" that they interject into the process. Safety sells.

So they still have that kind of control. It's all tied up together.

>I maintain that new methods of
>reaching a different audience are necessary to change the
>artistic climate,

Yeah, I agree with this completely. Absolutely.