When it comes to why minorities struggle in Hollywood, you mostly get graphs & studies, but rarely a person to point a finger at. Well today, we do.

This is Adolph Zukor. And here& #39;s how he changed movies during the Spanish Flu & why it could happen again with COVID19. /thread

Just like now, during the Spanish Flu, movie theaters closed between 2-6 months. Also like now, studios shut down productions for a while.

In 1918 though, a LOT of movie theaters and studios were owned by independent filmmakers, who were people of color & women. /2

Here& #39;s where Zukor comes in. He sees everything shut down and offers to buy struggling theaters & studios for pennies. When minorities refuse, he threatens to build competing theaters across the street.

When they can& #39;t afford to sue, minority-owned theaters & studios close. /3

IN ADDITION, now that he& #39;s in full control of theaters, studios & distribution, he changes the structure of Hollywood. Movie lengths & ticket prices change. He also shuts out women & people of color from positions of power.

He exploits the pandemic to take over Hollywood. /4

How does this come into play during THIS pandemic? Well, besides theaters closing, you& #39;ll see a HUGE shift to streaming, which may or may not kill theaters all together.

BUT, we have to keep minority filmmakers afloat as they& #39;re the most likely to struggle during this time /5

So if you& #39;re a minority filmmaker, reply & amplify your work on this thread!

Read the full article by @DeadlineNellie here: https://deadline.com/2020/04/hollywood-coronavirus-impact-spanish-flu-history-lessons-william-mann-interview-1202899630/">https://deadline.com/2020/04/h...

Also a fun tidbit is that in 1918 a bunch of male movie stars died because they saw wearing masks all the time as "weak." BYEhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👋" title="Waving hand" aria-label="Emoji: Waving hand">