Hollywood blockbuster producer Lynda Obst discusses how the movie business has changed and why you cannot make great movies anymore in the current studio system.

DVD sales, the overseas market, the reliance on Superhero movies and the Lucas and Spielberg complaints about the industry are all explored in a conversation that sheds real light on the new abnormal of Hollywood.

Lynda Obst is one of the most prolific female producers in the film industry. Her hit films including Flashdance, The Fisher King, Sleepless In Seattle, One Fine Day, Contact, Hope Floats, and How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days, have received critical acclaim, and combined have amassed two Oscar wins, an additional eleven Oscar nominations, four Golden Globe wins and an additional eleven Golden Globe nominations. Her mini-series The 60′s also received three Emmy nominations. She is an Executive Producer on TVLAND’s Hot in Cleveland, which garnered two SAG Award nominations and one win for star Betty White. She is currently actively developing and producing both features and television and has a deal at Sony Pictures Television.

Obst is also a well-known commentator and best selling author, frequently writing and speaking about both the industry and issues surrounding women in entertainment. Her non-fiction book: Hello He Lied: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches debuted at #1 on the LA Times Best Seller list, where it stayed for 10 weeks and turned into an industry classic, later to be adapted into a documentary for AMC. She has given seminars on the film industry around the world, and has been a moderator and speaker at the annual LA Times Festival of Books.

Lynda has written for the Atlantic.com’s culture channel, and is a frequent contributor toThe Huffington Post. She has also written for the New York Times Book Review, LA Times Book Review, The Nation, and Harper’s Magazine. Lynda wrote an Oscar dialogue for both Slate.com and New York Magazine with film critic David Edelstein, and was the moderator for the November 2007 Women in Hollywood issue of Elle.