Impact Changes in filmmaking in the 1990’s, al-
though aimed at making more money for the stu-
dios, actually resulted in an emphasis of style over
substance. Technological advances, specifically the
use of CGI, stressed the importance of images at the
expense of narrative. Clearly targeting the younger
audiences, studios sacrifice characterization, depth,
and meaning to increase their profits, leaving fewer
films available for older, and perhaps more thought-
ful, viewers. This trend could, however, be reduced
by the production of independent films that would
seem to be a necessary means of restoring balance in
filmmaking.
Further Reading
Allen, Michael.Contemporar y U.S. Cinema. Harlow,
England: Longman, 2003. Directs attention to
the changes in the last thirty years of filmmaking
in the United States—specifically, the rise of inde-
pendent films, the costs of production, and ad-
vances in technology.
Hurd, Mary G.Women Directors and Their Films. West-
port, Conn.: Praeger, 2007. Study of American fe-
male directors, from Dorothy Arzner to the pres-
ent, both mainstream and independent.
Levy, Emanuel.Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of Ameri-
can Independent Film. New York: New York Univer-
sity Press, 1999. History of the “indie” films from
the standpoints of region, gender, and ethnicity.
Lewis, Jon, ed.The End of Cinema as
We Know It: American Film in the
Nineties.New York: New York Uni-
versity Press, 2001. Contains
thirty-four essays that discuss vari-
ous changes in the cinema of the
1990’s.
Mar y Hurd
See also Basic Instinct;Blair Witch
Project, The; CGI;Dances with Wolves;
Film in Canada;Forrest Gump;
GoodFellas;Home Alone; Indepen-
dent films;Jurassic Park; Lee, Spike;
Matrix, The;Philadelphia;Scream;
Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom
Menace; Sundance Film Festival;
Tarantino, Quentin;Terminator 2:
Judgment Day;Titanic.
Fleiss, Heidi
Identification American madam
Born December 30, 1965; Los Angeles, California
Fleiss gained widespread notoriety and media recognition
in the mid-1990’s as her call-girl business became a large-
scale scandal involving A-list Hollywood celebrities.
Heidi Fleiss met Beverly Hills call-girl entrepreneur
Madam Alex (Elizabeth Adams) in 1988, and al-
though Fleiss was occasionally a call girl, she mainly
functioned as Madam Alex’s assistant. After two
years, Fleiss left her employer to start her own high-
class prostitution service. Fleiss not only imitated
Madam Alex’s business model of catering to wealthy
and influential members of Los Angeles commerce,
politics, and film communities, as well as royalty and
big-business executives from overseas (even sending
call girls abroad), but also greatly exceeded her for-
mer employer’s business by recruiting women from
the Los Angeles club scene. Like Madam Alex, Fleiss
ensured that her employees were well-groomed,
well-mannered, and all-around upscale.
Fleiss earned enough money through her illicit
business endeavors (reportedly $6 million per year)
to purchase a large estate in Beverly Hills, which she
bought in her father’s name (pediatrician Paul M.
Fleiss, himself convicted in 1995 of money launder-
ing and fraud in connection with Heidi’s com-The Nineties in America Fleiss, Heidi 337
Heidi Fleiss in a Los Angeles courtroom in January, 1995. Though she was convicted
of pandering and narcotics possession, her sentence was later overturned because of
jury misconduct.(AP/Wide World Photos)