Research Catalog

Hollywood's artists the Directors Guild of America and the construction of authorship

Title
Hollywood's artists [electronic resource] : the Directors Guild of America and the construction of authorship / Virginia Wright Wexman.
Author
Wexman, Virginia Wright.
Publication
New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]

Available Online

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Details

Description
1 online resource.
Summary
"The production of a Hollywood movie encompasses the work of many people from the screenwriter and editor to the cinematographer and boom operator. Yet it is the director who is considered the artistic force behind a film. The notion of the director as the author of a film was not always a given but the result of a variety of different historical and institutional factors, including the breakup of the classical Hollywood studio system and the rise of the auteur theory in the 1960s. An often overlooked player in this story is the Directors Guild of America (DGA) that, as Virginia Wright Wexman argues, played a crucial role in establishing the director's status and power in Hollywood and in the public's mind. In Hollywood's Artists, Wexman provides the first history of the DGA and its influence. She begins by discussing how it differentiated itself from other industry unions, focusing on issues of status, networking, and creative control as opposed to money and job security. Wexman then considers how the DGA fought for directors to be credited as "authors" of the film and how this put them in conflict with others in the film industry. In addition to tracing the history of how directors created their image in the public's imagination, including their role in the McCarthy hearings, Wexman discusses how the DGA fought to have directors get more legal control over their films"--
Series Statement
Film and culture
Uniform Title
Hollywood's artists (Online)
Alternative Title
Hollywood's artists (Online)
Subject
  • Directors Guild of America > History
  • Motion picture producers and directors > United States > History
  • Motion pictures > Production and direction > History. > United States
  • Motion picture industry > United States > History
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access (note)
  • Access restricted to authorized users.
Source of Description (note)
  • Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Contents
Directors as artists : the DGA rides the wave -- Charisma and competition : the DGA stakes its claim -- Recognition : the DGA takes credit -- Politics : the DGA stages HUAC -- Law : the DGA and artists as owners.
ISBN
9780231551434
LCCN
2019052937
OCLC
ssj0002432500
Author
Wexman, Virginia Wright.
Title
Hollywood's artists [electronic resource] : the Directors Guild of America and the construction of authorship / Virginia Wright Wexman.
Imprint
New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]
Series
Film and culture
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
Note
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Connect to:
Available from home with a valid library card
Available onsite at NYPL
Other Form:
Print version: Wexman, Virginia Wright. Hollywood's artists New York : Columbia University Press, [2020] 9780231195683 (DLC) 2019052936
View in Legacy Catalog