Biopics and other movies and television shows based on real events are increasingly appearing at the multiplex and on streaming platforms alongside blockbuster franchises and adaptations. The appeal of movies and television shows based on true stories is that they claim to tell us what really happened, with the public and private versions of events packaged into one coherent narrative. But how do they do it, and what makes this version of events so appealing? The Biopic and Beyond investigates the process that turns the distant public figures that populate news and entertainment into screen characters that we can engage with and try to understand a little better. Even though they aren’t the real thing, our engagement with fictionalized versions of public figures can, for better or worse, color the way we understand the real person behind them. Screen engagement with the fake person behind the real person doesn’t only happen in biopics and docudramas, with media as varied as sketch comedy, fan fiction and the celebrity cameo contributing to the ways we understand public figures. Using case studies such as Mark Zuckerberg and The Social Network, Sarah Palin and Saturday Night Live, and Louis C.K. and Louie, The Biopic and Beyond will make you think about the way you see the world through a fictionalized version of it.

Representations of Antiquity in Film offers an introduction to how the ancient world is represented in film and especially Hollywood cinema. McGeough considers the potential that movies have for helping us think about antiquity and their relationship to more traditional academic historical work. The book shows how contemporary issues are drawn out through the cinematic presentations of the past and how modern values are naturalized through their presentation in ancient settings. Through discussion of films from the silent film era to the present, McGeough traces the formative role that films of various genres have had in shaping our perceptions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Holy Land, Greece, Rome, barbarian Europe, and the Maya. Not ignoring the traditional historical epic film, the book also presents detailed analyses of comedies, action films, art house fare, exploitation flicks and any type of movie in which audiences experience depictions of the past. By considering cinematic narrative as well as various elements of film design, McGeough presents a comprehensive overview of the topic designed for students and scholars with varying backgrounds in media studies, archaeology, religious studies, and ancient history.

During the first decades of the 21st century, a critical re-assessment of the reenactment as a form of historical representation has taken place in the disciplines of history, art history and performance studies. Engagement with the reenactment in film and media studies has come almost entirely from the field of documentary studies and has focused almost exclusively on non-fiction, even though reenactments are being employed across fiction and non-fiction film and television genres. Working with an eclectic collection of case studies from Milk, Monster, Boys Don’t Cry, and The Battle of Orgreave to CSI and the video of police assaulting Rodney King, this book examines the relationship between the status of theatricality in the reenactment and the ways in which its relationships to reference are performed. Carrigy shows that while the practice of reenactment predates technically reproducible media, and continues to exist in both live and mediated forms, it has been thoroughly transformed through its incorporation within forms of technical media.

John Ford (1894-1973) is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. He is the only person to win four Academy Awards for Direction, for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952). This reference book is a comprehensive guide to his career. The volume begins with a biography that looks at Ford as a person, a director, and a cinematic legend and influence. Ford's life is discussed chronologically, but the biography repeatedly considers how his early experiences shaped his creative vision and attempts to explain why he was so self-destructive and unhappy throughout his career. In addition, the biography carefully scrutinizes his methods, styles, techniques, and secrets of direction. A chronology presents his achievements in capsule form. The rest of the book provides detailed information about his many productions and about the response to his works. The heart of the volume is a filmography, which includes individual entries for 184 films with which Ford was involved, as either an actor, a director, a producer, a writer, an advisor, or an assistant. These entries include cast and credit information, a plot synopsis, critical commentary, and excerpts from reviews. The book also includes the most extensive annotated bibliography on Ford ever published, with more than 1000 entries for books, articles, dissertations, documentaries, and even four works of fiction concerning Ford. Additional sections of the book provide information about his unrealized projects; his radio, television, and theater work; his awards and honors; and special collections and archives.

This book offers the life story of the actor and musician who is perhaps the most bankable star in Hollywood today. How did Will Smith rise to the top of the Hollywood A-list? Find out with this revealing look at the life of an extraordinarily talented and appealing superstar. Will Smith: A Biography portrays Smith's West Philadelphia upbringing, his arrival and ascent in Hollywood, and his family life with wife and fellow actor, Jada Pinkett, and their children. It covers Smith's successes in three mediums: music, where his partnership with childhood friend DJ Jazzy Jeff culminated in the first ever Grammy for rap; the wildly popular television show, "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air;" and his movie successes, from roles in blockbusters like Independence Day, Men in Black, and I Am Legend, to critically acclaimed, award-winning performances in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. The book also details his increasing presence as a film producer.

A racy leading man, a devoted husband and father, an American icon. Any of these would describe Hollywood legend Paul Newman. Almost everyone the world over knows the public story of America's heartthrob, but few know what really went on beyond the silver screen—until now. Quirk's book chronicles how Newman, armed with his astonishing good looks and what his acting teacher called "magnetic presence," rushed into acting and marriage to get away from his father's disapproving eye. As Quirk deftly unveils, however, Newman was unprepared to settle down, and the vows of marriage only served to ward off rumors of his suspected homosexuality. Quirk details Newman's rocky marriage, the joyful birth of his first child, and his first acting breaks on Broadway where he met his second wife, Joanne Woodward.

This book is about leaders of the modern American theater who resisted the temptation to fill the stage, preferring instead the evocations of a simple stage. Their work initially raised controversy, being applauded as visionary and poetic by some, drab and monotonous by others. And yet today the simplified stage is a well-established part of American theater practice. Feinsod begins his examination of these leading theater artists with a look at the precedents and influences of the modern simple stage. Drawing from diverse historic and cultural traditions, the first American simplifiers defied customs of elaborate spectacle and detailed naturalism in favor of self-imposed aesthetic restraint and a reduction to bare stage essentials. Among the leaders in simplifying the modern American mise-en-scene, Feinsod delves into the theories and practices of director Maurice Browne and designer Raymond Jonson of the Chicago Little Theater; George Cram Cook, founder of the Provincetown Players; Lyman Gale and Livingston Platt of the Boston Toy Theater; as well as Sam Hume of the Arts and Crafts Theater in Detroit; director Arthur Hopkins; designers Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson; and playwright Thornton Wilder. Influential foreigners, especially English designer Edward Gordon Craig and French director Jacques Copeau, are also discussed. Throughout the text, numerous design reproductions and performance photographs visually demonstrate the effectiveness of the simple stage.

Traditionally, the carnival mode in Europe offers a suspension of time and ordinary social conventions; however, through the presentation and representation of that which is deemed exotic and unconventional, American carnival proposes an alternative landscape. While other authors have generally focused on European manifestations of the carnival, McGowan identifies and analyzes a particularly American form of the carnival, which systematically operates to codify race and space within the United States. Through an analysis of overt carnival forms, such as minstrel shows, World's Fairs, and Coney Island, McGowan demonstrates how America reads society and culture through a dualistic vision contoured by race, class, ethnic, and gender concerns. American exhibitions of Otherness are constructed within, and interpreted through, an economy of spectacular display and punishment, in which the normative position of whiteness is opposed by manipulated representations of Other identities, such as freaks and monsters, blacks, Native Americans, and other minority groups.

The volume explores how such carnivalizations of America's racial faces and social spaces extend beyond overt spectacles and constitute a continuous process of encoded readings of social position. The book examines a range of texts and cultural events from the 19th and 20th centuries to identify the operations and mutations of American carnival forms, including literary works by such authors as Fitzgerald, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Bellow.

Dystopian literature is a potent vehicle for criticizing existing social conditions and political systems. While utopian literature portrays ideal worlds, dystopian literature depicts the flaws and failures of imaginative societies. Often these societies are related to utopias, and the dystopian writers have chosen to reveal shortcomings of those social systems previously considered ideal. This reference overviews dystopian theory and summarizes and analyzes numerous dystopian works. By reviewing the critical thought of particular dystopian theorists, the beginning of the volume provides a theoretical context for the remainder of the book. Because dystopian literature is so closely related to utopian writing, the reference profiles and discusses eight important utopian works. The rest of the book includes entries for numerous dystopian novels, plays, and films. Each entry summarizes the work and discusses dystopian themes. The entries include short bibliographies, with full bibliographic information provided at the end of the volume. This comprehensive guide covers the full period from Thomas More's Utopia to the present day.

Bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scholars from around the world, Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Hell’s Under New Management presents perspectives on the television show that situates it within contemporary discourses of genre, form, historical place, ideology, and aesthetics. The essays collected by editors Cori Mathis, Stephanie A. Graves, and Melissa Tyndall illustrate that the series is not simply interesting in the context of its status as an extension of Riverdale's narrative or as a reimagining of the popular 1990s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Instead, with its unique blend of the Gothic, horror, and melodrama to approach the coming-of-age narrative, the series is a complex, enduring work and a significant part of the teen television canon. This thought-provoking essay collection provides multiple entry points into television studies for scholars and students alike.

Acting Is Believing has trained generations of actors and remains one of the most popular and influential classic Stanislavski-based acting books over the past sixty years. Now in its thirteenth edition, it has been reimagined for the art of acting in the twenty-first century. Stanislavski expanded our understanding of the mysterious process that results in truthful acting, devising practical steps to pursue the most elusive element of the artform—inspiration. Acting Is Believing: Stanislavski in the 21st Century, 13th Edition, introduces students to all the major concepts of Stanislavski’s System of Acting, providing them with a logical process through which they can master this complex art. It breaks down even the most complex elements defining human behavior in ways that are easy to digest. This new edition has been greatly updated, including: Reworked chapters throughout to bring Stanislavski’s theories to life in a language that speaks to today’s actors A new approach to entering Stanislavski’s Creative State, broken into an innovative five-part process Updated discussions on anxiety, physical tension, social inhibitions, and intimacy onstage Modified solo and group exercises Expanded appendix on self-directed scene study Refined and updated glossary of acting, theatre, and film terminology Acting Is Believing remains grounded in Stanislavski-based technique training, yet this latest text has evolved as a vital resource for twenty-first century artists pursing acting careers in theatre, film, and television. With a foreword by two-time Tony Award winning actor, Norbert Leo Butz, Acting Is Believing continues to set the gold standard in the art of acting for a new generation.

This reference work on Boris Karloff presents a comprehensive record of the life and career of this famous performer. The volume begins with a biography, which succinctly presents the facts of Karloff's life. A chronology of his significant achievements follows. The remaining chapters overview Karloff's broad career. Chapters document and comment upon his film, stage, radio, and television performances. A discography is included as well. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography of books and articles about Karloff, along with a comprehensive index.

This provocative work analyzes Mae West's long life and productive career in three major phases: the early theater years, her meteoric film career in the thirties, and her subsequent life as a popular culture legend. It examines her theatrical approach to life and her unique talent for translating a low comic variety style into a subtle satire of melodramatic conventions. West's attempts to control her comic creation led her into many public battles over her claims to authorship of her plays and filmscripts. The book's bibliography explores her talents as a writer, summarizing the plays and books she wrote and investigating the validity of those claims. A thorough study of West's background and attitudes, this volume combines the approaches of both biographical and critical/artistic analysis and broadens our understanding of how Mae West fits into American popular culture. The book examines West's philosophy of success and how it was reflected in her personal and professional life, and places her in a historical and cultural perspective without forcing her personality into predetermined categories. This bio-bibliography provides a fresh view of the legendary Mae West, and a new insight into the complexity of her artistry and social vision. It will be a valuable addition to all public libraries, and a useful resource in the study of American popular culture and film history.

Ever since the premiere for the first Mickey Mouse cartoon in 1928, Disney has played a central role in American popular culture, which has progressively expanded to include a global market. The company positioned itself to be a central role in family entertainment, and many of its offerings – from films to consumable products – have deeply embedded themselves into not only the imaginations of children and adults, but also into the threads of one’s life experience. It is difficult to go through life without encountering one Disney product. Because of this, fans of Disney build connections with their favourite characters and franchises, some of which are fuelled further by Disney’s own marketing practices. Similarly, Disney responds to the cultural values of the era through its films and other media offerings. In this volume, scholars from varying backgrounds take a close look at facets of the Disney canon as more than agents of entertainment or consumption, and into underlying messages at the very heart of the Disney phenomenon: the cultural response that drives the corporation’s massive production and marketing machine. The relationship between Disney and its fans is one of loyalty and love, shaping cultural behaviours and values through the brand and its products. Disney responds in kind with a synergistic approach that makes it possible to experience Disney in any format at any given time. Primary readership will be academics, researchers, educators, scholars and students working in the fields of media and cultural studies, especially those interested in marketing and branding, and in the Disney Company in general. The accessible writing style and the range of topics covered make it suitable for postgraduate students and academics working in these fields, as well as third-year undergraduate students. The book will also appeal to academics working in the related fields of tourism studies, film and television studies and, given the focus of some of the chapters, in gender studies. Although academic in focus, the accessible writing style does mean that it may also have appeal to the non-academic reader and fans of Disney.

A tweet by American actor and activist Alyssa Milano, sent on October 15, 2017, opened the floodgates to an outpouring of testimony and witnessing across the Twitterverse that reverberated throughout social media. Facebook status lines quickly began to read “Me too,� and #MeToo was trending. That tweet re-launched the ‘me too’ movement, which was started in 2006 by Tarana Burke. Performing #MeToo: How Not to Look Away does not attempt to deliver a comprehensive examination of how #MeToo is performed. What it does aim at presenting is a set of perspectives on the events identified as representative of the movement through a lens or lenses that are multinational, as well as work and analysis from a variety of time periods, written in a diversity of styles. By providing this means of engaging with examples of the many interpretations of and responses to the #MeToo movement, and by identifying these responses (and those of audiences) as provocations, of examples of how not to look away, the collected chapters are intended to invite reflection, discussion and, hopefully, incite action. It gives writers from diverse cultural and environmental contexts an opportunity to speak about this cultural moment in their own voices. There is a wide geographical range and variety of forms of performance addressed in this timely new book. The international group of contributors are based in the UK, USA, Australia, South Africa, Scotland, Canada, India, Italy and South Korea. The topics addressed by writers include socially engaged practice; celebrity feminism, archive and repertoire; rape/war; misogynistic speech; stage management and intimacy facilitation; key institutions’ responses; spatial practices as well as temporal ones; academic call-outs; caste/class; political contexts; adaptation of classic texts; activist events; bouffon (a clown technique) and audience response Forms of performance practice include applied theatre, performance protest, verbatim, solo performance, institutional practice, staging of plays, street responses, academic, adaptation of classic text, play reading events and the musical. Although there is much to read in the media and alternative media on the #MeToo movement, this is the first attempt to analyse the movement from and in such diverse contexts. Bringing together twelve writers to speak about works they have either performed, witnessed or studied gives the reader a nuanced way of looking at the movement and its impact. It is also an incredible archive of this moment in time that points to its importance.  Suitable for use in several graduate and undergraduate courses, including performance studies, feminist studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology, environmental or liberal studies and social history. Essential reading for theatre workers, academics, students, and anyone with an interest in feminism, contemporary theatre or human rights. For artists considering projects that include the themes of #MeToo, and for producers and directors of such projects looking for good practices around how to create environments of safety in their organizations, as well as those who wish to organize communities of artists. For anyone interested in learning more about how to support the movement, or an interest in the specific social narratives told in each individual chapter. For women, feminists and anyone with an interest in the issues.

From his role in The Terminator to his more recent work as Governator of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has played a major role in American popular culture. This accessible and entertaining biography traces the trajectory of Arnold's career-sports figure turned movie star turned entrepreneur turned politician. Elected as governor of California in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger now dramatically and vividly represents the determination and, to a great extent, the relentlessness necessary for achieving great fame, political power, and iconic status. While many readers will have read about his benchmark achievements, this biography will reveal the surprising complexities behind the public scenes and put them into a larger cultural context. Photos and a timeline of significant events round out this insightful biography. From his role in The Terminator to his more recent work as Governator of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has played a major role in American popular culture. This biography traces the fascinating trajectory of Arnold's career-sports figure turned movie star turned entrepreneur turned politician. Elected as governor of California in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger now dramatically and vividly represents the determination and, to a great extent, the relentlessness necessary for achieving great fame, political power, and iconic status. Arnold's life has been characterized by public notoriety. While many readers will have heard or read about his benchmark achievements, this biography will reveal the surprising complexities behind the public scenes and put them into a larger cultural context. Photos and a timeline of significant events round out this entertaining and insightful biography.

The complete, authorised scripts, including deleted scenes, of the multiple award-winning Succession. ** Winner of thirteen Emmys, five Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and a Grammy. ** With an exclusive introduction from creator Jesse Armstrong. 'The most thrilling and beautifully obscene TV there is.' Guardian 'Extraordinarily entertaining and incisive.' Empire 'One of the most relentlessly paced shows on television.' Rolling Stone Everything I've done in my life is for my children. When Logan Roy, the head of one of the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerates, decides to retire, each of his four grown children follows a personal agenda that doesn't always sync with those of their siblings -- or their father. Collected here for the first time, the complete scripts of Succession: Season One feature unseen extra material, including deleted scenes, alternative dialogue and character directions, and an exclusive introduction from creator and showrunner, Jesse Armstrong. They reveal a unique insight into the writing, creation and development of a TV sensation and a screen-writing masterpiece. 'Monstrous, near-Shakespearean perfection.' New Statesman