Voices of Labor: Creativity, Craft, and Conflict in Global Hollywood

Description

Motion pictures are made, not mass produced, requiring a remarkable collection of skills, self-discipline, and sociality—all of which are sources of enormous pride among Hollywood’s craft and creative workers. The interviews collected here showcase the ingenuity, enthusiasm, and aesthetic pleasures that attract people to careers in the film and television industries. They also reflect critically on changes in the workplace brought about by corporate conglomeration and globalization. Rather than offer publicity-friendly anecdotes by marquee celebrities, Voices of Labor presents off-screen observations about the everyday realities of Global Hollywood. Ranging across job categories—from showrunner to make-up artist to location manager—this collection features voices of labor from Los Angeles, Atlanta, Prague, and Vancouver. Together they show how seemingly abstract concepts like conglomeration, financialization, and globalization are crucial tools for understanding contemporary Hollywood and for reflecting more generally on changes and challenges in the screen media workplace and our culture at large. Despite such formidable concerns, what nevertheless shines through is a commitment to craftwork and collaboration that provides the means to imagine and instigate future alternatives for screen media labor. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments 1 Listening to Labor 2 Company Town 3 Mara Brock Akil, showrunner 4 Tom Schulman, screenwriter 5 Allison Anders, director 6 Lauren Polizzi, art director 7 Mary Jane Fort, costume designer 8 Anonymous, makeup artist 9 Stephen Lighthill, cinematographer 10 Calvin Starnes, grip 11 Steve Nelson, sound recordist 12 Rob Matsuda, musician 13 Global Machine 14 Anonymous, studio production executive 15 David Minkowski, service producer 16 Adam Goodman, service producer 17 Stephen Burt, production manager 18 Belle Doyle, location manager 19 Wesley Hagan, location manager 20 Fringe City 21 Scott Ross, VFX manager 22 Dave Rand, VFX artist 23 Mariana Acuña-Acosta, VFX artist 24 Daniel Lay, VFX artist 25 Steve Kaplan, union official 26 Dusty Kelly, union official Appendix Interview Schedule