Engineering Hollywood

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luci Marzola
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Motion Picture ◽  
Closed System ◽  
Creative Industry ◽  
American Industry ◽  
Technological Infrastructure ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Studio System

Engineering Hollywood tells the story of the formation of the Hollywood studio system not as the product of a genius producer, but as an industry that brought together creative practices and myriad cutting-edge technologies in ways that had never been seen before. Using extensive archival research, this book examines the role of technicians, engineers, and trade organizations in creating a stable technological infrastructure on which the studio system rested for decades. Here the studio system is seen as a technology-dependent business with connections to the larger American industrial world. By focusing on the role played by technology, we see a new map of the studio system beyond the backlots of Los Angeles and the front offices in New York. In this study, Hollywood includes the labs of industrial manufacturers, the sales routes of independent firms, the garages of tinkerers, and the clubhouses of technicians’ societies. Rather than focusing on the technical improvements in any particular motion picture tool, this book centers on the larger systems and infrastructures for dealing with technology in this creative industry. Engineering Hollywood argues that the American industry was stabilized and able to dominate the motion picture field for decades through collaboration over technologies of everyday use. Hollywood’s relationship to its essential technology was fundamentally one of interdependence and cooperation—with manufacturers, trade organizations, and the competing studios. Accordingly, Hollywood could be defined as an industry by participation in a closed system of cooperation that allowed a select group of producers and manufacturers to dominate the motion picture business for decades.

scholarly journals Źródła do odbudowy państwa polskiego w archiwach polonijnych w USA

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 111-136
Author(s):  
Anna Krochmal
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Military Mission ◽  
Catholic Mission ◽  
Commander In Chief

The article discusses the role of Polish and Polish diaspora organizations in the USA, and the role of their archives, libraries, and museum deposits in the study of the first years of the independent Polish state. The most important ones, created in the USA in the 19th and the 20th century by Polish immigrants, are the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (located in New York), the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (located in New York), the Polish Army Veterans’ Association in America (located in New York), the Polish Museum of America (located in Chicago), the Polish Archive in the Polish Catholic Mission in Orchard Lake near Detroit, and the Polish Music Center in Los Angeles. The key role in the study of the restoration of the Polish state in 1918-1923 plays the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America, established on 4 July 1943 as a descendant of the Institute for Research into the Modern Polish History functioning in Warsaw between 1923 and 1939. The institute holds the so-called Belvedere Archives, saved in 1939 from Warsaw and taken from Europe to New York. It contains the documents of the Adjutancy Commander in Chief from the years 1918-1922, illustrating the struggle for the borders of the restored Polish state; documents of the Ukrainian Military Mission, showing Polish-Ukrainian cooperation in the face of the threat from Bolshevik Russia; documents from three Silesian uprisings, and archives of well-known supporters of Piłsudski, e.g. General Julian Stachiewicz and Marshal Rydz-Śmigły. Other additional sources from the years 1918-1923 are stored by Polish diaspora institutions, including priceless and understudied documents concerning the prominent composer, diplomat, and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski, as well as unique materials concerning Polish volunteers from the USA fighting along with General Józef Haller’s so-called Blue Army.

scholarly journals Thrust Into the Spotlight: COVID-19 Focuses Media Attention on Nursing Homes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Alan Miller ◽  
Elizabeth Simpson ◽  
Pamela Nadash ◽  
Michael Gusmano
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Los Angeles Times ◽  
Dramatic Rise ◽  
The Media ◽  
Keyword Searches

Abstract Objective This study sheds light on the agenda-setting role of the media during the COVID-19 crisis by examining trends in nursing home (NH) coverage in 4 leading national newspapers—The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times. Method Keyword searches of the Nexis Uni database identified 2,039 NH-related articles published from September 2018 to June 2020. Trends in the frequency of NH coverage and its tone (negative) and prominence (average words, daily article count, opinion piece) were examined. Results Findings indicate a dramatic rise in the number of NH articles published in the months following the first COVID-19 case, far exceeding previous levels. NH coverage became considerably more prominent, as the average number of words and daily articles on NHs increased. The proportion of negative articles largely remained consistent, though volume rose dramatically. Weekly analysis revealed acceleration in observed trends within the post-COVID-19 period itself. These trends, visible in all papers, were especially dramatic in The New York Times. Discussion Overall, findings reveal marked growth in the frequency and number of prominent and negative NH articles during the COVID-19 crisis. The increased volume of coverage has implications for the relative saliency of NHs to other issues during the pandemic. The increased prominence of coverage has implications for the perceived importance of addressing pre-existing deficits and the devastating consequences of the pandemic for NHs.

Daddy Butch

2019 ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Terry Chester Shulman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Financial Success ◽  
Returns To Work ◽  
To Come

Helene leaves Mussie and comes home. Dolores grows closer to Dr. Vruwink, who her children call Daddy Butch. Before they can marry, he’ll have to divorce his wife Laura. With Jack’s support payments already in arrears, Dolores returns to work. David O. Selznick casts her in the plum role of Dearest in Little Lord Fauntleroy, which becomes a critical and financial success. With her money from the film, Dolores buys a house in the Windsor Square neighborhood of Los Angeles. She sails to Europe with the children to view the coronation of King George VI, but has to come home early when Helene’s recently diagnosed tuberculosis takes a turn for the worse. Helene rallies and gets a bit part in MGM’s Riff Raff, starring Jean Harlow. A grueling rain scene puts her out of commission for several months. In New York, she tries her hand at stage acting, with less than encouraging results. She and Mussie agree to divorce.

Contesting Inequality: The Impact of Immigrant Legal Status and Education on Legal Knowledge and Claims-Making in Low-Wage Labor Markets

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Patler ◽  
Shannon Gleeson ◽  
Matthias Schonlau
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
The United States ◽  
Naturalized Citizens ◽  
The Government ◽  
Immigrant Destinations ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Low-wage Latina/o workers are subject to an array of workplace abuses. This study focuses on whether educational attainment may moderate inequality in knowledge or claims-making across individuals with different legal statuses. This question is motivated by research which, while highlighting the role of education in promoting civic and political engagement, has not examined the interaction between education and legal status for worker claims-making. We draw from the 2008 Unregulated Work Survey, which is representative of the 1.64 million low-wage workers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, three of the largest immigrant destinations in the United States. Using the Latina/o subsample, we test whether education impacts workers’ procedural knowledge of the claims process, as well as their actual claims-making behavior, across four categories of workers: U.S.-born citizens, naturalized citizens, documented noncitizens, and undocumented noncitizens. Our findings reveal that all noncitizens have lower levels of procedural knowledge about how to file a complaint with the government, compared to citizens, across educational levels. However, when it comes to claims-making, we find that education has significant positive impacts for noncitizen workers, especially the undocumented. Our results suggest that education may improve the workplace agency of even the most marginalized workers.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Luci Marzola
Keyword(s):  
Motion Picture ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Scientific Management ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Studio System ◽  
American Economy

While the early years of Hollywood are usually seen in light of legendary figures such as Adolph Zukor, it is the engineers, technicians, and bureaucrats who supported the system that were responsible for every frame Hollywood produced. This introduction reorients the reader away from stars and producers and toward these technical workers and their organizations. It discusses the role of concepts such as creative industries, Hollywood’s invisible style, scientific management, technological determinism, scientific progressivism, engineering history, and trade organizations in the broader arguments presented throughout the book. When we look at Hollywood motion picture production as a technology business, rather than an anomalous industry, the studio system takes its place within its proper historical context of the American economy and culture as a whole.

Small Donor Empowerment Depends on the Details: Comparing Matching Fund Programs in New York and Los Angeles

The Forum ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Malbin ◽  
Michael Parrott
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
City Council ◽  
Citizens United ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us ◽  
Small Donors

Abstract Political campaigns have long been financed by people with well above average incomes, but the balance has tilted dramatically since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC. A number of jurisdictions have been looking to rebalance the incentives through new (or updated) public financing programs. Much of the discussion about their potential effects, however, has been sweepingly generic. But we know that these programs do differ from each other and have good reason to expect that “success” or “failure” will depend both on their goals and the programs’ details. This article focuses on one type of program that has become a model in recent years. Until recently New York City was the only jurisdiction with a multiple matching system explicitly designed to increase the role of small donors.Previous studies noted apparent successes, but it has been difficult to feel comfortable with only one jurisdiction to test. After Los Angeles revised its system in 2013, serious comparisons became possible. This article finds that New York City’s campaign finance matching fund program increased the number, proportional role, and diversity of small donors in city council elections but that the Los Angeles program was substantially less effective. The findings were confirmed through a difference-in-differences procedure that tested each city council over time against state legislative districts representing the same geographical space. A series of explanations relating to the programs’ details were tested, leading us to conclude that the policy details were affecting the results. The results were also different in both cities for mayoral and city council candidates. This suggests alterations may be needed if one were to consider the model for offices with larger constituencies, such as Governor or the US Congress. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of major arguments for and against increasing small donor participation as a goal for public policy.

Itō, Michio (1893–1961)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Swain
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Modern Dance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Martha Graham ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Extensive Body ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
The Guardian

Itō Michio’s creative endeavors spanned dance, theatre, and film, just as his career spanned the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, however, his life as a creative artist was one of World War II’s international cultural casualties. After decades of work with people such as W. B. Yeats in Ireland, the Washington Square Players and Martha Graham in New York, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Itō was repatriated to Japan in 1943 where he continued to teach and choreograph until his death. The first son of an old samurai family whose parents encouraged their children to pursue any avenue of interest, Michio was the elder brother by eleven years of Itō Kunio, aka shingeki theater director Senda Koreya. Itō collaborated with Yeats on his Plays for Dancers, and is probably best known for creating the role of the Guardian of the Well in (At the Hawk’s Well) 1916. His work as a dancer and choreographer in the United States is not as well remembered because almost none of that extensive body of work was preserved. He was to choreograph the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but did not live to see that project materialize. Itō left Japan for Europe in 1912 to study voice. Once in Germany he became disillusioned with opera, but was entranced by the dance of Isadora Duncan, Pavlova, and Nijinsky. He decided to study modern dance, and entered the Dalcroze Institute in 1913. Much of his later work is influenced by eurythmics.

Spanish and Ladino in Contact in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-410
Author(s):  
Bryan Kirschen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Group Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Subsequent Discussion

Abstract This study explores contact between Ladino-speaking Sephardim and Spanish-speaking Latinos in New York City and Los Angeles, home to two of the largest factions of each population in the United States. While the retention of postalveolar sibilants [ʒ, dʒ, ʃ] in Ladino, corresponding to velar [x] in Spanish, helps distinguish these varieties, research has demonstrated cases where Sephardim implement the latter phone in lieu of one of the former. That such contact-induced change is a result of interaction between Sephardim and Latinos is further examined in this research. Twenty-five speakers of Ladino participated in two oral-production tasks: within-group and between-group testing. In the former, informants were paired with another speaker of Ladino; in the latter, they were paired with a speaker of Spanish. Data reveal that informants replace postalveolar sibilants with velar [x] at a rate of 18.2% within group and 76.5% between group, when direct equivalencies exist. Statistical analysis demonstrates that production of velar [x], the dependent variable, is conditioned by several independent variables, both social (age, gender, city of residence, interlocutor) and linguistic (type of lexical correspondence and origin of lexicon). Subsequent discussion considers the role of accommodation in determining the ways in which speakers select and implement variation in their speech.

scholarly journals The Entrepreneurial Role of Organized Labour in the British Columbia Motion Picture Industry

2005 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Network Model ◽  
Motion Picture ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Motion Picture Industry ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Industrial Governance

Research into an industrial sector reflecting principles of the emergent "network" model of production indicates that organized labour can play a positive role in post-Fordist Systems of industrial governance. Within the dynamic motion picture industry of British Columbia (B. C), organized labour was the key organizational factor in the birth and rapid expansion of the agglomeration ofsmall, specialized film production firms which has become a competitor for the coveted title of second largest film centre, after Los Angeles, in North America. In this process, B.C. film unions have become the dominant "actors " in forging collaborative relations between local production companies, between the sector and the state, and between the district and other film centers, so critical to the success of the network model.

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