The collaborative process between directors and cinematographers and an exploration of Hollywood during the age of mergers and acquisitions will be the topics explored by Dr. Christopher Beach and Dr. Thomas Schatz, respectively, who have been named the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2012 Academy Film Scholars. The Academy’s Educational Grants Committee, which selected Beach and Schatz on the basis of their manuscript proposals, will present the first half of two $25,000 grants at a private luncheon on Monday, March 18.
Also on March 18, Tino Balio, an inaugural Academy Film Scholar in 2000, will present highlights from his book The Foreign Film Renaissance on American Screens 1946-1973 at a free public event at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater. Balio, professor emeritus of communication arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will discuss how American audiences and critics responded to the works of such international filmmakers as Fran๏ฟฝois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni. Free tickets may be obtained at www.oscars.org.
Beach is an independent scholar currently based in Vermont. In The Image on the Screen: Directors, Cinematographers, and the Collaborative Process, the first book-length study focused on motion picture director-cinematographer collaborations, he will argue for the need to move beyond the auteurist paradigm and examine more closely the complex interaction between directors and other creative contributors.
Schatz is the Mary Gibbs Jones Centennial Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. He will complete a historical study of the American film industry in the period since the 1989 creation of Time-Warner and Sony-Columbia, which he has dubbed the “conglomerate age” in reference to the wave of mergers and acquisitions that transformed the movie industry.
Beach and Schatz will join 13 other Academy film scholars who are currently working on projects.
In addition to Balio, Academy film scholars who have completed projects are Cari Beauchamp; Donald Crafton, University of Notre Dame; Peter Decherney, University of Pennsylvania; Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University; Richard B. Jewell, University of Southern California; Peter Lev, Towson University; Dana Polan, New York University; David Rodowick, Harvard University; and Steven J. Ross, University of Southern California.
Established in 1999, the Academy Film Scholars program is designed to “stimulate and support the creation of new and significant works of film scholarship about aesthetic, cultural, educational, historical, theoretical or scientific aspects of theatrical motion pictures.” The Academy’s cultural and educational wing – the Academy Foundation – annually grants more than $1 million to film scholars, cultural organizations and film festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. Through the Foundation, the Academy also presents a rich assortment of screenings and other public programs each year.
For grant guidelines and information about the Academy Film Scholars program, contact Grants Coordinator Shawn Guthrie at (310) 247-3000, ext. 3306, or via e-mail at sguthrie@oscars.org, or visit www.oscars.org/filmscholars.
About THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards-in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners-Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; an
