Shaping the future of African American film : color-coded economics and the story behind the numbers / Monica White Ndounou.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ndounou, Monica White, 1976- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans in the motion picture industry.

Motion pictures--Economic aspects--United States.

Motion pictures.

Motion picture industry--United States--Finance.

Motion picture industry.

Motion pictures--Economic aspects.

United States.

Finance.

African American motion picture producers and directors.

African Americans in motion pictures.

African Americans.

Motion picture industry--Finance.

Physical Description:

x, 303 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, [2014]

Summary:

In Hollywood, we hear, it's all about the money. It's a ready explanation for why so few black films get made or broadly distributed-no crossover appeal, no promise of a big payoff. But what if the money itself is color-coded? What if the economics that governs film production is so skewed that no film by, about, or for people of color will ever look like a worthy investment unless it follows specific racial or gender patterns? This, Monica Ndounou shows us, is precisely the case. Hollywood's reliance on past performance as a measure of potential success virtually guarantees that historically underrepresented, underfunded, and undersold African American films devalue the future prospects of black films. Behind the scenes, the numbers are far from neutral. Analyzing the onscreen narratives and off-screen circumstances behind nearly two thousand films featuring African Americans in leading and supporting roles, including such recent productions as Bamboozled, Beloved, and Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Ndounou exposes the cultural and racial constraints that limit not just the production but also the creative freedom of black films. By uncovering the ideology behind profit-driven industry practices that reshape narratives by, about, and for people of color, Shaping the Future of African American Film brings to light existing limitations-and possibilities for reworking stones and business practices in theater, literature, and film. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: the color of Hollywood: black, white or green?

Finding freedom on stage and screen. The plantation lives!

Insurrection!: African American film's revolutionary potential through black theatre

Black pathology sells: books and films

Playing with fire: black women's literature/white box office

A breaking the chains of history and genre

It' not just business: color-coded economics and original films

The paradox of branding, black star power, and box office politics

Big business: hip hop gangsta films and black comedies

Conclusion: the story behind the numbers.

Notes:

Includes filmography.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780813562568

0813562562

9780813562551

0813562554

OCLC:

847763604