The Florida Humanities Council recently produced a radio program on The First Hollywood, which aired on NPR affiliates across Florida. Hear it here.
Last week I attended the 8th annual Jacksonville Film & Television Industry Reception. They set up a little booth for me where I sold and signed books. But the best part was the space. The event was held at PRI Productions. It was a skating rink in the 60s and now stores movie and themed event props (here’s a pic from the event). There were casino tables, slot machines, miniature Sphinx, giant sets of dice and all the best arcade games from the 80s: Donkey Kong, Galaga, Space Invaders, Pac Man. I got so caught up playing Donkey Kong that I actually missed a few people who had stopped by my table. But who cares? That damned gorilla kept killing me with flaming barrels. Blame him for poor book sales!
During the late stages of The First Hollywood’s production, the University Press of Florida’s top brass recommended that one of the chapters be cut. Chapter 8, titled ‘Race to the Box Office,’ was about the hugely influential role racism played in the early days of filmmaking. It just so happens that Chapter 8 contained the book’s most controversial and troubling revelations. Unearthed publicly for the first time, here is The Lost Chapter.
© 2008 Shawn C. Bean.
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