About this episode

Michael Lee Nirenberg discusses his book 'Cinematic Immunity', revealing insider stories from New York City's film industry during its golden age.

The unbelievable insider stories of how they “got the shot,” Cinematic Immunity tells the story of New York City's movie industry from the crew members who created the sets, lit the scenes, and shot the film. Focused on the golden age (1950-1990) of New York filmmaking, Cinematic Immunity covers On the Waterfront through The Sopranos. The East Coast film industry, thousands of miles from the Los Angeles executives, existed by its own rules and with little oversight. It was a close-knit and freewheeling community of movie technicians that took on the most outrageous challenges to get every shot perfect. Behind-the-scenes documentaries and books feature “above the line” talent—actors, producers, directors, and writers. For the first time, readers will hear the unvarnished truth of the New York movie industry—tales about union politics, labor strikes, movie families, dangerous locations, difficult shots, volatile directors, anecdotes about actors, pranks, friendships, rivalries, generational shifts, substance use and abuse, technical feats, and more. Readers will hear never heard before stories about classic (and not so classic) films and television shows including: Midnight Cowboy…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guest: Michael Lee Nirenberg

Topics covered

• New York City film industry
• behind-the-scenes stories
• cinematic history
• crew experiences
• golden age of filmmaking

Keywords

• Cinematic Immunity
• New York film
• behind-the-scenes
• filmmaking
• crew stories
• golden age
• movie industry

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Cinematic Immunity, On the Waterfront, The Sopranos, Midnight Cowboy, The Warriors, The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Godfather, The Wiz, The Taking of Pelham 123

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