{"product_id":"shaping-the-future-of-african-monica-white-ndounou-9780813562551","title":"Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color-Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers","description":"\u003cb\u003eReceived the Distinction Honor for the 2016 C. Calvin Smith Book Award from the Southern Conference on African American Studies, Inc. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In Hollywood, we hear, it's all about the money. It's a ready explanation for why so few black films get made--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. In a work as revealing about the culture of filmmaking as it is about the distorted economics of African American film, Ndounou clearly traces the insidious connections between history, content, and cash in black films. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e How does history come into it? 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. So the cycle continues as it has for nearly a century. 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\u003ci\u003e Bamboozled, Beloved\u003c\/i\u003e, and Tyler Perry's \u003ci\u003eDiary of a Mad Black Woman, \u003c\/i\u003e Ndounou exposes the cultural and racial constraints that limit not just the production but also the expression and creative freedom of black films. Her wide-ranging analysis reaches into questions of literature, language, speech and dialect, film images and narrative, acting, theater and film business practices, production history and financing, and organizational history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e By uncovering the ideology behind profit-driven industry practices that reshape narratives by, about, and for people of color, this provocative work brings to light existing limitations--and possibilities for reworking stories and business practices in theater, literature, and film.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Monica White Ndounou\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0813562554\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780813562551\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Rutgers University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/29\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 303\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.13lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2015 pg. 981","brand":"Monica White Ndounou","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086910533887,"sku":"9780813562551","price":41.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0512df80-5079-47d3-9903-e922817a21e8.jpg?v=1769097274","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/shaping-the-future-of-african-monica-white-ndounou-9780813562551","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}