Selling Direct Cinema: Robert Drew and the Rhetoric of Reality

Documentary filmmaker Robert Drew's rhetoric about his observational approach to filmmaking served a centrally important function: to sell his approach to networks and sponsors for funding and distribution. This rhetoric depended on the contexts in which Drew discussed his filmmaking approach,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Film history (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2018-09, Vol.30 (3), p.32-50
Main Author: Resha, David
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Documentary filmmaker Robert Drew's rhetoric about his observational approach to filmmaking served a centrally important function: to sell his approach to networks and sponsors for funding and distribution. This rhetoric depended on the contexts in which Drew discussed his filmmaking approach, a context that included a television industry that was wary, if not hostile, to independent news producers; sponsors that were resistant to making significant financial investments in television journalism; and an observational style that was commercially unproven, expensive, and time-consuming. Drew's rhetoric also shifted over time as industry circumstances and opportunities changed.
ISSN:0892-2160
1553-3905
DOI:10.2979/filmhistory.30.3.02