"Jesse Rhines writes insightfully and comprehensively about the structural conditions informing black film production in the United States . . . should be required reading for all wanting to understand the rise of black film from the Lincoln Motion Picture Company to the '90s 'new black film wave.' "--Ed Guerrero, author of Framing Blackness

"A stinging indictment of Hollywood's insensitivity toward African-Americans . . . it depicts, with a refreshing vivacity, the film industry's failure to show in its mirror of the American society the gains made by African Americans since the invention of cinema. . . . A must read."--Manthia Diawara, Professor of Film and Comparative Literature, New York University

Why are there so few Black filmmakers who control their own work? Why are there scarcely any Black women behind the camera? What happens to Black filmmakers when they move from independent production to the mainstream? What does it mean for whites to control Black images and their distribution globally? And, was it always so? Could it be different?

In this vivid portrait of their historic and present-day contributions, Jesse Rhines explores the roles African American men and women have played in the motion picture business from 1915 to the present. He illuminates his discussion by carefully linking the history of early Black filmmaking to the current success of African American filmmakers and examines how African Americans have been affected by changes that have taken place in the industry as a whole. He focuses on the crucial role of distribution companies, the difficulty of raising money for production, the compromises that directors and writers must make to get funding, and the effect of negative, sensationalistic images on the Black community.

Rhines surveys significant eras in film history and their impact on African Americans, from the silent era and the impact of The Birth of a Nation, through the emergence of the Black-owned Lincoln Motion Picture Company, and the later introduction of sound, to the postwar era, the antitrust suit against Paramount Pictures, the introduction of television, and Blaxploitation movies that won audiences back. Rhines interviews many well-known directors, including Spike Lee, Reginald Hudlin, and Grace Blake, giving readers an inside look at how deal making does--or does not--work.

Jesse Algeron Rhines is an assistant professor of political economy in the African American and African Studies Department at Rutgers University at Newark. Until 1998, he was an assistant editor for Cineaste magazine and co-editor of the magazine's section, "Race in Contemporary American Cinema." In 2002 his monthly television series, FILM SHORTS, began on New York City's MNN Cable Access Channel 34.

ISBN 0-8135-2267-6
Also available in hardcover, 0-8135-2266-8
Cover design by Ellen Dawson
Cover art by Joan Eda Byrd
Author photo by Charles Martin

Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey