Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Keywords

hollywood, studio system, America, Germany, propaganda, media, Jewish, exile, European Film Fund

Department

Creative Writing

Major

Creative Writing

Abstract

I am currently writing a feature-length screenplay entitled Klara based on true events and people surrounding the rise of Nazi Germany and the exile of Jewish-German intellectuals to America during 1933-1945. The narrative is grounded in the work of the European Film Fund (1938-1948), the Paul Kohner Talent Agency, and the various agents of propaganda at work both in Nazi Germany and America during this time period. Through my research I hope to explicate how Jewish-German exile in America influenced not only those exiled, but also the burgeoning American film industry and how the cross-cultural intersection of media propaganda, both through Goebbels in Germany and the Studio System in America, affected the world at large. My oral presentation will focus on how those with ties to the American media of the 1940s used it to influence public opinion about individuals (actors, producers, etc) as well as the war effort as a whole. I believe this topic is more important than ever in today’s media-controlled world, and that learning and expounding upon the past is the surest way of preventing similar atrocities from occurring in the present.

Faculty Mentor

John Struloeff

Funding Source or Research Program

Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative

Presentation Session

Session B

Location

Plaza Classroom 190

Start Date

24-3-2017 3:30 PM

End Date

24-3-2017 3:45 PM

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Mar 24th, 3:30 PM Mar 24th, 3:45 PM

Hollywood, the Media, and the Alteration of Image in the 1940s

Plaza Classroom 190

I am currently writing a feature-length screenplay entitled Klara based on true events and people surrounding the rise of Nazi Germany and the exile of Jewish-German intellectuals to America during 1933-1945. The narrative is grounded in the work of the European Film Fund (1938-1948), the Paul Kohner Talent Agency, and the various agents of propaganda at work both in Nazi Germany and America during this time period. Through my research I hope to explicate how Jewish-German exile in America influenced not only those exiled, but also the burgeoning American film industry and how the cross-cultural intersection of media propaganda, both through Goebbels in Germany and the Studio System in America, affected the world at large. My oral presentation will focus on how those with ties to the American media of the 1940s used it to influence public opinion about individuals (actors, producers, etc) as well as the war effort as a whole. I believe this topic is more important than ever in today’s media-controlled world, and that learning and expounding upon the past is the surest way of preventing similar atrocities from occurring in the present.

 

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