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Sam Wasson | |
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Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | September 24, 1981
Occupation | Film historian, publisher |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Wesleyan University USC School of Cinematic Arts |
Period | 2009-present |
Notable works | Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. (2010) Fosse (2013) The Big Goodbye (2019) |
Website | |
www |
Sam Wasson (born September 24, 1981) is an American author, film historian, and publisher. Wasson’s work often explores Hollywood socially, artistically, culturally and historically. He first gained attention with his 2006 monograph on the films of Blake Edwards, A Splurch in the Kisser.[1]
Early life
Wasson was born and raised in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family. His father was a pediatrician, and his mother ran a preschool in Santa Monica, California. His maternal grandfather was former Variety executive, Hal “Lew” Scott.[2][3] Wasson developed a passion for Hollywood at an early age.[4]
He is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School, Wesleyan University, and USC School of Cinematic Arts. Recalling the influence of Wesleyan film teacher Jeanine Basinger, Wasson said she made him ask “what makes film entertaining, what makes it work?”[5][6]
Career
Work
Wasson is the author of seven books. He is the winner of two Meilleur livre étranger sur le cinéma from the Cinémathèque française and was shortlisted for the Arts Club of Washington’s Marfield Prize, National Award for Arts Writing, and the New York Public Library’s George Freedley Memorial Award.[7][8] During the course of writing his fourth book Fosse, Wasson unearthed the long forgotten 1961 ABC special "Seasons of Youth” starring and choreographed by Fosse.[9] In 2022, Wasson and Jeanine Basinger were given access to the American Film Institute archives to write Hollywood: The Oral History, his first oral history.[10][11] His book The Big Goodbye, about the making of the movie Chinatown, received a positive review by The New York Times.[12]
Film and Television Adaptations
In July 2018, FX announced that it had teamed up with showrunner Steven Levenson and Hamilton duo Thomas Kail and Lin-Manuel Miranda to produce a limited series based on Wasson’s book Fosse with Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams attached as the series leads.[13] Levenson served as showrunner and wrote the premiere episode which was directed by Kail. Nicole Fosse, daughter of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, served as co-executive producer. Fosse/Verdon premiered in eight parts on April 9, 2019, and went on to receive seventeen Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series, and three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Limited Series or Television Film.
On April 7, 2020, Paramount Pictures announced that they had optioned The Big Goodbye with Ben Affleck attached to direct and pen the adaptation with Lorne Michaels producing.[14]
Academic and other activities
Wasson taught film as a Visiting Professor of Film at Wesleyan University[15] and Emerson College.[16]
In 2021, he and former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and editor William Rempel filed a lawsuit against the Superior Court of Los Angeles County requesting that the court unseal the 2010 conditional deposition transcript of former deputy district attorney Roger Gunson in the long-running case against Roman Polanski. They were represented by Susan E. Seager of the University of California Irvine’s Press Freedom Center.[17] Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon initially opposed the unsealing,[18] but later reversed his position.[19][20][21][22]
Publishing
In 2020, Wasson co-founded the Felix Farmer Press publishing house with producer Brandon Millan.[23]
Bibliography
Books
- A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards. Wesleyan University Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8195-6977-6.
- Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman. HarperCollins. 2010. ISBN 978-0-0620-0013-2.[24]
- Paul on Mazursky. Wesleyan University Press. 2011. ISBN 978-0-8195-7144-1.[25]
- Fosse. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2013. ISBN 978-0-5475-5329-0.[26]
- Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017. ISBN 978-0-5445-5720-8.[27]
- The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. Flatiron Books. 2019. ISBN 978-1-2502-6629-3.[28]
- Hollywood: The Oral History. HarperCollins. 2022. ISBN 978-0-0630-5696-1.[29][30][31][32]
Essays
- "Hotel California". Angeleno. January 2011.
- "Edith Head's Legacy". The Hollywood Reporter. March 10, 2011.
- "The Rules of Engagement". Elle. November 2011.
- "When I Was At Morton's=". The Hollywood Reporter. September 28, 2012.
- "Majeure Force". LA Confidential Magazine. 2013.
- "The Screenplayer". Current. May 24, 2016.
- "Some Like It Hot: How to Have Fun". Current. November 19, 2018.
- "Waiting for Scorsese". The New Yorker. July 16, 2018.
- "'The Godfather' Was a Huge Risk. Robert Evans Said Yes Anyway". The New York Times. October 30, 2019.
- "The Last Days of Robert Evans". Los Angeles Magazine. May 8, 2020.
- "Little Gold Men, Big White Guilt". Airmail Weekly. September 25, 2021.
- "The Man That Got Away". Alta Journal. January 4, 2022.
References
- ^ Sarris, Andrew. "Editorial Reviews". Amazon. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Staff (April 12, 1996). "The Silver Fox". Variety.
- ^ Staff (April 12, 1996). "Obituary". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Wasson, Sam (January 4, 2022). "The Man That Got Away". Alta Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ TheWrap Staff (October 31, 2022). "TheWrap's Top 50 Film Schools for 2022". TheWrap. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Wasson, Sam (December 10, 2015). "Meet the Wesleyan Film Professor Who Gave Michael Bay, Joss Whedon Their Start". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Ron Charles (March 11, 2014). "Terry Teachout among finalists for $10,000 Marfield Prize for arts writing". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ "Freedley Award Winners, 1969-Present". Theatre Library Association. September 12, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Ginsberg, Merle & Gary Baum (November 7, 2013). "Bob Fosse Biographer Unearths Lost 1961 ABC Special". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Rich, Katie (October 5, 2019). "Hollywood, in Its Own Words". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Hughes, Kathryn (November 5, 2022). "Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson review – dinner with the stars". The Guardian. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (February 4, 2020). "It's 'Chinatown,' Jake. On Second Thought, Don't Forget It". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (July 24, 2018). "FX Orders Bob Fosse Limited Series Starring Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams With Lin-Manuel Miranda Producing". Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (April 7, 2020). "Ben Affleck To Direct Adaptation of 'Big Goodbye' For Paramount; Behind-The-Scenes Story Of The Making of 'Chinatown'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Simon, Scott (November 2, 2013). "Fosse's Genius: Working Even As He Was Dying". NPR. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ John, John (October 6, 2021). "Sam Wasson gives Chinatown The Big Goodbye". Writers on Film. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Cieply, Michael (November 28, 2021). "On Monday, A New Twist On The Quest For Sealed Testimony In The Polanski Case". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Cieply, Michael (March 8, 2022). "In The Polanski Case, A Former Prosecutor's Testimony Will Remain Sealed". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ "Wasson et al. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County et al". Unicourt. April 14, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Qeally, James (July 13, 2022). "Roman Polanski criminal case transcripts must be unsealed, court rules". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Maddaus, Gene (July 13, 2022). "Appeals Court Orders Release of Roman Polanski Transcript". Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Cieply, Michael (July 18, 2022). "Roger Gunson's Unsealed Polanski Testimony Offers Not Bombshells, But Details And A Path Through The Thicket". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Hudson, David (August 17, 2022). "August Books". Criterion’s ‘’The Daily’’. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Reviews of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman:
- Staff (June 22, 2020). "As infectious as Mancini's score, and sure to please lovers of classic American cinema". Kirkus.
- ^ Reviews of Paul on Mazursky:
- Leonard Maltin (September 2, 2011). "Book Review – Paul on Mazursky". LeonardMaltin.com.
- ^ Reviews of Fosse:
- Janet Maslin (November 6, 2013). "A Showman Whose Dazzle Hid Darkness". The New York Times.
- ^ Reviews of Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art:
- Staff (December 5, 2017). "An entertaining book, recommended for aspiring comedians who want to historicize their practice". Kirkus.
- ^ Reviews of The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood:
- Staff (February 4, 2020). "If you love Chinatown, then you'll love The Big Goodbye—and it's good reading for any American cinema buff". Kirkus.
- ^ Reviews of Hollywood: The Oral History:
- Staff (November 8, 2022). "Fun firsthand accounts from 100 years of Hollywood history". Kirkus.
- ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2022-12-09). "That's Entertainment! Here's a Dishy History of Hollywood". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
- ^ "Review: Oral history of Hollywood is fascinating, contradictory and only partly true". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
- ^ "Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson review – dinner with the stars". the Guardian. 2022-11-05. Retrieved 2022-12-31.