Review of "Hollywood Artists: The Directors Guild of America and the Construction of Authorship" by Virginia Wright Wexman
Rubrics: AMERICAN CULTURE
Authors:
1.
Siberian federal university
2.
Siberian Federal University
Type:
Article
Pages:
from 69
to 77
Status:
Published
Received:
27.12.2025
Accepted:
28.12.2025
Published:
31.12.2025
Subject area:
VAK Russia 5
UDC 7
CSCSTI 13.00
Russian Classification of Professions by Education 51.00.00
Russian Library and Bibliographic Classification 7
Russian Trade and Bibliographic Classification 8
BISAC ART ART
UDC 7
CSCSTI 13.00
Russian Classification of Professions by Education 51.00.00
Russian Library and Bibliographic Classification 7
Russian Trade and Bibliographic Classification 8
BISAC ART ART
Language:
Russian
Keywords:
Directors Guild of America (DGA), director, film industry, authorship
Abstract (English):
This review aims to present Virginia Wright Wexman's book «Film Directors as Artists: The DGA and the Construction of Authorship». V. W. Wexman is a Professor of English and Art History at the Illinois University, Chicago. The author offers profound insight into the cultural value phenomenon of the Hollywood director, particularly as viewed through the lens of the purposeful activities of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). The work consists of an introduction, a conclusion, and five main chapters: 1) Directors as Artists: The DGA Rides the Wave, 2) Charisma and Competition: The DGA Stakes Its Claim, 3) Recognition: The DGA Takes Credit, 4) Politics: The DGA Stages HUAC, and 5) Law: The DGA and Artists as Owner. Firstly, the book explores the history of the DGA's formation and reveals the essence of its central mission – the protection and construction of directorial authorship. The author examines a key stage in film history – the emergence period of directorial authorship within the 1920s-1930s studio system. The concluding chapters analyze the director's process transformation from a skilled professional into a fully-fledged cultural figure, an author of cinematic works; a systematic study of the evolution of the concept of authorship in cinema is conducted. The conclusion emphasizes that it was the DGA that established the fundamental nature of cinematography as an art form, and from then on, a cinematic work belongs to the author, not to the studio that realized the director's vision.
This review aims to present Virginia Wright Wexman's book «Film Directors as Artists: The DGA and the Construction of Authorship». V. W. Wexman is a Professor of English and Art History at the Illinois University, Chicago. The author offers profound insight into the cultural value phenomenon of the Hollywood director, particularly as viewed through the lens of the purposeful activities of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). The work consists of an introduction, a conclusion, and five main chapters: 1) Directors as Artists: The DGA Rides the Wave, 2) Charisma and Competition: The DGA Stakes Its Claim, 3) Recognition: The DGA Takes Credit, 4) Politics: The DGA Stages HUAC, and 5) Law: The DGA and Artists as Owner. Firstly, the book explores the history of the DGA's formation and reveals the essence of its central mission – the protection and construction of directorial authorship. The author examines a key stage in film history – the emergence period of directorial authorship within the 1920s-1930s studio system. The concluding chapters analyze the director's process transformation from a skilled professional into a fully-fledged cultural figure, an author of cinematic works; a systematic study of the evolution of the concept of authorship in cinema is conducted. The conclusion emphasizes that it was the DGA that established the fundamental nature of cinematography as an art form, and from then on, a cinematic work belongs to the author, not to the studio that realized the director's vision.
Keywords:
Directors Guild of America (DGA), director, film industry, authorship
Directors Guild of America (DGA), director, film industry, authorship
1. Wexman, V. W. Hollywood's Artists: The Directors Guild of America and the Construction of Authorship. Columbia University Press – 2020. – 436 p.
