{"product_id":"cinematic-immunity-an-oral-history-of-new-york-filmmaking-as-told-by-the-crews-that-got-the-shot-9781627311717","title":"Cinematic Immunity: An Oral History of New York Filmmaking as Told by the Crews That Got the Shot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe unbelievable insider stories of how they 'got the shot'!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCinematic Immunity\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of New York City's movie industry from the crew members who created the sets, lit the scenes, and shot the film. Focused on the golden age (1950-1990) of New York filmmaking, Cinematic Immunity covers \u003cem\u003eOn the Waterfront \u003c\/em\u003ethrough \u003cem\u003eThe Sopranos.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe East Coast film industry, thousands of miles from the Los Angeles executives, existed by its own rules and with little oversight. It was a close-knit and freewheeling community of movie technicians that took on the most outrageous challenges to get every shot perfect. Behind-the-scenes documentaries and books feature \"above the line\" talent--actors, producers, directors, and writers. For the first time, readers will hear the unvarnished truth of the New York movie industry--tales about union politics, labor strikes, movie families, dangerous locations, difficult shots, volatile directors, anecdotes about actors, pranks, friendships, rivalries, generational shifts, substance use and abuse, technical feats, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaders will hear never heard before stories about classic (and not so classic) films and television shows including: \u003cem\u003eMidnight Cowboy, The Warriors, The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Godfather, The Wiz, The Taking of Pelham 123, Annie Hall, Cruising, Do The Right Thing, When Harry Met Sally, Home Alone 2\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e, The Sopranos, and Law and Order. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eExpect to discover secrets about how your favorite scenes were shot and the outrageous characters with outsized talents whose personalities sometimes dwarfed actors and directors. Tales of their exploits, what they saw (and did) on these sets was previously only passed among themselves as showbiz lore but now, readers learn of Marlon Brando's pranks on the set of \u003cem\u003eThe Godfather\u003c\/em\u003e, how crews kept William Friedkin from killing them, the actors, and himself, and how consummate New Yorker Sidney Lumet was the angel to Friedkin's demons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor Michael Lee Nirenberg has worked as a scenic artist in New York since 2006, and in many cases, alongside many of the people featured in the book. This book is a labor of love comprised of over 150 interviews and hundreds of hours of recordings. \u003cem\u003eCinematic Immunity\u003c\/em\u003e includes hundreds of behind-the-scenes images from studio archives and from the technicians who were there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Cinematic Immunity chronicles the wild behind\u003cbr\u003ethe scenes tales from the legendary films made in dirty old New York... but told\u003cbr\u003efrom an entirely new perspective. Not the usual stars, directors and\u003cbr\u003epublicists but from the people who did all the work and can actually tell the\u003cbr\u003etruth - the below the line crews who know where all the bodies are\u003cbr\u003eburied! Fascinating, funny and impossible to put down.\" -- Larry\u003cbr\u003eKaraszewski, Academy Award winning screenwriter, \u003ci\u003eEd Wood\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDolemite\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBig Eyes\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\"Michael Nirenberg's writing about film is as funny, incisive, gritty, and thrilling as the films whose lore he is diving into. He knows where to get the real scoop, the stories too good to be true, and gives them to us with all the wit, wisdom, and insanity we could hope for.\" Lena Dunham\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eCinematic Immunity \u003c\/i\u003eaddresses filmmaking and all the\u003cbr\u003eresulting lore borne out of it in a book that flips our perception of who\u003cbr\u003ecinema's true \"insiders\" actually are. Excavating a secret history of the last\u003cbr\u003e50 years in movies via interviews with the crews that made them, Nirenberg\u003cbr\u003epresents a book that is riotously fun, full of gossip, and worthy of any\u003cbr\u003eworld-class cinema studies program.\" Alissa Bennett, Writer and Director of the Gladstone\u003cbr\u003eGallery \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"They tell some great stories. The appearance of\u003cbr\u003elight-weight Arriflex cameras having made location shooting\u003cbr\u003epossible, these NY crews were thrown into diabolically dirty and dangerous\u003cbr\u003eand polluted locations where no film was ever shot before... A film could\u003cbr\u003enot be shot that way today. It shouldn't. And yet Pelham 123 remains a\u003cbr\u003every good film.\" -- Alex Cox, director, \u003ci\u003eRepo Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWalker\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003cbr\u003eactor, \u003ci\u003eAn Unknown Enemy\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\"In amassing these superb, often eye-popping accounts of the\u003cbr\u003eGolden Age of New York film, Michael Nirenberg has dug deep under the skin of a\u003cbr\u003escene that was as gritty, inventive and character-filled as the city itself.\u003cbr\u003eCinematic Immunity contains some rollicking stories - camera crews on the\u003cbr\u003etracks dodging subway trains, Albert Finney betting on camel racing, a wild car\u003cbr\u003eride with James Gandolfini - but the shared thread is a burning passion for the\u003cbr\u003ecraft of filmmaking, even if the realities of this work were rarely as\u003cbr\u003eglamorous as the end product seen on screen.\" -- Oliver Milman, Staff writer, \u003ci\u003eThe\u003cbr\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e \"This book is a dream! Nirenberg gives us the real, juicy, \u003cbr\u003ebehind-the-scenes lore from all the best movies that New York City gave birth\u003cbr\u003eto in the second half of the twentieth century, straight from the mouths\u003cbr\u003eof the people who actually made them happen. Fantastic.\" -- Naomi Fry, Staff writer, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Michael Nirenberg dresses like a drug dealer - trenchcoat, \u003cbr\u003esunglasses indoors - and his \u003ci\u003eCinematic Immunity\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis pure, uncut dope for\u003cbr\u003ecinephiles, full of real drugs and fake blood. It's equally entertaining\u003cbr\u003edocumenting established classics (\u003ci\u003eThe Exorcist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDo The Right Thing\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003cbr\u003eand forgotten curios (\u003ci\u003eIzzy \u0026amp; Moe\u003c\/i\u003e). Reading it made me want to make a\u003cbr\u003emovie, score some drugs, and buy a time machine.\" -- Matthew Danger Lippman, \u003cbr\u003emusician and actor.\u003cbr\u003e\"Michael Lee Nirenberg makes art from the everyday. Expanding\u003cbr\u003ehis decades of years and deep well of connections, he's assembled the definitive\u003cbr\u003ehistory of New York films and those who make them, w\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Lee Nirenberg\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Feral House\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/07\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 488\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.90h x 6.90w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781627311717","brand":"Feral House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45463116251273,"sku":"9781627311717","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_e6c395fb-bebf-418b-b666-2413efa7ad61.jpg?v=1774997138","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/cinematic-immunity-an-oral-history-of-new-york-filmmaking-as-told-by-the-crews-that-got-the-shot-9781627311717","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}