Andrew Erish, Author-Teacher-Episode #291

Storybeat with Steve Cuden

Noted author and teacher Andrew Erish’s first book, Col. William N. Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood, was hailed by the L.A. Public Library as “One of the best books of 2012.” And The Huffington Post declared, “…it may well be the film book of the year.”

Andrew’s most recent book, Vitagraph, America’s First Great Motion Picture Studio, received the Peter C. Rollins Award for the best book of 2022 by the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association.

I’ve read both of Andrew’s fascinating and entertaining books, and can tell you that, despite my having been a student of films and Hollywood for more years than I care to admit, I learned a great deal about the beginnings of the movies that I had no clue about. If you like knowing all about Hollywood, I highly recommend both books to you.

Andrew also contributed five essays to American Cool, published in conjunction with an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. And he’s written for various publications, including the Los Angeles Times and Quarterly Review of Film and Video.

Andrew has lectured at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the L.A. Central Library, Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Santa Fe Film Festival, and the Shubert Archive in New York. In the United Kingdom, he’s lectured at the Oxford Literary Festival and London’s Cinema Museum. He’s also programmed films and was honored at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy. For several years he has taught film history at universities and colleges in the Los Angeles area.