The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will debut a new exhibit honoring the Jewish pioneers of Hollywood. The museum aims to highlight the role of Jewish executives and creatives in shaping the movie industry.
The exhibit, titled “Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital,” will showcase the early 20th-century filmmakers in Los Angeles who established the studio system.
Neal Gabler, the author of “An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood,” serves as an advisor for the exhibition, which is curated by Dara Jaffe. The exhibit will explore how Jewish immigrants played a crucial role in the development of the American film industry.
The opening of the exhibit on May 19 will feature public programs including a book signing with Gabler and a curator conversation moderated by Jacqueline Stewart. The immersive exhibition in the Laika gallery will cover the origins of Hollywood in three parts.
The exhibit aims to shed light on the intertwined histories of Los Angeles and the Hollywood studio system. It will also address lesser-known stories of independent producers in early 1900s Los Angeles through an animated tabletop map and timeline.
The museum’s statement explains how the Jewish founders’ vision of the American Dream became synonymous with America itself on movie screens worldwide. This permanent exhibit at the Academy Museum will be a crucial addition to the representation of Hollywood’s diverse history.
