Authoring Hal Ashby

A very useful and lucid contribution to understanding of the films of Hal Ashby and the New Hollywood context in which they are situated. Makes a strong and valuable case for the benefits of an approach that acknowledges multiple contributions to authorship, both in this case and as a way of revisiting the films of the period more generally. - Geoff King, Professor of Film and TV Studies, Brunel University London, UK

In this extremely well researched and engagingly written study, Aaron Hunter performs a difficult balancing act. He challenges many of the foundational assumptions of Film Studies to do with directorial authorship, the evaluation of films, and canon formation. At the same time, he makes a strong case for the importance of one particular director, offering a wonderfully perceptive, complex analysis of his collaborative working methods and of the stylistic characteristics and thematic concerns of his films. He thus challenges us to reconsider not only Hal Ashby's work and status, but also our preconceptions about the New Hollywood and indeed our understanding of Film Studies as an academic discipline. - Peter Kramer, senior lecturer, School of Art, Media and American Studies, University of East Anglia, UK, and author of The New Hollywood: From Bonnie and Clyde to Star Wars (2005) and co-editor of Stanley Kubrick: New Perspectives (2015)

With Authoring Hal Ashby: The Myth of the New Hollywood Auteur, Aaron Hunter provides an outstanding contribution to the nascent field of collective authorship studies of film. Combining archival research, interviews, and insightful film analyses, Hunter untangles the complex web of collaborative contributions in films directed by Hal Ashby. In doing so he achieves in this highly readable, thorough, and engaging work much more than an account of an overlooked director and his collaborative approach to film production. He demonstrates that auteur criticism of New Hollywood has mystified our understandings of both New Hollywood directors and the period itself. By tracing the contributions of key production crew to Ashby's films, Hunter gives compelling cause for film scholars to reconsider New Hollywood through the lens of multiple authorship. - C. Paul Sellors, Lecturer in Film Theory and History, Edinburgh Napier University, UK, and author of Film Authorship: Auteurs and Other Myths