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57-614: George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director , producer , screenwriter and cinematographer . He received two Academy Awards and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1953. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for A Place in the Sun (1951), and Giant (1956). He was also Oscar-nominated for The Talk of the Town , The More

114-473: A film school to get a bachelor's degree studying film or cinema. Film students generally study the basic skills used in making a film. This includes, for example, preparation, shot lists and storyboards, blocking, communicating with professional actors, communicating with the crew, and reading scripts. Some film schools are equipped with sound stages and post-production facilities. Besides basic technical and logistical skills, students also receive education on

171-593: A cinematographer, and writer Aston Stevens. He learned about the stage by watching his parents, and himself acted in plays in San Francisco . At the age of 10, his mother gave him a Brownie camera , and he began photographing the city and portraits of his mother. At the age of 17, Hal Roach Studios employed him as an assistant cameraman filming Rex the Wonder Horse in Utah. Stevens helped grant Stan Laurel

228-445: A date is actually a cocktail party where the guests are discussing the world situation in foreign languages. He leaves. She sends him champagne to apologize and asks him to take her to the airport so he can kiss her goodbye. On the drive back to town, Sam hits it off with Ellen Whitcomb, Tess's aunt, who is a world-famous feminist. She advises him to "marry the girl". Sam has his mind on a personable wedding, but it quickly escalates into

285-414: A different ending, but it proved unpopular at test screenings. The decision was made to change it, and the final fifteen minutes of the film were re-written and shot. In the original ending, Sam went missing after returning the child to the orphanage, while he was supposed to write an article about an upcoming boxing match. Tess decides to take over for him and visits the gym to learn about the fight. Sam, who

342-573: A film career, as the studio had trouble getting the comedian's blue eyes to register on film, but Stevens made a successful test of him using panchromatic film . He worked as director of photography and a gag writer on 35 Laurel and Hardy short films, such as Bacon Grabbers (1929) and Night Owls (1930); according to Stevens he learned from this experience that comedy could be "graceful and human". In 1928, he met Yvonne Howell in Oliver Hardy 's home; they were married on January 1, 1930. In

399-405: A film eventually becomes realized or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay within the budget . There are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters , cinematographers , producers , film editors or actors. Other film directors have attended film school. Directors use different approaches. Some outline

456-485: A flat fee for the project, as a weekly salary, or as a daily rate. A handful of top Hollywood directors made from $ 133.3 million to $ 257.95 million in 2011, such as James Cameron and Steven Spielberg , but the average United States film directors and producers made $ 89,840 in 2018. A new Hollywood director typically gets paid around $ 400,000 for directing their first studio film. The average annual salary in England

513-528: A following of photographers and discovers that Sam and Chris are gone. She attempts to reclaim Chris, but he refuses, preferring to stay with his friends. The next day, Tess receives a telegram from her aunt, telling the couple to come to her home in Connecticut. Sam declines to join, and opines that their marriage has neither been "perfect or a marriage". Tess comes home to learn that her aunt and father are finally to be married that night. The ceremony has all

570-400: A general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Other directors edit or appear in their films or compose music score for their films. A film director's task is to envisage

627-474: A man's world, so they wrote a scene where she tried to fix breakfast ... and gets everything wrong." Lardner and Kanin were given some room to rewrite the new ending on returning from New York, and in the same interview Lardner recalls "some of the worst lines we rewrote, but we couldn't fix it, we couldn't change it fundamentally". Woman of the Year holds a rating of 83% from 30 reviews. The consensus states: "In

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684-417: A place together. Her business continually comes before her personal life, with Sam largely reduced to the role of an aide. Sensing her husband is unhappy, Tess floats the idea of having a child, which Sam is warm to until Tess reveals that she has already agreed to adopt a young Greek refugee named Chris, who speaks no English. Sam is very upset, but hides his anger from the child. Before the couple can discuss

741-614: A production. A justice of the peace in South Carolina is arranged by Gerald, Tess's ultra-competent secretary, to fit her schedule and that of her illustrious senator father. Their wedding night is disrupted by the arrival of a Yugoslavian statesman who has just escaped from the Nazis, and a stream of European disciples. Conflicts large and small arise over Tess's priorities and Sam's place in her life, beginning with her decision to have Sam move into her apartment instead of them choosing

798-551: A recent trend of more attention to women directors in India, brought on partly by Amazon and Netflix moving into the industry. Of the movies produced in Nollywood , women direct only 2%. There are many different awards for film directing, run by various academies , critics associations , film festivals , and guilds . The Academy Award for Best Director and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director are considered among

855-403: A way to translate a screenplay into a fully formed film, and then to realize this vision. To do this, they oversee the artistic and technical elements of film production. This entails organizing the film crew in such a way to achieve their vision of the film and communicating with the actors. This requires skills of group leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in

912-520: A yearly salary from ¥4 million to ¥10 million, and the Directors Guild of Japan requires a minimum payment of ¥3.5 million. Korean directors make 300 million to 500 million won for a film, and beginning directors start out making around 50 million won. A Korean director who breaks into the Chinese market might make 1 billion won for a single film. According to a 2018 report from UNESCO ,

969-740: Is a film criticism concept that holds that a film director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through studio interference and the collective process. Some film directors started as screenwriters , film editors , producers , actors , or film critics , as well as directing for similar media like television and commercials. Several American cinematographers have become directors, including Barry Sonnenfeld , originally

1026-541: Is in a language school trying to learn French and Spanish to "be important", is shocked when he sees the article. He goes to the fight, where he encounters Tess. She insists that she did the work to be a "good wife," and states her dedication to Sam. He says that he does not want either extreme; he just wants her to be "Tess Harding Craig" (as in the released ending). Ring Lardner Jr. describes in Archive of America Television oral history interviews (2000) that changes made to

1083-735: Is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The moving image collection of George Stevens is held at the Academy Film Archive. The film material at AFI is complemented by material in the George Stevens papers at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library . Academy Awards As a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, Stevens headed the Signal Corps unit that filmed D-Day and

1140-738: Is £50,440, in Canada is $ 62,408, and in Western Australia it can range from $ 75,230 to $ 97,119. In France, the average salary is €4000 per month, paid per project. Luc Besson was the highest paid French director in 2017, making €4.44 million for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets . That same year, the top ten French directors' salaries in total represented 42% of the total directors' salaries in France. Film directors in Japan average

1197-532: The American Film Institute (AFI). George Jr. produced and directed the documentary about his father George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey in 1984 and is the father of Stevens's grandson Michael Stevens (1966–2015), who was also a television and film producer-director. Stevens died following a heart attack on March 8, 1975, on his ranch in Lancaster, California , north of Los Angeles . He

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1254-691: The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1954). He also received the National Board of Review Award for Best Director and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director . Film director The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which

1311-585: The Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Tess Harding and Sam Craig are journalists for the (fictional) New York Chronicle . Tess, the daughter of a former ambassador, is a highly educated, well-travelled political affairs columnist who speaks several languages fluently. Sam is a knowledgeable and well-informed sports writer. Their difficulties are presented as stemming from differences of class, experience and temperament, as well as from gender. After Tess suggests on

1368-721: The Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will (1935), he was provoked to join the Allied forces in World War II . He joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower . His unit shot footage—including the only color film of the war in Europe (which remained archived for decades)—documenting the Normandy landings (D-Day),

1425-643: The liberation of Paris , the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River , and the Allied discovery of both the Duben labor camp and Dachau concentration camp . Stevens helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials ; this was released as the hour-long Nazi Concentration Camps (1945). In 2008, Stevens's footage was entered into

1482-1123: The Berlin/Brandenburg TV station RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting) and ARTE . In recent decades American directors have primarily been coming out of USC , UCLA , AFI , Columbia University , and NYU , each of which is known for cultivating a certain style of filmmaking. Notable film schools outside of the United States include Beijing Film Academy , Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City, Dongseo University in South Korea, FAMU in Prague, Film and Television Institute of India , HFF Munich , La Fémis in Paris, Tel Aviv University , and Vancouver Film School . Film directors usually are self-employed and hired per project based on recommendations and industry reputation. Compensation might be arranged as

1539-528: The Coen brothers' Director of Photography; Wally Pfister , cinematographer on Christopher Nolan 's three Batman films made his directorial debut with Transcendence (2014). Despite the misnomer, assistant director has become a completely separate career path and is not typically a position for aspiring directors, but there are exceptions in some countries such as India where assistant directors are indeed directors-in-training. Many film directors have attended

1596-592: The Merrier (1943), Shane (1953), and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). Among his most notable films are Swing Time (1936), Gunga Din (1939), Woman of the Year (1942), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Stevens was born on December 18, 1904, in Oakland, California , the son of Landers Stevens and Georgie Cooper, both stage actors. Drama critic Ashton Stevens and film director James W. Horne were his uncles. He also had two brothers, Jack ,

1653-638: The SDG. Stevens went on to direct and earn two Academy Awards for Best Director for A Place in the Sun (1951) starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor , the epic Western drama Giant (1956) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean . For those films he also earned nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director . Stevens also directed the Western Shane (1953) starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur ,

1710-578: The U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as an "essential visual record" of the war. In 1946, Stevens resumed his duties as president of the SDG, remaining so until 1948. As a result of his experiences during the war, his films became more dramatic. The drama I Remember Mama (1948) was only partly comedic. In 1950, during the McCarthyist scare and related Hollywood blacklist , Stevens defended Joseph L. Mankiewicz from Cecil B. DeMille 's attempt to recall him as president of

1767-503: The biographical Holocaust drama The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), and his biblical epic of Jesus , The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1960 he earned the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award . That same year he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . He ended his directing career with the 1970 romantic comedy-drama The Only Game in Town with Warren Beatty and Elizabeth Taylor . That year, he

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1824-422: The director ensures that all individuals involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges they have to tackle has been described as "a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure". It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when and how they will work again, if at all. Generally,

1881-435: The director works with the editor to edit the material into the director's cut . Well-established directors have the " final cut privilege ", meaning that they have the final say on which edit of the film is released. For other directors, the studio can order further edits without the director's permission. The director is one of the few positions that requires intimate involvement during every stage of film production . Thus,

1938-553: The early 1930s, Stevens began to disagree with Roach's studio, wanting to flesh out characters rather than just make slapstick comedy. This led to a suspension and his departure from the studio. In 1933, he directed his first feature film, The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble , for Universal Pictures . In 1934, Stevens was hired by RKO Pictures , and he directed the slapstick film Kentucky Kernels , starring Wheeler and Woolsey . His big break came when he directed Katharine Hepburn

1995-527: The ending of the film were against the wishes of Katharine Hepburn, and were implemented while both screenwriters were on vacation in New York. The changes were instigated by Louis B. Mayer , producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz and director George Stevens, with the actual new ending being written by John Lee Mahin (who was uncredited). In an interview, Lardner indicated that these parties all believed that Tess Harding "had to get her comeuppance for being too strong in

2052-425: The film industry throughout the world has a disproportionately higher number of male directors compared to female directors, and they provide as an example the fact that only 20% of films in Europe are directed by women. 44% of graduates from a sample of European films schools are women, and yet women are only 24% of working film directors in Europe. However only a fraction of film school graduates aspire to direct with

2109-449: The first romantic comedy pairing of Tracy and Hepburn, the stars' chemistry is off to a working start and the film's sparkling comedy smooths out any rough patches." The film earned $ 1,935,000 in the United States and Canada and $ 773,000 elsewhere during its initial release, making MGM a profit of $ 753,000. At the 15th Academy Awards , Michael Kanin and Ring Lardner Jr. won the award for Best Original Screenplay , and Katharine Hepburn

2166-401: The issue, they are interrupted by the news that Tess has been named "America's Outstanding Woman of the Year". Tess plans to leave Chris by himself while they go to the award gala, while Sam, already not keen on the gala, states his refusal to leave the boy alone. While Tess is at her gala, Sam returns the child to the orphanage; Chris is thrilled to see his friends again. Tess returns home with

2223-548: The liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. For these contributions, he was awarded the Legion of Merit . Stevens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1701 Vine Street. He won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, in 1951 for A Place in the Sun and in 1956 for Giant . He was also nominated in 1943 for The More the Merrier , in 1954 for Shane , and in 1959 for The Diary of Anne Frank . He also received both

2280-472: The majority entering the industry in other roles. In Hollywood, women make up only 12.6 percent of film directors, as reported by a UCLA study of the 200 top theatrical films of 2017, but that number is a significant increase from 6.9% in 2016. As of 2014, there were only 20 women in the Directors Guild of Japan out of the 550 total members. Indian film directors are also greatly underrepresented by women, even compared to other countries, but there has been

2337-554: The most prestigious awards for directing, and there is even an award for worst directing given out during the Golden Raspberry Awards . Woman of the Year Woman of the Year is a 1942 American romantic comedy drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn . The film was written by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin (with uncredited work on

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2394-548: The nature of professional relationships that occur during film production. A full degree course can be designed for up to five years of studying. Future directors usually complete short films during their enrollment. The National Film School of Denmark has the student's final projects presented on national TV. Some film schools retain the rights for their students' works. Many directors successfully prepared for making feature films by working in television. The German Film and Television Academy Berlin consequently cooperates with

2451-666: The next year in Alice Adams ; according to Hepburn, Stevens felt that she got him the job. He would subsequently make seven films for the studio in five years. In the late 1930s, he directed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together in the musical Swing Time and separately in A ;Damsel in Distress and Vivacious Lady , respectively. In 1939, Stevens directed Cary Grant in the large-scale Gunga Din , costing over $ 1 million as RKO's most expensive film to date; though

2508-415: The position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that "20-hour days are not unusual". Some directors also take on additional roles, such as producing, writing or editing. Under European Union law, the film director is considered the "author" or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory . Auteur theory

2565-419: The radio that baseball be abolished for the duration of the war , Sam leaps to the sport's defense. Their editor summons them to his office: he will not stand for an intramural feud at his paper. Sam invites Tess to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium . She is unfamiliar with the rules of the sport; Sam has some difficulty explaining them. Tess invites Sam to her apartment later that night. What he thought would be

2622-407: The restrictions of the film's budget and the demands of the producer and studio (such as the need to get a particular age rating ). Directors also play an important role in post-production . While the film is still in production, the director sends " dailies " to the film editor and explains their overall vision for the film, allowing the editor to assemble an editor's cut . In post-production,

2679-556: The reverence and grace that was lacking in the Craigs' wedding; Tess is moved to tears. She drives through the night and arrives at Sam's new Riverside apartment. Allowed in by a super , Tess decides to prepare Sam breakfast while he sleeps in. She is inept in the kitchen and Sam is awakened by the clatter. Tess confesses to Sam of her recent wedding experience, and proclaims her newfound inspiration to serve only as his wife. Sam asks Tess to walk back her overbearing dedication, and to assume

2736-529: The rewritten ending by John Lee Mahin), and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz . The film's plot is about the relationship between Tess Harding—an international affairs correspondent, chosen "Woman of the Year"—and Sam Craig—a sportswriter—who meet, marry, and encounter problems as a result of her unflinching commitment to her work. In 1999, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by

2793-421: The role of "Tess Harding Craig" rather than just "Tess Harding" or "Mrs. Sam Craig". She agrees. Gerald appears with a champagne bottle, announcing that Tess is expected to launch a battleship. Sam takes Gerald outside and returns with the broken bottle, announcing that he has just "launched Gerald". The outline for the film was developed by Garson Kanin , a close friend of Hepburn's. The character of Tess Harding

2850-435: The script – reading it, suggesting cuts and word changes, and generally providing helpful enthusiasm for the project. As a part of the deal, Hepburn had the option of selecting her co-star and director (Tracy and Stevens). Woman of the Year was the first of nine films Hepburn and Tracy made together. They met for the first time on the shoot. In the 1993 documentary Katharine Hepburn: All About Me , Hepburn herself says she

2907-403: The sole superiors of the director are the producers and the studio that is financing the film, although sometimes the director can also be a producer of the same film. The role of a director differs from producers in that producers typically manage the logistics and business operations of the production, whereas the director is tasked with making creative decisions. The director must work within

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2964-477: The stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set. Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus, excellent communication skills are a must. Because the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, they also need to possess conflict-resolution skills to mediate whenever necessary. Thus

3021-728: The studio feared its ballooning budget, it ended up a profitable success. In 1940, he directed Carole Lombard in Vigil in the Night . In 1942, he reunited with Hepburn at her behest to film Woman of the Year . Stevens served as president of the Screen Directors Guild (SDG) from 1941 to 1943. He directed the romantic comedy The More the Merrier starring Jean Arthur , Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn for which he received an Academy Award for Best Director nomination losing to Michael Curtiz for Casablanca . After seeing

3078-465: Was based on Dorothy Thompson , an American journalist and radio broadcaster who was highly influential. Hepburn then passed the outline to Joseph L. Mankiewicz at MGM, and said the price was $ 250,000 – half for her, half for the script. He liked it and agreed to produce the movie. Kanin was fighting in the war at the time, so the script was written by his brother, Michael Kanin , and mutual friend Ring Lardner Jr. Hepburn contributed significantly to

3135-536: Was head of the jury at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival , which ended in scandal. In 1973, he was a member of the jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival . During his time filming wild horses with Hal Roach Studios in Utah, Stevens bonded with the Comanche . Stevens was the father of television and film writer-producer-director George Stevens, Jr. , the founder of

3192-483: Was nominated for Best Actress . American Film Institute included the film in the 2000 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs (#90) and in 2002, in AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions (#74). A 1976 remake of the film, made for television and starring Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor , was broadcast on CBS . In 1981, the film was adapted into a successful Broadway musical of the same name , starring Lauren Bacall , who won

3249-418: Was wearing high heels at the first meeting with Tracy and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and said "I'm afraid I'm a bit tall for you, Mr. Tracy". Mankiewicz then responded, "Don't worry, Kate, he'll cut you down to size." It was during the filming of Woman of the Year that Hepburn and Tracy became romantically involved – a relationship that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967. The film was originally shot with

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