Never Done

A History of Women’s Work in Media Production
Introduces generations of women who worked behind the scenes in the film industry – from the employees’ wives who hand-coloured the Edison Company’s films frame-by-frame, to the female immigrants who toiled in MGM’s backrooms to produce costumes. Challenging the dismissive characterization of these women as menial workers, Erin Hill shows how their labour was essential to the industry.
Winner of the 2018 Best First Book Award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)

Histories of women in Hollywood usually recount the contributions of female directors, screenwriters, designers, actresses, and other creative personnel whose names loom large in the credits. Yet, from its inception, the American film industry relied on the labor of thousands more women, workers whose vital contributions often went unrecognized.Never Done introduces generations of women who work