the cinema of STEVEN SODERBERGH
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the cinema of
STEVEN SODERBERGH
indie sex, corporate lies, and digital videotape
Andrew deWaard & R. Colin Tait
WALLFLOWER PRESS LONDON & NEW YORK
A Wallflower Press Book
Published by
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright Andrew deWaard and R. Colin Tait 2013
All rights reserved.
E-ISBN 978-0-231-85039-1
Wallflower Press is a registered trademark of Columbia University Press
A complete CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-0-231-16550-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-16551-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-85039-1 (e-book)
Series design by Rob Bowden Design
Cover image of Steven Soderbergh courtesy of the Kobal Collection
A Columbia University Press E-book.
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CONTENTS
Every book is the product of much support and feedback, especially in the case of a couple of eager graduate students who figured Why not? Lets write a book. Our tenure at the University of British Columbia was a wonderfully collaborative time in both of our lives, despite the tiny office we shared, and we first and foremost wish to thank the three brilliant amigos who guided us through our Masters degrees and the early stages of this book: Brian McIlroy, Lisa Coulthard, and Ernest Mathijs. A more enlightening, understanding, and downright fun trio of mentors is difficult to imagine, and this book would not exist without their help. Ernest deserves a special mention for generously recommending us to a great publisher. We would also like to give a hearty shout-out to our man Brent Strang, and a heart-felt thank you to Colleen Montgomery, to whom we are eternally indebted for reading through our first draft with a fine-toothed comb.
Colin would like to thank Tom Schatz, who truly went above and beyond in his support for this project, as well as Mary Kearney, Janet Staiger, and Caroline Frick at the University of Texas at Austin; Charlie Keil, Corinn Columpar, Peter Fitting, and Manuela Gieri at the University of Toronto; and Chris Kanurkas, Michelle Urquhart and Michelle Mama for helping to reignite the flame of inspiration when there didnt seem to be any gas left in the tank. Andrew would like to thank Keir Keightley, Amanda Grzyb, Brian Wall, and Michael Zryd at the University of Western Ontario, for opening his eyes during his undergraduate education and inspiring him to continue with graduate studies. The number of good friends we would like to thank is too long to list, but a few of those who contributed to this book in ways they may not have even known include Matt Payne, Anne Helen Petersen, William Moner, as well as many others at UT to whom Colin sends his Canadian love, while Andrew says merci to Laura DeVries, Alicia Bond, Ian Dahlman, Brian Fauteux, and Matthias Stork.
We would also like to thank the students of FIST 338: Film Authorship and Steven Soderbergh, who willingly submitted themselves as guinea pigs to this material as it was being formed, and whose feedback was often incisive and always honest. We are also very grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for providing funding throughout our graduate careers. For our contributions to The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh, we are very grateful for the excellent editing and advice from Steven Sanders and Barton Palmer. And finally, we are indebted to Yoram Allon and Jodie Taylor at Wallflower Press for their incisive feedback and suggestions, and for pushing us to develop our ideas further.
Colin would like to thank his father for introducing him to his love of movies, his mother for nurturing it, and his sister for over-indulging him with the VCR. Special and heartfelt thanks go to Cathy and Barry Gay. Biggest thanks of all go to his partner in crime Sarah Gay, who is always inspiring him to be a better man, husband, and father, and without whose patience, love, and support none of this would have been possible. Andrew would like to thank his mom for the countless grilled cheese sandwiches she brought him while he wasted his childhood in a basement watching movies, and the rest of his family for supporting his academic aspirations. And to Terra, his love for whom spans from YXU to YVR to LAX.
A note on previously published and presented work
This book was the product of many years of work, and some of these thoughts and essays were published and presented in earlier forms over the past several years in a variety of formats. We are thankful for the feedback and editorial support we received along the way, which vastly improved all of these thoughts and pieces. We presented sex, lies and digital videotape: Steven Soderbergh as Digital Auteur, and The Global Social Problem Film, at the Film Studies Association of Canada Conference in 2007. An earlier assessment of the sellebrity auteur, applied to Spike Lees directorial persona, appeared as Joints and Jams: Spike Lee as Sellebrity Auteur, in
