Derek Long takes on history of Hollywood film distribution in his first book, ‘Playing the Percentages’

Derek Long, assistant professor of media and cinema studies, sheds light on a rarely covered piece of Hollywood history in his first book, Playing the Percentages: How Film Distribution Made the Hollywood Studio System.

Praised as “invaluable to media industry scholars of the past and present,” the book is a comprehensive history of film distribution in the United States during the silent era that illustrates the importance of power struggles between distributors and exhibitors over booking, pricing, and playing time (i.e., how long it stays in theaters).

“When people think about Hollywood as an industry, maybe they think about the more glamorous aspects of it like stars, producers, or figures in Hollywood,” Long said. “But I was interested in how Hollywood came to be an industrial institution and the history of that, particularly in the silent era.”

Playing the Percentages, set for release on April 16, considers the economic history of the industry’s film distribution process from 1910 through 1930, including booking, circuiting, and packaging marketing practices.

While many Hollywood histories focus on linear narratives such as industry growth and improvements in technology, Long said there was a “hole in the scholarship” regarding the various ways films were distributed, sold, or marketed. 

“That was a story nobody had really told, at least in an American context, and so I wanted to fill that gap,” he said. 

Long didn’t begin writing Playing the Percentages until 2017, but the project developed out of his dissertation over a decade ago. 

In addition to using digital libraries, Long conducted extensive archival research across the country, visiting the Margaret Herrick Library in California, which is the archives and repository of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Warner Brothers Archives at University of Southern California; the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; the New York Public Library; the Shubert Archives in New York; and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.

After months of research, Long said it became apparent that developing the system of film distribution was not a straight line and his book highlights those crucial changes in the system brought about by live theater, the rise of longer feature-length films, and the transition to sound. 

“Previous histories basically think about distribution as a mechanism or industrially organized system of shipping films out when there’s a lot more to it than that,” Long said. “Actually, the history of building that system is part and parcel of the history of Hollywood as an industry, and how it came to be so powerful, particularly in the 1930s and ’40s.” 

Long, whose course specialties include film history, media distribution, and digital tools and historiography, has incorporated his research discoveries into his lectures on classical Hollywood and how distribution works. 

In addition to teaching and writing, Long is also the creator and developer of Early Cinema History Online, a filmographic database of credits for over 35,000 early American films. The searchable archive, which serves as a reference tool for scholars, features credits for titles released in the United States from 1908 through 1920. 

He also organizes the annual MACS Student Showcase, screening student work that has been produced in MACS classes throughout the academic year. This year’s showcase will be held on Saturday, May 4, at the Spurlock Museum.

Long is already thinking about a sequel to his first book, which would look at film distribution relationships in the 1930s and ’40s, including how race was a factor.  

“I want to look at alternative systems of distribution, particularly for race cinemas, films specifically for African American audiences,” Long said. “That was essentially a completely segregated and different form of distribution.”

In the meantime, Long is enjoying the feeling of accomplishment after completing his first book.

“It’s very exciting to see your book in print for the first time,” Long said. “Especially when you've been working on it for so long.”

Long’s book, Playing the Percentages, will be available on April 16; use code UTXM25 for a discounted price.

—Kelly Youngblood