The first part of this article traces Hollywood’s implementation of neoliberal and discriminatory policy since the late 1960s. The second part presents a production study of the documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (Sam Feder, 2020), which reveals how the filmmakers subverted Hollywood’s discriminatory policy through a historically-informed social justice praxis, something they practiced both in front of and behind the screen.
I presented this paper at the 2023 University Film & Video Association Conference in NY, and I won that year’s Paper Prize. The award included the publication of my paper in the association’s own Journal of Film & Video. In my award notification, the prize committee wrote that they were
“impressed by the rigor, lucidity, and astuteness of your scholarship as well as the scope of your research. The committee noted the inclusive and innovative aspects of this work as well as the timeliness and currency of your scholarship.”
