New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff’s “Mad As Hell” takes readers behind the scenes of “Network,” screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky’s Oscar-winning masterpiece.
Nearly 40 years ago, Chayefsky’s script imagined the future of television news as a grimy industry, hell-bent on profits and prone to sensationalism. Using the screenwriter’s personal papers, interviews, and film logs, Itkoff delves deeply into the greatness of one of Hollywood’s most literary writers.
Itzkoff reveals just how Chayefsky’s satire was able to predict the troubling changes in journalism in the decades that would follow.
“Network”--directed by Sidney Lumet--inspired Academy Award winning performances from Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch, as TV anchorman Howard Beale.
What went into the making of “Network”? What does Chayefsky’s satire say about modern media?
Itzkoff will be in conversation with Aaron Sorkin! Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 25 at 7pm at The Paley Center for Media.
Guest:
Dave Itzkoff, Author, “Mad as Hell: The Making of ‘Network’ and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies;” Culture Reporter, The New York Times; Previous books are “Cocaine’s Son” and “Lads.”