Publicity
The Press Photograph Is a Story With a Frame
Learn how a publicity photograph’s pose, setting, selection and caption steer its meaning, with a short checklist for…
The reading room
All articles
Browse pieces on publicity, screen stories, star culture, entertainment forms and showbiz history. Each article takes one clear question and follows it without turning speculation into fact.
Star Culture
Studio System or Freelance Career? Two Routes to a Screen Persona
A studio system or freelance career shapes a screen persona in different ways. See how control, consistency and public…
Showbiz History
From Fan Magazine to Screen Feed: A Short History of Celebrity Access
Celebrity access has shifted from edited fan-magazine profiles to direct screen feeds; see what each format reveals…
Screen Stories
The Biopic Mistake: Treating a Life as a Complete Record
A biopic is a shaped interpretation, not a complete record. Use these viewing questions to spot what its scenes…
Entertainment Forms
A Watch Party Built Around One Screen Convention
Plan a watch party around one screen convention, with two short examples, a simple comparison and room for guests who…
Our point of view
Showbiz is made, not merely watched
Behind every public image is a set of choices. We look at those choices without treating rumour as fact or spectacle as the whole story.