Duringthemid-1950s,whenHollywoodfounditselfstrugglingtocompetewithinanexpandingentertainmentmedialandscape,certainproducersandstudiossawanopportunityinmakingfilmsthatshowcasedperformancesbyrock’n’rollstars.Rockstarseventuallyfoundcinematobeausefulspacetoextendtheircreativepractices,andthemotionpictureandrecordingindustriesincreasinglysawcinematicrockstardomasaprofitablemeanstoconnectmultiplemediaproperties.Indeed,castingrockstarsforfilmprovidedatoolforbridgingnewrelationshipsacrossmediaindustriesandpractices.FromElvisPresleytoMadonna,thisbookexaminesthecastingrockstarsinfilms.Insodoing,RockStar/MovieStaroffersanewperspectiveontheroleofstardomwithintheconvergenceofmediaindustries.Whilehardlythefirstpopularmusicculturetoseeitsstarsmakingthetransitiontoscreen,thetimingofrock’semergenceanditsstayingpowerwithinpopularcultureprovedfortuitousforamotionpicturebusinesssearchingforitsplaceinthefaceofcontinuoustechnologicalandculturalchange.Atthesametime,apost-star-systemfilmindustryprovidedawelcomingcontextforrockstarswhohavevaluedauthenticity,creativeautonomy,andpersonalexpression.Thisbookusesilluminatingarchivalresourcestodemonstratehowrockstarshaveoftenproventhemselvestobeprominentfilmworkersexploringthisterrainofplatformsoldandnew-idealmedialaborerswhosepowerliesinthefactthattheyarerarelyrecognizedassuch.Combiningstarstudieswithmediaindustrystudies,thisbookproposesanintegratedmethodologyforwritingmediahistorythatcombinestheactionsofindividualsandthepracticesofindustries.Itdemonstrateshowstarshaveoperatedasboththegravitationalcenterofmediaproductionaswellassocialactorswhohavetakenonadecisiveroleinthepurposestowhichtheirimagesareused.
