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Derek Long

@dereklong08.bsky.social

Associate Professor of Media and Cinema Studies @UIUC; Author of PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES: HOW FILM DISTRIBUTION MADE THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM (University of Texas Press, 2024)

4,145 Followers  |  213 Following  |  12 Posts  |  Joined: 28.08.2023
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Posts by Derek Long (@dereklong08.bsky.social)

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Lost 19th century film by Méliès discovered at the Library | Timeless Library conservators recently made a startling discovery in a batch of decaying film reels -- a long-lost 1897 film by early cinema icon George Méliès. The French magician-turned-filmmaker's

"The 45-second film, made around 1897, was the first appearance on film of what might be called a robot"

HELL. YES.

26.02.2026 18:45 — 👍 1807    🔁 668    💬 3    📌 154
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Lecturer in Film Studies | King's College London

JOB POST in FILM STUDIES: @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social is hiring Lecturer w specialism(s) in 1 or more of following: 1) Film & Media Practice as Research / Filmmaking; 2) Film Curation +/or Archiving; 3) Non-Fiction Film & Media. Deadline MAR 2nd! Please pass along. www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/137766-...

18.02.2026 18:14 — 👍 19    🔁 25    💬 2    📌 1
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Wow.

17.02.2026 03:59 — 👍 35879    🔁 16632    💬 1298    📌 2468
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A timeless classic of French cinema returns to the screen ✨ Enjoy a free screening of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, open to everyone.
For more information: www.spurlock.illinois.edu/events/event...

09.02.2026 19:51 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Perfection

05.02.2026 12:56 — 👍 2472    🔁 640    💬 78    📌 30
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Did YOU know Spurlock Museum has this much going on? We bet you didn't! Check out our February programming! www.spurlock.illinois.edu/events

03.02.2026 22:24 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
Collage image of film screenshots from a variety of traditions, centered around Purple Rain (1984)

Collage image of film screenshots from a variety of traditions, centered around Purple Rain (1984)

I’ve finalized my list of films students can work with for our video essay exercises this semester. Purple Rain is joining the ranks this term for some Minnesota solidarity. Stay safe and strong, friends ☔️💪🖥️

27.01.2026 01:16 — 👍 2    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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This woman speaks for the majority of Americans. 🙌🙏🫶👇

25.01.2026 16:33 — 👍 3933    🔁 1437    💬 107    📌 124
An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.

An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

08.01.2026 17:38 — 👍 5153    🔁 1546    💬 61    📌 142

Great thread here in on the rhetorical power of the "Fair and Balanced" fallacy that has impaired mainstream US media. Bari Weiss may now directly shape CBS News, but all of the major news outlets have long capitulated to this gambit that devalues truth, reality, and accuracy in reporting.

06.01.2026 16:57 — 👍 6    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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On the occasion of today's 130th anniversary of Lumière's Cinématographe debut, I published this. We know the Lathams' Eidoloscope preceded the Dec. 30, 1895 "first" commercial screening by seven months. But does that film, Griffo vs. Barnett (May 1895) survive? Maybe.
wp.nyu.edu/orphanfilm/2...

28.12.2025 16:04 — 👍 6    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica

Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.

21.12.2025 22:26 — 👍 12950    🔁 7030    💬 99    📌 241
<!-- x-tinymce/html --> Book Review: <em>Playing the Percentages: How Film Distribution Made the Hollywood Studio System</em>, by Derek Long. Austin: University of Texas Press. This review of Playing the Percentages (UT Press, 2024) offers a description and assessment of this new book about film distribution in the early 20th century.

Many thanks to Daniel Herbert for his generous review of PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES in one of my favorite journals, MEDIA INDUSTRIES: tinyurl.com/4rmbk52k

For holiday distribution to the media historian in your life! @utexaspress.bsky.social for 40% off w/code UTXGIFTS: tinyurl.com/3yyur9zc

03.12.2025 03:14 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Selling Zohran | Defector On a cool Sunday in November, a few days after Donald Trump’s re-election, Zohran Mamdani stood on a street corner in Jamaica, Queens, holding up a hastily drawn cardboard sign that read “DID YOU VOTE...

I genuinely hope this gives film students some swagger. Mamdani’s videos are impeccable—just immeasurably better than Cuomo’s AI slop—and the videographer is a genuine film nerd. That shit works!

05.11.2025 15:57 — 👍 101    🔁 14    💬 1    📌 3
Steamed Hams but it's a Critically Acclaimed Feature Film
YouTube video by Tyrone Deise Steamed Hams but it's a Critically Acclaimed Feature Film

Steamed Hams but it’s a critically acclaimed feature film is the apogee of commitment to the bit

m.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-O...

24.09.2025 11:14 — 👍 65    🔁 13    💬 2    📌 3

I always go with the 20fps version + Yanashita score.

09.09.2025 15:29 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Column: The Tribune’s film critic Michael Phillips says so long for now Goodbye for now, as the Sondheim song from the film “Reds” put it. Thank you for reading.

It doesn't get more moving than @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social's farewell letter. If you read nothing else today, at least read this.

20.08.2025 15:52 — 👍 90    🔁 29    💬 0    📌 7

Awesome! Congrats, Tanya!

24.06.2025 22:50 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Guy Incognito with a mustache and top hat

Guy Incognito with a mustache and top hat

*Simpsons Trivia #731*

Guy Incognito was voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who was also the voice of father character Homer

28.05.2025 23:46 — 👍 954    🔁 92    💬 25    📌 4
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Champaign-Urbana: Join us at 7pm for the third annual Media & Cinema Studies student showcase
@spurlockmuseum.bsky.social! Come celebrate student filmmaking and our graduating MACS seniors. The Spurlock Museum acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council for this event.

10.05.2025 16:20 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The 78 Steps

05.05.2025 12:56 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
FILM ATLAS The International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) brings together institutions dedicated to rescuing of films both as art and as historical documents

An amazing new resource for film historians and anyone else interested in the history of moving image technologies. www.filmatlas.com

30.04.2025 13:51 — 👍 5    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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Eric Hoyt wrapped the panel by recording his own love tape, and expressing his feelings about the NEH.

In the spirit of Wendy Clarke’s work, he’d like for it to be shared widely and seen by as many people as possible.

#SCMS25 #scms2025 #neh

04.04.2025 23:20 — 👍 19    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 1
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Love, Links, Archives: The Wendy Clarke Collection at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Video artist Wendy Clarke's projects such as the Love Tapes, New York Tapes, and Growing Up Gay: The Out Tapes continue to be influential with their elevation of individual voices. Through her process...

It’s particularly poignant to hear about the WCFTR’s great work on the Wendy Clarke Collection. They lost their NEH funding this week. Visit the site! #scms25

wendyclarke.wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu

04.04.2025 23:05 — 👍 7    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0
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Double Crossover

if you'd like to order double crossover, you can do so here: www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0... I'll be posting more about the process and the final product in the weeks leading up to its release in May!

04.03.2025 16:11 — 👍 14    🔁 6    💬 4    📌 6
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The real Best Picture winner in our hearts...

03.03.2025 03:47 — 👍 4700    🔁 1045    💬 67    📌 42

The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.

26.02.2025 19:36 — 👍 39026    🔁 9469    💬 1135    📌 450
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New show added! We're thrilled to screen Japanese Paper Films at the Spurlock Museum in Urbana, IL on Fri., March 28 at 7pm.

As usual, the amazing Yoko Reikano Kimura (koto) & cellist Hikaru Tamaki will accompany the films with live music.

Sponsored by the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies.

22.02.2025 23:08 — 👍 13    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Gul Dukat to receive party line approval by the Senate as Secretary of Bajoran Worker Safety.

13.02.2025 18:07 — 👍 228    🔁 50    💬 8    📌 1

Public health PSA frens as botulism can paralyze and kill you: Tuna Recall Hits Costco, Trader Joe's, and More Over Botulism Risk www.eatthis.com/tuna-recall-...

11.02.2025 14:57 — 👍 1398    🔁 2009    💬 18    📌 106