“This book puts you directly behind the scenes for a story that began with a dream,
overcame constant challenges, and evolved into the institution it is today.”
―Steven Spielberg
“Documented here by the people who lived it, this is a remarkable tale of how a major institution,
created out of whole cloth, wove itself into the American fabric.”
—Cokie Roberts, author and political commentator for ABC and NPR
For over fifty years, the American Film Institute has flourished as one of America’s great cultural entities. Its graduates, faculty, supporters, and trustees have included such acclaimed individuals as Steven Spielberg, Maya Angelou, Gregory Peck, Sidney Poitier, Meryl Streep, Les Moonves, Patty Jenkins, David Lynch, Jane Fonda, Edward James Olmos, Shonda Rhimes, James L. Brooks, and many other respected leaders in the worlds of film, television, digital media, and philanthropy.
In their new book, Becoming AFI: 50 Years Inside the American Film Institute (Santa Monica Press/October 2017), Jean Picker Firstenberg and James Hindman provide a candid look at how this remarkable organization brought together aspiring filmmakers, educators, and artists who helped AFI become the foremost national champion for moving images as a vibrant art form.
From its early years operating out of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and the legendary Greystone mansion in Beverly Hills under the leadership of George Stevens Jr., through its incredible growth into an influential cultural institution at its landmark Hollywood campus under the guidance of Jean Picker Firstenberg, to its continued excellence today under the dynamic leadership of Bob Gazzale, the organization and its history are chronicled in Becoming AFI through in-depth essays written by those who have been involved in its adventures, growth, and success.
“After being asked so many times what our book would be about, we decided to put together AFI’s history as we experienced it personally,” explain Firstenberg and Hindman. “As we structured the book with the stories we wanted to tell from those years, we realized that some of those stories really belonged to other voices. So, we went to several former colleagues and asked them to join our band. Each chapter tells a stand-alone story about an aspect of AFI, but together, they add up to the full picture.”
Becoming AFI provides an insightful, behind-the-scenes look at how AFI, with passionate determination, overcame the hurdles of advancing technology, political shifts, and new audience dynamics to turn its aspirations into a substantial and highly successful organization, becoming a tireless advocate of moving images as one of America’s most popular forms of art, and maturing into one of the world’s most respected educational and cultural institutions. For the Silo, Trina Kaye.
“No matter how divisive life in this country may become, the movie theater has always been a place where we can discover what unites us.”
—Vernon Jordan Jr., New York Times
“AFI saved our film history. AFI celebrates filmmakers. AFI trains the next generation. Thanks to Becoming AFI for telling us the fascinating story of its fifty-year history. And a big thank you to Jean Picker Firstenberg and James Hindman for documenting all of it! Here’s to the next fifty!”
―Edward James Olmos, actor and AFI trustee
About the Authors
Jean Picker Firstenberg served as president and CEO of the American Film Institute from 1980 to 2007, overseeing the development of AFI as one of America’s greatest national, cultural, and educational resources. She received an AFI Life Achievement Award for Service to the Institute and was named president emerita and a lifetime trustee. In 2016, Firstenberg was named to the California State University Board of Trustees by Governor Jerry Brown, overseeing the largest four-year public university system in the United States, with twenty-three campuses educating the most diverse student body in the nation. Prior to serving at AFI, Firstenberg spent four years as a program officer at the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation. She also served as director of Princeton University’s Publications Office. Firstenberg is a summa cum laude graduate of Boston University’s College of Communications. She has served on several boards, including that of Boston University (1984–1996), the George Foster Peabody Awards at Georgia University (1985–1997; board chair 1991–1997), and the United States Postal Service Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (2002–2014; committee chair 2008–2014). She has won numerous awards and honorary degrees.
James Hindman, PhD, has spent his career in cinema and performing arts, creating and leading professional and public education programs at major institutions. During his twenty-four years at the American Film Institute, where he served as co-director and chief operating officer, he was provost of the AFI Conservatory, which he nurtured through WASC accreditation. He was also the uncredited producer of the award-winning feature documentary Visions of Light and the television series Starring the Actor. He developed the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Springs, Maryland, as well as numerous television projects and international film and television festivals. Subsequent to AFI, he developed and led film schools in the U.S. and internationally, including the Red Sea School of Cinematic Arts in Aqaba, Jordan, and New Mexico State University’s Creative Media Institute in Las Cruces. He is currently on the board of the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, charged with creating a new cinematic and media arts program and facilities for the school. Prior to AFI, he served as head of graduate studies in the Performing Arts Department at American University in Washington, DC, having previously taught at the University of North Carolina. Hindman holds a PhD in drama from the University of Georgia and has served on the boards of the AIDS Service Center and LAMP in Los Angeles. He currently splits his time between Santa Monica, California, and Taos, New Mexico.
Patty Jenkins made history in 2017 when she directed her second film, Wonder Woman, becoming the first woman to direct a studio superhero movie and earning the biggest domestic opening of all time for a woman director. Jenkins wrote and directed her first film, the crime drama Monster, in 2003, launching Charlize Theron’s career with many awards, including an Oscar for Best Actress. Jenkins graduated from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1993 and the AFI Conservatory in 2001.
Dana Gioia was appointed Poet Laureate of the State of California in 2015 by Governor Jerry Brown. An award-winning poet who has published five collections of poetry, Gioia served as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2009, and was named a USC Judge Widney Professor in Poetry and Public Art in 2011.
David Lynch, born in 1946 in Missoula, Montana. Eagle Scout.
BECOMING AFI: 50 YEARS INSIDE THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE
Asa Soltan Rahmatihas had many lives. From fleeing Iran as a child and living as a refugee in Germany and then the U.S. to becoming a celebrated reality television star on Bravo TV’s Shahs of Sunset; from launching a successful designer line of women’s kaftans to becoming a brand new parent with beau Jermaine Jackson Jr. – she is a master of reinvention and personal-betterment. In her newest life – as a published author – she sets out to empower other women to truly love themselves and take control of their own destinies.
Her book GOLDEN: Empowering Rituals to Conjure Your Inner Priestess is hitting bookstore shelves now. In it she shares seven sacred rituals that she developed throughout her life as she went from refugee (twice) to “artsy” to the Persian Pop Priestess that fans of Shahs of Sunset have grown to admire. I’d love to send you a copy of the new book for consideration of coverage in an upcoming story.
Asa’s life has been a filled with great challenges and deep loss, but through it – and through her outsider status – she learned to face life fearlessly and with her own style. From her self-love ritual to her chapter on confidence (“Radiate Beauty from the Inside Out”), Asa provides readers with the ultimate “green juice, master cleanse and z pack” for life. It all starts with her Priestess Detox, the total mind, body, soul cleanse to get the reader in touch with her own Inner Priestess. Asa’s ability to translate her rituals have helped hundreds of thousands of her fans become more empowered. GOLDEN is her gift to them and to anybody who is ready to take control, learn to love themselves, and face the future with confidence and strength.
When I was in college at UCLA, I worked part-time at an African art store in Santa Monica. One day Maya Angelou came into the store. I have always been a huge fan of hers and I was completely starstruck. She walked straight toward me, took my hand in hers, looked me directly in the eyes, and said, “stay golden, my child.”
– Asa Soltan, from GOLDEN
GOLDEN by Asa Soltan
Empowering Rituals to Conjure
Your Inner Priestess Available Now
Asa Soltan Rahmati – Persian Pop Priestess, Spiritual Gangsta, and beloved star of Bravo TV’s hit reality show, Shahs of Sunset – shares seven sacred rituals that she has developed throughout her life in GOLDEN: Empowering Rituals to Conjure Your Inner Priestess(North Star Way; May 9, 2017; $25.99 USD).
Asa was eight years old when her family fled their war-torn country of Iran to seek refuge in Germany. To say she experienced culture shock after arriving is an understatement. She had never seen anyone that looked and acted so different from her, and she didn’t speak a word of German or English. She felt completely cast off from her land, her culture, and her people.
Feeling a need to connect to her culture and herself, she created rituals that she practiced every day. At first they were a simple way to create a sacred space for herself so she could go within and remember who she really was. But when she became a refugee for the second time moving from Germany to Los Angeles, those rituals — on beauty, love, career, family, and friendships–kept her deeply connected to her Inner Priestess, the authentic version of herself that existed without ego, baggage, or attachments to material things.
Asa’s own personal journey to find peace and self-acceptance helped her marry her artistic side with her business acumen and led her to launch a highly successful kaftan business, create a line of jewelry for Home Shopping Network and, of course, the television show. GOLDEN will help readers find their own power with inspirational quotes, stories and photos from her childhood to illustrate the impact her rituals can have. Whether you choose to focus on one ritual separately or all of them at once, GOLDEN can guide you to a state of glamorous, gorgeous mindfulness and a chance to live the life of your dreams.
Since the first season of Shahs aired, Asa has gained a loyal legion of fans who refer to her as the Spiritual Gangsta. Many of them write her to seek answers to their most personal questions. They often ask how to feel confident and feel good about their bodies in a world that’s hyper critical of women’s looks, how to gain the courage to follow their dreams, and how to stay true to their culture and traditions yet remain a modern woman. Asa’s ability to translate her rituals have helped hundreds of thousands of her fans become more empowered. GOLDEN is her gift to them.
About Asa Soltan Rahmati Asa Soltan Rahmati, also known as the Persian Pop Priestess and Spiritual Gangsta, is the star of Bravo’s hit realty show, Shahs of Sunset. Asa lived on three continents and spoke four languages by the time she moved to the United States at fifteen. The Islamic revolution and decade-long war were the backdrop of her early childhood, and paved the way for her own personal revolution to build confidence, spirituality, and remain at peace among life’s daily trials and tribulations. Known for her glamour and down-to-earth spirituality, Asa is also an internationally recognized multimedia artist, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. In 2014 Asa launched her highly anticipated luxury kaftan line, Asa Kaftans, which celebrities and her international fan-base adore. Asa is committed to using her unique blend of high-art, pop-culture, glamour, and spirituality to make the world a more beautiful and positive place. For the Silo, Jason Southerland.
About North Star Way North Star Way is an imprint dedicated to publishing “information to make your life better.” With a non-fiction editorial focus in the areas of motivation, inspiration and books that advise and inform, North Star Way aims to connect readers with thought leaders through a variety of new media formats including books and e-books, on-line courses and subscriptions, speaking engagements, mobile applications, original video and audio books, sponsorships and business partnerships, podcasts. North Star Way authors include John O’Leary, Maya Penn, Amanda Steinberg, JJ Virgin, and Keke Palmer.