Integral to the founding

Mr. David Diamond taught the senior Screenwriting class at Shalhevet from 2018 to 2021. His first produced credit was in 2000 when he wrote The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni, which won multiple awards. Mr. Diamond has been professionally writing since 1994. 

BOILING POINT:  What do you see as having been the role of Jewish creators, producers, writers, agents, and other talent in building the motion picture industry we call Hollywood?

MR. DAVID DIAMOND: Jews were integral to the founding of all the major studios. You know, the Goldwyns, and the Warners, and the Langleys and Irving Thalberg, and the list goes on and on. It’s hard to imagine that any of the studios that we know today would be standing without them. That was just at the beginning. 

And then when you look at the agents, you know, from the really famous old-time agents, like Swifty Lazar and Lew Wasserman, these were icons, they were larger than life figures in the history of Hollywood and trained generations of agents after them. And the writers, the producers, you look at the Epstein Brothers who wrote Casablanca. And Spielberg, obviously. Names we all know. It’s hard to imagine Hollywood without Jews. Except in front of the camera!

BP: Who do you think are the eight or so most important Jewish contributors to this – the great Jewish legends?

DD: I think that there were the Jews who made Hollywood what it was in the beginning, who were legendary. I do think Lew Wasserman in his days, first at MCA and then at Universal, was a giant. He was absolutely a giant. And then there’s a direct line from Lew Wasserman to Spielberg, who’s the giant of our era, the giant among the Jews.

 There are obviously non-Jews who have come along and made an enormous impact. There are obviously countless Jews in the movie and television business. It’s not really a thing anymore.

 Spielberg is such an obvious example because Spielberg is a rare example of a producer-director who not only is Jewish but actually made a very successful film with Jewish content [Schindler’s List]. That’s very unusual. There aren’t a lot of successful filmmakers who have made successful films with Jewish content. That’s one of the reasons why he occupies the rarefied space that he does. 

BP: In your mind, what are the top five Jewish film contributions?

DD: There’s the distinction between the Jewish content, like Schindler’s List, and Jews who provide content. Schindler’s List, obviously for the Jewish community, was a watershed moment to see a major studio release a film like that. I know we like The Prince of Egypt — that was also a Spielberg thing!

Fiddler on the Roof! There are others with prominent Jewish characters and story elements–The Producers, the Mel Brooks movie from 1967. Annie Hall. And the Coen Brothers made A Serious Man. Sophie’s Choice. And let’s not forget You Don’t Mess With The Zohan. But it’s much easier to find Jewish filmmakers and executives than it is to find Jewish content for mainstream audiences.