Becoming AFI

“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 

“As it celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, AFI stands as our country’s leading cultural and education institution in the history of American cinema. Becoming AFI is an admirable personal account of how that mission to nurture and protect the artistic and ethical standards of the film industry unfolded.” ―Henry Louis Gates Jr., author, scholar, historian, and filmmaker 

“It is rare to find the story of a cultural institution’s birth and growth actually written by those who were on the firing line during the process. It’s even more rare to find the story written by authors who are incisive, honest, observant, and committed to telling it like it really was. In particular, Jean Firstenberg’s first-hand account of how and why the AFI was one of the 1960s government-funded arts institutions to survive is an excellent read. It’s also an insight into successful female leadership, something we still don’t have enough of today.” ―Jeanine Basinger, film historian-academic, author, and AFI trustee 

“WELL DONE! This book tells a wonderful history and an important story about Hollywood, education in the arts, and the movie business. Brava!” ―Marsha Mason, actor, director, author, and AFI trustee emeritus 

“AFI saved our film history. AFI celebrates filmmakers. AFI trains the next generation. Thanks to the NEA for creating the AFI. 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 

“The AFI started out as an experiment verging on a mystery. But somehow it became an incubator for some of the great film talent of the late part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. This is a tribute to the dedication and insight of its leaders and its faculty and its Fellows.” ―Caleb Deschanel, filmmaker (AFI class of 1969) 

“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

“Less a straightforward history and more a behind-the-scenes memoir, Becoming AFI also features photographs chronicling the last five decades of the institute.”
—L.A. Times 

Featured in the Hollywood Times, the Pittsburgh Better Times, Hotspots magazine, 360Mag.com, InteractiveTV Today, and MysteriousRamblings.com

“Chock full of intriguing personal anecdotes and historical milestones, Becoming AFI is as much an easy to read narrative of the growth and development of a major non-profit as it is a useful compendium to page through.”
—PictureThisPost.com

“A unique look inside this remarkable organization and the impact it’s had on entertainment industry. . . . The fact that Becoming AFI: 50 Years Inside the American Film Institute is written in memoir style prose offers a feel of being a part of the journey.” —TheNerdyGirlExpress.com