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With Michael Nirenberg author of Cinematic Immunity: An Oral History of New York Filmmaking As Told by The Crews Who Got The Shot
Episode 19
Monday, 23 March, 2026
Cinematic Immunity tells the story of New York City's movie industry from the crew members who created the sets, lit the scenes, and shot the film. Focused on the golden age (1950-1990) of New York filmmaking, Cinematic Immunity covers On the Waterfront through The Sopranos. The East Coast film industry, thousands of miles from the Los Angeles executives, existed by its own rules and with little oversight. It was a close-knit and freewheeling community of movie technicians that took on the most outrageous challenges to get the shot. Readers will hear the unvarnished truth of the New York movie industry—tales about union politics, studio bullshit, movie families, dangerous locations, complex shots, volatile directors, plus anecdotes about actors, pranks, friendships, rivalries, generational shifts, substance use and abuse, technical feats, and more. Includes stories about classic (and not so classic) films and television shows including: Midnight Cowboy, The Warriors, The French Connection, The Exorcist, The Godfather, The Wiz, The Taking of Pelham 123, Annie Hall, Cruising, Do The Right Thing, When Harry Met Sally, Home Alone 2, The Sopranos, and Law and Order. Tales of their exploits, what they saw (and did) on these sets was previously only passed among themselves as showbiz lore but now, readers learn of Marlon Brando’s pranks on the set of The Godfather, how crews kept William Friedkin from killing them, the actors, and himself, and how consummate New Yorker Sidney Lumet was the angel to Friedkin’s demons. Author Michael Lee Nirenberg has worked as a scenic artist in New York since 2006, and in many cases, alongside many of the people featured in the book. This book is a labor of love comprised of over 150 interviews and hundreds of hours of recordings. Cinematic Immunity includes behind-the-scenes images from studio archives and from the technicians who were there. Cinematic Immunity: An Oral History of New York Filmmaking As Told by the Crews That Got the Shot By Michael Lee Nirenberg • 978-1627311717 Pub Date: April 7, 2026 • 10x 7• 384 pages • $39.95
