Erin T. Hill

Erin Hill worked in film development in New York and Los Angeles before undertaking study of the media industry. Her primary interest is in historical and contemporary media production in the United States, with particular focus on intersecting issues of gender, race and class in creative labor sectors. Her first book, Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production (Rutgers UP, 2016), examines the role of feminized labor in U.S. film and television production from the 1890s to the present and draws connections to the ongoing struggles of women and people of color in integrating key creative fields in contemporary Hollywood. Hill’s current research investigates the development sector, where projects are scripted, financed and planned. She continues freelance development work for Summit Entertainment, a division of Lionsgate.

Dr. Hill teaches courses on American film history, history of broadcasting, feminist production history, media industry labor, contemporary Hollywood business practices, and race, gender and labor in media production, cultures of production in creative industries, science fiction films, comedy on TV/in media, and media theory. Prior to her time at UCSD, she taught as contingent (aka “adjunct) faculty at various Southern California institutions, including UCLA, Occidental College, Santa Monica College, and CSU Long Beach, gaining experience in both pedagogy and labor precarity.

Education

Ph.D.  (December 2013). UCLA, Cinema and Media Studies.  

Dissertation: “Women’s Work”: Feminization in Media Production

M.A.  (2006). UCLA, Cinema and Media Studies.  

B.A. with distinction (1999). University of Michigan, Film/Video Studies & Theatre and Drama.

• COMM 20: Media Analysis: Form, Style and Meaning
• COMM 103F: How to Read a Film
• COMM 106F: The Film Industry 
• COMM 106T: Television, Culture and the Public – Comedy on TV
• COMM 106V: History of Broadcasting
• COMM 132: The Politics of Comedy in the Media
• COMM 146:   Production Cultures – Investigating Contemporary Labor and Production Practices in Media Industries
• Comm 190: Junior Seminar – The Self and the “Other” in Science Fiction
• COGR 275: Researching Creative Labor: Media Production Cultures
• Cogr 296: Communication Research as an Interdisciplinary Activity

Books

Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production. New Brunswick: Rutgers, 2016.

 Refereed Articles and Book Chapters

“Look Back in Anger: Evaluating Retrospective Writings of Women Executives and Producers, (Under Review, Journal of Film and Video).

“ Men Produce, Women Develop”: Story Labor, Executive Power, and The ‘D-Girl’ in New Hollywood ” Oxford Handbook of American Film History. Jon Lewis, Ed. (London: Oxford, 2025).

“Feminized Production Roles: Uneven Progress, Enduring Inequality in Female Dominated Locals,” Hollywood Unions, Kate Fortmueller, Luci Marzola, Eds. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press: 2024).

“Re-Casting the Casting Director.” In Making Media Work: Cultures of Management in the Entertainment Industry. Eds. Derek Johnson, Derek Kompare and Avi Santo. New York: NYU Press, 2014.

“Distributed Creativity in Film and Television - Distributed Assistanthood: Dues-Paying Apprentices .’” In The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies: Media Production. Ed. Vicki Mayer. Oxford: Blackwell, 2012.

“‘What’s Afflictin’ You?’: Corporeality, Body Crises and the Body Politic in Deadwood.” In Reading Deadwood. Ed. David Lavery. I.B. Taurus: 2006. pp. 171-183.

Articles

“MGM’s 1925 Studio Tour and Promotional ‘Tours’ of Labor in Early Hollywood,” In Media Res,“Making-of” Theme Week,” September 17, 2018.

“Ida Koverman and the Unsung Women Heroes of Film History,” Lenny Letter, January 25, 2017.

“The Gendering of Film and Television Casting: A Research Notebook.” CSW Update. April 2011. [https://csw.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Apr11.pdf]

“Both Sides of the Fence: A Portfolio of Interviews – Erin Hill, Hollywood Assistanting.” John Caldwell, ed. In Production Studies: Cultural Studies of Media Industries. Eds. Vicki Mayer, Miranda Banks, and John T. Caldwell. London: Routledge, 2009.

“In Response to the AFI: Top 100 American Films by Women Directors.” Co-authored with Brian Hu. Mediascape. Spring 2007. (Republished by co-author after a change in web host).

Media

“Above-the-Line and Below-the-Line.” On-camera presentation. Dirs. Mathew Solomon, Vincent Longo. Audiovisual Lexicon for Media Analysis, (University of Michigan Film, Television and Media, Forthcoming, 2023)

“HBO’s Cinematized Television.” Visual Essay. Co-authored with Brian Hu. Mediascape. Fall 2009. [Not currently online due to changes in UCLA IT sites infrastructure and non-compatible media, available upon request; Original domain (now defunct) http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Fall09_HBOTV.html; Interim domain http://oajournals.blogspot.com/2011/02/mediascape-uclas-journal-of-cinema-and.htm]

Translations of Previously Published Work

“Studio Tours: Feminized Labor in the Studio System” Frauen Und Film German (German language translation excerpt from Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production). Current Research Methods within Production Studies, Frankfurt: Stoemfeld Verlag, 2021.

“Paper Trail: Efficiency, Clerical Labor, and Women in the Early Film Industry” (book excerpt, German translation) Produktionskulturen der Medien. Berlin: Springer Verlag. Forthcoming, August, 2023.

Labor Campaigns

2018 Reel Equity (IATSE Local 871). Signed/circulated Open Letter, promoted Pay Equity Summit 2018; Consulted with organizers; Contributed, via my published research, the historical basis for comparative wage study in: Pamela Courkos and Cyrus Mehri, “Script Girls, Secretaries and Stereotypes: Gender Bias In Pay on Film and Television Crews,” Prepared for IATSE local 871 by Working Ideal, June 2018, pp 14-15.

Media Industry Consulting

2018-2023 Advisor, Body Parts: A Documentary Feature, dir. Kristy Guavera Flanagan, prod. Helen Hood Scheer (Released - 2023)

2015-present Expert, Women’s Media Center and SheSource Database

2021-2023 Script Consultant, Midcentury (feature film, dir. Sonja O’Hara, 2022 release), Future Proof Films (“Special Thanks” credit).

2024 Consultant, “Current Streaming Trends,” Study conducted by Luce Research/Republic (on behalf of a major streaming service)

2022 Consultant, “True Crime Programming and Trends,” Study conducted by Luce Research/Republic (on behalf of Netflix)

2021, 2022 Consultant, “Current TV and Film Industry Trends,” Study conducted by Luce Research/Republic (on behalf of Netflix)

Research-Related Media Production Experience

Development - Story Analysis: evaluation of books, screenplays, plays and other existing IP for potential acquisition, adaptation as tv series or film
2001-2025 Story Analyst, Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate Entertainment
2017-2020 Story Analyst, Madison Wells Media
2013-2017 Story Analyst, Marquee Entertainment
2008-2017 Story Analyst, OddLot Entertainment
2001-2005 Story Analyst, USA Films/Focus Features

Post-Production
2006-2008 Encoder/Film Vault Librarian, America Online

Production Research
2003-2004 Researcher, The F-Word (unproduced series on 1970s Feminist Movement) HBO
1999-2000 Researcher, Pararescuemen: That Others May Live, Discovery Channel

Media Coverage

Book Reviews
Stamp, Shelly. “Book Reviews: What Happened to Women in Histories of Hollywood?” Journal of Women’s History, 33.3 (Fall 2021), 162-5.

Becker, Christine. “ Review: Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production by Erin Hill. ” Signs, 46.3 (Spring 2021), 772-4.

Steiner, Lauren. “ Review: Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production by
Erin Hill. ” Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (previously Cinema Journal) 58.3, (Spring 2019). [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/723824/summary]

Clarke, Liz. “Review Essay: Recent Works on Women in Media Production.” Gender and History 30.3 (October 2018).

Salzburg, Anna. “ Book Review: Hill, Erin. Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production, ” Media Industries 5.1 (2018).

Martindale, Michelle. “ Review of Hill, Erin, Never Done: A History of Women's Work in Media Production. ”Jhistory, H-Net Reviews. (October, 2017).

Maxfield Fulton. “Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production.” Film Quarterly (Spring, 2016).

Interviews
Marc Rivers, “The Pioneering Women Behind the Invisible Art of Editing,” All Things
Considered, NPR, (March 3, 2024). [https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235703884/the-pioneering-women-behind-the-invisible-art-of-film-editing]

Toby Miller, “Cultural Studies Podcast,” (January 25, 2024).

Christi Carras, “Company Town: Labor unrest defined Hollywood in 2023. Here’s what we learned from the twin strikes,” Los Angeles Times (December 29, 2023).

Larry Mantel, Radio Interview on “TV & Film Labor Explainer: How Did The AMPTP Come
To Be How Have Some Independent Production Companies Continued Production?” AirTalk with Larry Mantle, KPCC 89.3 (NPR/LAist), Tuesday, August 15, 2023.

Lopez, Kristen, “‘A Once in a Generation Reckoning’: How the Actors Strike Changes the
Game.” The Wrap/Yahoo Entertainment (July 14, 2023).

Treisman, Rachel. “Three lessons past Hollywood strikes can teach us about the current
moment.” NPR (July 7, 2023).

Lopez, Kristen, “How the WGA Strike Finds Echoes in the Hollywood Blacklist.” The Wrap (June 30, 2023). 

Ealer, John. The Story of Late Night, on-camera interview, episodes 1 and 3 (CNN/Cream Productions, 2021).

Cara, Sergio. “Se buscan superheroinas: Estudio sobre la representacion de la mujer en ciencia ficcion.” Ya - El Mercurio (December 11, 2018) 30-34.

Schubert, Abbey. “Hollywood is Ignoring Women over 45 and These Experts Know Why.” Mic.com, (July 31, 2017).

Warner, Andrew. “Professors Consider Effects Hollywood Writers’ Strike Would Have Caused.” The Daily Bruin (May 2, 2017).

Livick, Bill. “Hill Publishes Book on Hollywood Labor,” Stoughton Courier Hub (February 5, 2017).