ScreenAge How TV shaped our reality, from Tammy Faye to RuPaul'™s Drag Race

by Bailey, Fenton; Norton, Graham

• ISBN13: 9781529148466
• ISBN10: 1529148464
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2023-03-28
• Publisher: Ebury Press

Summary

'Like a superheated kernel of corn, the world has gone Pop... Drag has become mainstream. Being gay became cool. From being the criminal outsider, being queer has even become representative of the way the outsider voice is common to us all.'

When he moved to New York in 1982, Fenton Bailey saw the world go Pop. Together with filmmaking partner Randy Barbato, their production company World of Wonder would pioneer the genre of Reality TV and chronicle the emerging Screen Age through their extraordinary programs and outrageous subjects - from Bible Belt televangelists and conspiracy theories to pioneering drag queens.

Working with icons such as Britney Spears, Tammy Faye Bakker and RuPaul, the production company's shows tell a wider story of how television has fundamentally shifted our reality.

Packed with glorious insider gossip and amazing celebrity stories, these are the riotous tales behind the shows that would make ScreenAgers of us all.

Author Biography

Fenton Bailey is an award-winning producer and director who has worked with the likes of RuPaul, Britney Spears and Monica Lewinsky. Born in Portsmouth, Fenton attended the University of Oxford and New York University, where he met filmmaking partner Randy Barbato. Together, they founded World of Wonder in 1991 and their documentaries have won acclaim for their focus on society's oddballs and outliers. Their show RuPaul's Drag Race has won dozens of Emmy Awards and they were executive producers on the 2021 biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which won two Oscars.