Ida May Park

Ida May Park
Born December 28, 1879
Los Angeles, California
Died June 13, 1954 (aged 74)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Screenwriter
Film director
Years active 1914–1930

Ida May Park (December 28, 1879 – June 13, 1954)[1] was an American screenwriter and film director of the silent era, in the early 20th century. She wrote for 50 films between 1914 and 1930.[2] She also directed 14 films between 1917 and 1920.[2]

She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. She was married to film director and producer Joe De Grasse, who she regularly worked with at Universal Studios[3]

Early career

Park got her start in the entertainment industry when she was fifteen years old. She started off as an actress which is where she met her future husband, Joseph De Grasse. When he joined the Pathé in 1909, that is around the same time that Ida May Park started to dabble in writing.[4] She started her career in the film industry in 1914 when she began working for Universal Studios alongside De Grasse.

Film work

The first screenplay that she wrote was titled A Gypsy Romance which was developed into a short scenario by director Wallace Reid. He also directed the next scenario that she wrote, The Man Within,[2] however, following that piece, Ida May Park worked with started to work with director Joseph De Grasse who shot the next several pieces that she wrote. The two worked on multiple shorts and scenarios together for several years. The first project they worked on together was a short dubbed Her Bounty. After that, the two quickly moved to make their first feature length together called Father and The Boys (1915). Most of the titles that the two worked on was for Bluebird, which fell under Universal Studios.[5] They duo frequently switched in producing some of the shorts for Bluebird,[6] but Ida May Park didn't get her solo directing start until 1917. Ida May Park made her way into directing with her first film The Flashlight (1917)[6] which starred Dorothy Phillips, who at the time, was a renowned actress at Universal.[4] The production of this movie had scenes that took place outdoors, which caused Ida May Park and the rest of her crew to remain outdoors for majority of production. She found herself in streams and climbing obstacles to get shots that she needed.[6] After her first piece, Ida May Park went on to direct thirteen additional pieces. Many of those pieces were deemed as "women's features" based on passage in Moving Picture World. Ida May Park "made herself an essential place, equal to that of most men in creating features for a program of the first class". Her and her husband continued to strive at Universal studios before the couple left in 1919 for reasons unknown. After the two departed from Universal, they directed two independent feature length films together.[3] De Grasse went on to direct while Ida May Park continued to write for the screen. She wrote an additional two films before she left the industry altogether. The last feature film that she wrote was The Playthings of Hollywood. The piece was about three sisters and their quests to find love and triumph under different professions ranging from department store sales woman, to a motion picture extra. This piece was written for Willis Kent Productions in 1930.

Later Career

One of the last notable things that Park accomplished after her work in the film industry was a passage that she wrote for Careers For Women.[7] In the novel Women Film Directors: An International Bio-critical Dictionary the author, Gwendolyn Foster, speaks about the passage that Park wrote. Foster paraphrases Park in saying that her passage encourages other women to venture into the entertainment industry. In Foster's summary, she claims that May cations her audience that with becoming a director, one will have to sacrifice their own personal time. In the book, A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema Ida May Park is quoted in saying "[f]or the first time in six years I am taking a ten-day vacation..."[8] Despite this, she suggest that her female spectators strive to become directors because "the superiority of [a woman’s] emotional and imaginative faculties [her] a great advantage [in film production]".[7] Foster goes on to say that Park's passage was "an interesting example of feminist intervention and community mindedness".[7] Following this passage, here is little information about what she did after her career in the entertainment industry. She died on June 13, 1954.

Awards

In 1916 the Motion Picture News Studio Directory recognized Park with twelve years of screen experience at Pathé and the Universal Film Manufacturing Company according to the Women's Pioneer Project.[3]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ↑ Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah (2007). Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Detroit: Yorkin Publications. p. 1473.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Ida May Park". IMDb. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cooper, Mark. "Ida May Park". Women Film Pioneers Project. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Slide, Anthony (1996). The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. pp. 56–58.
  5. ↑ "No Finer Calling Women And/in/on Film". Wordpress. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chalmers, J.P. (1917). Moving Picture World. Chalmers. p. 222.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Foster, Gwendolyn (1995). Women Film Directors: An International Bio-critical Dictionary. Westport, Conn. p. 300.
  8. ↑ Bean, Jennifer (2002). A Feminist Reader in Early Cinema. Durham: Duke UP, 2002. 136. Print. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 136.

External links