Research Guides: FILM 490 Honors Methods: Film Industry

Accessing Variety

Accessing Variety

Variety has long been the leading trade publication of the entertainment industry. Depending on what years you are researching, a few different sources are available.

The commercial website for Variety is important to be familiar with, but you will have to create citations manually for any articles you find there. These two scholarly databases are recommended because they not only provide comprehensive, full-text coverage of Variety, but they also provide citations for all of the articles they index.

1905-2000: Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive.

1999 - Present: Film and Television Literature With Full Text

For both databases:

Search normally. On the left you can filter by the publication title Variety (and Daily Variety in Film and Television Literature Index). OR
Use the “Advanced Search” function and enter Variety as the “Publication Title” together with your search terms. OR
Use the "Publications" link on top to go to the Variety landing page in the database to browse issues or search within the publication.

Both databases have other industry trade publications that are worth exploring in addition to Variety.

Alternative for the Classical Hollywood Studio Era: Media History Digital Library

Offers free and open access for the years 1905-1954, as well as access to a number of other trade journals.
You will have to create your own citations manually for any articles that you find.

Daily Variety Archives: The Woodruff Library also has access to the Daily Variety archives. Ask James Steffen for information about how to access. You must be a current Emory student or faculty member.

Business Research on the Film Industry

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Access a range of material related to business. Includes peer-reviewed journals, financial data, monographs, case studies and more.

Researching Companies in Factiva

Factiva This link opens in a new window
Search a large collection of publications and websites in a variety of languages. Factiva.com is the exclusive archive of The Wall Street Journal.

The business database Factiva is a good starting point for researching individual companies and broader trends within the contemporary entertainment industry.

Searching industry news: On the home search page, go to the Source line and add the industry news source(s) that you want to search, such as Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Hollywood Reporter, etc. Factiva has access to these trade newspapers usually going back to the 2000s or earlier.
Company profiles: Select the top tab "Companies/Markets." There you can search for individual companies and view "Company Snapshots."

Citation: Factiva does not offer a tool to generate citations, unlike some other academic databases. You will have to create a citation yourself according to your citation style's rules for citing websites or electronic resources. Sample:

"The Walt Disney Company. Company Snapshot." Factiva, https://global-factiva-com.proxy.library.emory.edu/pcs/default.aspx?napc=K&f=DSNYW&fcpil=en. Accessed September 24, 2019.

If you are citing trade newspaper articles, just use the standard rules for citing newspaper articles.

Other Film Industry Resources

Emory Licensed Databases

ABI/Inform Complete (at ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Access business and management journals and trade magazines from U.S. and international sources. Includes full text journals, dissertations, working papers, and popular business and economics periodicals.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Access backfiles of Beat, Billboard, Boxoffice, Broadcasting & Cable, Melody Maker, Musician, New Musical Express, Spin, Variety, and other entertainment titles.
Film and Television Literature with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Contains a large number of academic journals, trade journals, and popular periodicals pertaining to film, television and the entertainment industry. The older Variety film reviews in the “Variety Film Reviews” module are redacted and often have incorrect publication dates listed. This problem does not affect more recent Variety film reviews in the main portion of the database. For a more complete and accurate collection of older Variety film reviews, use the Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive database.
Los Angeles Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Contains major daily newspaper from Los Angeles. Covers national, international, and local news.
Digital reproductions of every page of every issue cover to cover--of the notable newspaper, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements, back to the first issue. Full-text searching and browsing capabilities are available. Users may choose to display and download in PDF format either the full image of any page or just the individual article they need.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to news, business, medical, educational and legal sources. The sources include international, national, and regional newspapers; magazines; trade journals; newsletters; wire service reports; and transcripts of television and radio news programs.
Formerly LexisNexis Academic.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Contains every page of every issue of the Wall Street Journal, including stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and more.
Tutorial available.

Open Access Resources

Media History Digital Library
Years of coverage vary by publication. A free online resource, featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound. Led by Eric Hoyt and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.