New York Times bestselling author and historian Scott Eyman will be speaking and signing books at the Camelot Theater’s screening of My Favorite Wife starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunn, Gail Patrick and Randolph Scott. on May 4.

Scott Eyman is the author of 17 books, has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and has received the National Board of Review William K. Everson Award for Film History for his body of work and multiple other writing awards for his feature writing and film and literary criticism. Mr. Eyman has served as adjunct professor of film history at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, and has lectured extensively around the world.

He has contributed audio commentaries for DVDs, participated in the TCM Film Festival and TCM Classic Cruises, and co-hosted with Robert Osborne on TCM.

Mr. Eyman has written for The Wall Street Journal, Film Comment, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and many film magazines. And he is the former literary and art critic for The Palm Beach Post.

Legendary film critic, historian and author Molly Haskell will be speaking at the Camelot Theater’s screening of Ninotchka starring Greta Garbo on March 16.

Ms. Haskell is the author of six books. From Reverence To Rape, the Treatment of Women in the Movies is cited as one of the most influential books in film history. She has written for The New York Times, The Guardian UK, Esquire, The Nation, Town and Country, The New York Observer, The New York Review of Books, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Vogue. She has served as associate Professor of Film at Barnard, and as Adjunct Professor of Film at Columbia University.

Her next publication will be her memoirs, out later this year.

Olympia Kiriakou will be speaking at the May 18th screening of Nothing Sacred starring Carole Lombard and Fredric March.

Olympia Kiriakou is the author of Becoming Carole Lombard: Stardom, Comedy and Legacy (2020). She teaches film history and theory at Florida Atlantic University, hosts the podcast The Screwball Story, and created the website TheScrewballGirl.com. Dr. Kiriakou earned her PhD in Film Studies from King’s College London. She also holds an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto, and a BA, Honors in Multimedia Studies from FAU.

Steven C. Smith will be speaking and signing books on March 2 at the Camelot Theater’s screening of The More The Merrier starring Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn.

Mr. Smith is a film historian, author, and national speaker. He is a four-time Emmy nominated producer of over 200 documentaries, and has also authored A Heart at Fire’s Center, The Life And Music of Bernard Herrmann.

Film historian and author David Kalat will be speaking and signing books on April 6 at the Camelot Theater’s screening of Easy Living starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold and Ray Milland.

Mr. Kalat is the author of three books, including Too Funny for Words, A Contrarian History of American Screen Comedy from Silent Slapstick to Screwball (McFarland, 2019). He has contributed audio commentaries to numerous classic movies and written extensively for TCM and other publications. Mr. Kalat is the founder of All Day Entertainment, an independent DVD label whose mission is to rescue and promote forgotten motion pictures with artistic and entertainment value and historic importance that merit reappraisal. He has partnered with media companies Masters of Cinema, Kino-Lorber, the Criterion Collection, and Classic Media to bring attention to movies that “fell between the cracks”.

Mark Viera will be speaking and signing books on June 1, at the Camelot Theater’s screening of Bombshell, starring Jean Harlow.

Mark Vieira is the author of 19 books on Hollywood history. His latest is Warner Bros: 100 Years of Storytelling.

Mr. Vieira is a filmmaker and creator of the documentary series DeMille is Hollywood. He has appeared in documentaries for TCM and the BBC and has lectured extensively on film history and glamour photography. Mr. Vieira is a career portrait photographer and a protégé of iconic photographer George Hurrell, which informs his understanding of the visual medium of classic Hollywood films.

Aliece Pickett will speak at the Screwball Sundays film series. She will discuss the genre’s origins during its classic period from the Great Depression through World War II, plot elements, character archetypes, and distinguishing dialogue. Ms. Pickett will also interview special guest speakers, noted film authors Scott Eyman, Molly Haskell, Olympia Kiriakou, Steven C. Smith, David Kalat and Mark Viera.

Ms. Pickett is co-founder of the Film Society of Screwball Comedy has created a comprehensive catalog and database of screwball comedy films to be used for film research and restoration, and for use by film enthusiasts.

Grant Recipient:
2022, 2023, 2024, 2025