Paul Fischer is an author and film producer based in the United Kingdom. His first book, A Kim Jong-Il Production has been translated into twelve languages. It was nominated for the Crime Writers' Association's Nonfiction Book Award. It was chosen as one of Library Journal's Top Ten Books of the Year and one of NPR's Best Books of the Year. It was also nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for History & Biography. Paul has also written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Independent, amongst others. In addition to writing, he works as a film producer and is an alumni of the Guiding Lights mentorship program. His first feature screenplay, The Body, based on a short film of his conception, was produced by Blumhouse and Hulu in 2018, starring Tom Bateman (Vanity Fair), Rebecca Rittenhouse (The Mindy Project), Aurora Perrineau (Truth or Dare), David Hull (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), and Ray Santiago (Ash vs. Evil Dead).
"A passionate, detailed defense of Louis Le Prince...unfurled with
all the cliffhangers and red herrings of a scripted melodrama."
--New York Times Book Review, editor's choice "Lively...Mr. Fischer
documents with the rigor of a historian and the flair of a
true-crime writer."
--Wall Street Journal "Tantalizing...Fischer helps us see how
revelatory motion pictures were at the time...[a] reminder of how
inventiveness can breed fresh hope along with innovation."
--Washington Post "Riveting...a compelling saga of both familial
and scientific struggle."
--Washington Independent Review of Books "An absorbing tale,
elegantly written and brilliantly told, with the plot twists and
surprise ending worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster."
--The Irish Times "Fischer combines firsthand accounts with dynamic
writing to bring the Victorian era to life...compelling
reading."
--Library Journal "With a spellbinding, thriller-like presentation
supported by painstaking research, Fischer puts forth evidence to
try to unravel the mystery of Le Prince's life and death. Deftly
organized facts, coupled with the technical minutiae of filmmaking,
reveal fascinating details of Le Prince's life and the challenges
faced in his work, while also exposing the mysterious circumstances
surrounding his disappearance. Fischer's stellar, suspenseful
narrative is a work of art unto itself that finally gives Le
Prince--and the impact of his often overlooked, cut-short creative
genius--his due."
--Shelf Awareness "Vivid character sketches, lyrical descriptions
of the art and science of moviemaking, and a dramatic plot twist
make this a must-read."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A fascinating, informative,
skillfully articulated narrative of one of the forgotten figures in
cinematic history."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Part detective story and part
scientific journal, Fischer's narrative will appeal to true crime
afficionados, history buffs, movie fans, and engineers--what other
book can claim that audience?--as it presents a possible alternate
history..."
--New York Journal of Books "Paul Fischer's detailed and dramatic
study of the life of the French inventor Louis Le Prince is a story
of elusive images and unexplained death...The Man Who Invented
Motion Pictures is an impressive piece of historical research [and]
wonderful storytelling."
--Times Literary Supplement "Probing a still-unsolved mystery at
the heart of the world's most popular art form, the result is both
absorbing, forensic and jaw-dropping."
--Total Film "An absorbing account of the life and mysterious death
of Louis Le Prince...Fischer brings sharp forensic skills and a
cool head to a narrative that has become hijacked by wild
conspiracy theories."
--Sunday Times "An exhaustively researched look into not only the
Frenchman's life, but the history of photography and the attempts
to move from visual still lifes to actual motion."
--The Daily Beast "If Edison is the father of moving film, Louis is
its godfather--the original mastermind behind the industry. In his
investigative history The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, author
and filmmaker Paul Fischer rekindles Louis's legacy and speculates
about his disappearance."
--The Washington Free Beacon "A real-life story of technology,
skulduggery, and courtroom battles."
--Christian Science Monitor "A deeply involving but also somber
book that provides Le Prince with the respect he should have
received during his lifetime."
--The Film Stage "A captivating whodunit [and] a lens on the
development of cinema itself...Briskly paced and
elegant...Indisputably dramatic."
--Harper's Magazine "The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures is partly
a fascinating history, partly a surprisingly twisted whodunit, and
entirely an insightful story of the very human intrigue and
interests behind one of the most influential technologies of our
time. Take a bow, Paul Fischer."
--Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Poison Squad
and the Poisoner's Handbook "The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures
sheds surprising new light on the brutal 19th century inventor wars
that led to something we now take for granted: our ability to watch
people on celluloid act out stories that move us, make us laugh,
make us cry, and change our lives. Paul Fischer brings the
forgotten father of the modern movie, Louis Le Prince, to life in
big-screen detail, and delivers a gripping tale that holds its own
against any Hitchockian thriller."
--Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, New York Times bestselling author of
Seinfeldia and When Women Invented Television "Most people believe
Thomas Edison 'invented' the motion picture. But filmmaker and
author Paul Fisher here tells the fascinating and largely-forgotten
true story of Louis Le Prince, the actual inventor (with patents to
prove it) of this world-changing technology. In 1890, just as Le
Prince was scheduled to astound the world with the first public
viewing of his astonishing invention, he mysteriously disappeared.
In Fisher's meticulous and entertaining history, we meet Le
Prince's rival inventors, with all their travails and triumphs --
including a dark and ruthless Edison. Not only does Fisher make the
case that Le Prince is the real father of the motion picture, he
has also persuasively solved the 130-year-old mystery of Le
Prince's disappearance and death. A terrific book!"
--Jill Jones, author of Empires of Light and Eiffel's Tower
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