In your research, you may come across three types of magazines: trade, fan and technical.
Trade
Trade magazines cover the business of film making with information about studios, film distribution and more. They may list plot summaries of upcoming films and film reviews. Examples: Variety and Hollywood Reporter.
Fan
Fan magazines focus on celebrity profiles and movie-related gossip and are heavily illustrated. They may include film reviews, interviews, advertisements and other movie-related news. Examples: Entertainment Weekly, Picturegoer
Technical
Technical magazines cover the technology of the film making process and are targeted to those working on a specific aspect of film such as cinematographers, sound engineers, etc. Examples: American Cinematographer, SMPE Journal: Publication of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
The following collections include both trade and fan publications. Some collections offer just scattered issues and incomplete publication runs. More complete collections of some publications are available on microfilm.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
US & UK trade and fan magazines covering film, music, tv & theater; includes Variety 1905-2000 and Picturegoer 1913-1960.
Media History Digital Library
Collection of trade, fan & technical publications such as Motion Picture Daily 1931-1960, Photoplay 1914-1943 & International Projectionist 1933-19. The Fan Magazine Collection section of the Media History Digital Library includes a number of fan magazines dating from the silent film period to the early 1960s.
Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collection
Representing more than 35,000 items, Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections presents a curated selection of materials from the library's extensive holdings on motion picture history.
Lantern Global Cinema Collection
Historical Non-American fan and trade magazines collected by the Media History Digital Library.
The Media History Digital Library has a number of trade publications in the following two sub-collections: Early Cinema Collection and Hollywood Studio System Collection. Examples: Film Daily, Hollywood Reporter, Motion Picture Daily and Variety,
The Technical Journal Collection section of the Media History Digital Library includes a few publications dating from the 1930s to the early 1960s. Examples: American Cinematographer, Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers.
