First, I'd like to thank the folks who have already responded to my request. I will be emailing you tomorrow morning.
As for myself, I've been a movie lover since childhood. Not in the sense that pretty much everyone loves movies, but as a fan of the whole process. I love learning about behind the scenes details, like how directors establish their style, how actors put themselves in the right state of mind for a scene, goofs that made it into the movie, moments of improv, how stunts were performed, etc. I find all of that to be fascinating.
My movie poster collection consists of one-sheets from the the late '70s to now. My criteria is simple: posters from movies I love and posters with cool artwork.
I enjoy going to horror and comics/pop culture conventions, so I've been able to get a bunch of posters autographed by actors and actresses. My boyfriend and I have a Nightmare on Elm Street signed by Robert Englund (with a sketch of Freddy), Breakfast Club signed by Anthony Michael Hall, The Princess Bride signed by Cary Elwes, Boondock Saints signed by Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery, and David Della Rocco, Terminator 2 signed by Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick, Halloween signed by John Carpenter and 6 actors who played Michael Myers, and Scream signed by Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, and Roger Jackson.
Other favorites of mine are Batman Returns, Beetlejuice, Cabin in the Woods, Clue, The Dark Knight (advance style A), Dirty Dancing, A League of Their Own, Rent, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Star Wars: A New Hope (circus poster), A New Hope (style C), Empire Strikes Back (GWTW version), Return of the Jedi (style B), and Twister (both international versions).
If I had a wealthy disposable income I'd love to have The Bride of Frankenstein (style D), Dracula (style F), pretty much all of the Star Wars posters (specifically the Revenge of the Jedi teaser and the Japanese Millennium Falcon), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire, Psycho, Vertigo, Grease, and plenty more.
My favorite artist is Drew Struzan. I think he's amazing, so I'd love to add the Back to the Future posters, Hook, Adventures in Babysitting, Masters of the Universe, and a bunch more. I also really like Saul Bass and Robert McGinnis.
As for the book, let me start with an easy question. No, this is not a price guide. That would be a herculean task. Gemstone, the company I work for, has started a line of books we refer to as "How to". We currently have a guide to collecting animation art, guide to collecting comics, and in November we'll release a guide to cosplay.
The goal is to provide info that is interesting and informative for people who have been collecting for years and those who are new to collecting. We'll define U.S. and international sizes, explain what linen backing is and the pros and cons of the process, ways to safely store posters, and provide a market overview that shares what popular posters sell for. We'll have features on Star Wars, James Bond, Universal Monsters, Disney, Tarzan, Blaxploitation, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Alfred Hitchcock, James Cameron, Jack Davis, Saul Bass, and other series, subgenres, directors, and artists. We'll have interviews with people who work in the industry at auction houses and as dealers, as well as interviews with collectors.
This book is truly a labor of love for me and I hope other collectors and movie fans will feel the same way.