Editing An American Family (section)

== Dispute over ''Cinema Verite'' ==
The 2011 HBO film ''[[Cinema Verite (2011 film)|Cinema Verite]],'' a fictional examination of the making ''An American Family,'' brought to the surface a dispute over the process of making ''An American Family.''

The film portrays a clash between the series' creator, Gilbert (played by James Gandolfini), and the cinematographer Alan Raymond (played by Patrick Fugit). The clash depicted in the film was over the validity of the original series' ''[[Cinéma vérité|cinema verite]]'' descriptor''.'' The film suggests Gilbert "may have instigated drama and may have overstepped boundaries" during the filming of ''An American Family'', including a rumored relationship between him and Pat Loud (which both parties deny).<ref name="lens"/>

Alan Raymond and his wife, Susan, who handled sound on ''An American Family,'' served as consultants on the HBO project, but they said they agreed with the "thrust" of Gilbert's series. The Raymonds did have their criticisms. Alan said he and Susan were "at odds with Craig over the treatment of the family. There were numerous confrontations where we tried to raise the question about whether the experiment was veering off course.”

Director [[Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini|Robert Pulcini]] said, "Everybody remembers it a little bit differently or a lot differently depending on what you’re talking about."

Gilbert saw it differently, defending his approach this way: "I didn’t script a thing. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t negotiate anything. I didn’t manipulate anything."<ref name="Yardley"/> He dismissed the HBO film as "a fiction" and offered that "an impossible script" challenged the film.

The film's screenwriter [[David Seltzer]] defended his script, saying, "The critical mass of research was my barometer for what to go with". Seltzer also consulted Pat Loud's book when writing the script.<ref name="lens"/>

Gilbert and the Raymonds shared the opinion that ''An American Family'' is unfairly blamed as the progenitor of today's reality television.<ref name="lens"/>