Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Books authored about the inside of the film industry

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Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 06-27-2003, 01:08 AM:

Is there a book or even a novel in disguise that you recommend on :

Movie Production
Studio affairs
Theatre Management
Film Accounting
Film Marketing
Film Censorship
Politics in FIlms
Independent film making
Insider accounts on all or any of the above

For the sake of simplicity, let us leave out the technical kind of books like the ones on sound, cinematography or the like.

Also, let us leave out books that serve as references like the ones published by the American Film Institute.

Also, let us leave out books that speak of the previous times and discuss about books that deal with the present years.

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-27-2003, 09:12 AM:

The "The Movie Business Book" ... should be required reading for everyone in this business. It helped me understand the realities of the business and marketplace before I jumped in head first.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-27-2003, 07:12 PM:

"King of Cannes" by Stephen Walker. It's a very well-written account of the attempts of four film-makers or would-be film-makers to sell their films (or scripts) at the 1998 Cannes film festival. Highly recommended, especially for those who know how crazy this business can be.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 06-27-2003, 09:51 PM:

I always liked reading biographies of people like William Castle and Roger Corman. Great insight into the way the business is/was, and how they broke into it.
[edit]...oops, sorry, you didn't want old stuff. Never mind.

Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 06-29-2003, 01:18 AM:

I am currently reading "Who Killed Hollywood ? .... And Put The Tarnish On Tinseltown".

"Who Killed Hollywood?"

A remarkable book this is. The Bookstore here in Bangalore had to specially import this book for me. Peter Bart comes across as a spectacular insider out there - in Hollywood.

I plan next to read "GROSS" by the same author. It is really wonderful that there are people in Hollywood to write about what happens in the inside.

Also, I am slightly surprised to see few responses to this post. Are forum members here not so well read when it comes to these kind of books ?

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 06-29-2003, 06:28 AM:

Hello he Lied by Lynda Obst( producer of Sleepless in Seattle ) is an insider view from the producer's point of view. ISBN 0-316-62211-7. Walt Disney, Dark Prince of Hollywood by Mark Eliot is a more realistic appreciation of the man, flaws and all, than the usual gushy studio portrait. ISBN 1-55972-174-X. Another book by Mr. Bart, a former studio executive and now editor of Variety, Fade Out about the fall from grace of the studio MGM. ISBN 0-688-08460-5. I have over 400 technical, business history, biography books in Cinema and Production but I have been thinning them out slighty since my new house does not have enough room for a dedicated library. Any good local books on Bollywood?

Posted by Kara J. McVay (Member # 1285) on 06-29-2003, 09:29 AM:

http://www.dbborton.com/home.htm

The Gilda Liberty mystery series take place at a theatre based on my theatre. The picture of the theatre on her website is mine. They are a lot of fun to read.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 07-03-2003, 09:05 PM:

WHEN THE SHOOTING STOPS: A Film Editor's Story
by Ralph Rosenblum andRobert Karen

This first-person account reveals the sometimes difficult relationship between film editor and director. Set against the history of the editor's art and skilled craft, it sheds light on the myriad creative decisions that an editor makes and how they affect the emotional impact of a film. The author relates to some of the famous directors he worked with, whether SOBs or angels, and explores some of the great films he edited.
A great read, published in 1979 and reprinted in softcovered edition in the 90's I bought the hardcovered ed. as a library discard, and the pb new from www.Amazon.com

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 07-07-2003, 12:11 PM:

This book is available at Amazon.com and will give you some insight on the evil side of our business.

Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street by David McClintick (Author)

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 07-09-2003, 02:29 AM:

What about good fiction about theatres?

I either leant my copy to Aaron Sismore, or it's in a box somewhere. But "Flamingo Rising" is a great little tale about a guy who grew up on a Drive-In in Florida... there's some love story in there somewhere I think, but the tales of the Drive-In made me warmer and fuzzier than any love story ever could.

Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 07-29-2003, 12:35 AM:

Just came across this thoroughly researched material :

On the silver screen
Hollywood movies that feature big-name stars do not necessarily attract big-time profits, according to a study conducted by S. Abraham Ravid, a Rutgers business professor at the Faculty of Management in Newark. Ravid's paper, "Information, Blockbusters and Stars: A Study of the Film Industry," forthcoming in the Journal of Business, sampled 200 films from the early 1990s to see if star power correlated to higher revenues and a higher return on investments.
"Stars don't determine anything -- there's no evidence that they're good for movies in terms of revenue or return on investments," he said. "Stars aren't bad for you, you're not going to lose anything by having them in a film, but you're not going to gain anything either."

The study also found that a movie's success wasn't determined by the type of critical reviews it received. "The quality of the review did not matter," Ravid said. "A good review or a bad review did not affect the revenue or the return on investment." The number of reviews, however, did matter. The more reviews a movie generated -- whether positive or negative -- the better the movie fared.

One result that Ravid found surprising is that movies rated G proved more successful than movies with other ratings. "Although G movies only represent 2 percent to 3 percent of movies released annually, these movies that appeal to the entire family are usually very successful," he said.

[URL=www.fhk.eur.nl/evenementen/acei2002/ InvitedPapers/AbrahamRavid.pdf]Movie Accounting and related issues[/URL]