Entertainment Business

Veteran Hollywood writer David Rensin travels behind the scenes and through 65 years of show business history to tell the real stories of the marvelous careers that began - and in some cases ended - in the mailroom. Based on more than 200 interviews, Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution - in the voices of the people who lived it. Through seven decades of glamour and humiliation, you'll go where the trainees go, do what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows.

Thomas Dolby's hit songs "She Blinded Me with Science" and "Hyperactive!" catapulted him to international fame in the early '80s. A pioneer of New Wave and Electronica, Thomas combined a love for invention with a passion for music, and the result was a new sound that defined an era of revolutionary music. But as record company politics overshadow the joy of performing, Thomas finds a surprising second act.

In The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives, Aaron Dworkin offers an engaging, practical guide to achieving artistic fulfillment, both personally and professionally. Based on the accomplishments of Shakespeare, Mozart, and several contemporary creatives, these lessons will help you realize your goal - no matter your medium. Dworkin personally interviewed Emmy-winning actor Jeff Daniels, Tony-award winning choreographer Bill T. Jones, Grammy award-winning musician Wynton Marsalis, and Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others.

Through Starting a Career in the Fashion World: 8 Proven Strategies to Help You Launch a Successful Career in Fashion and Make Your Mark!, build a solid foundation for your fashion career. Learn to create a personal brand that reflects your style and vision, and effectively network in the industry. Shine brightly and leave an indelible mark, propelled by your own unique vision and passion.

An NPR Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2025 A revealing exploration of a quarter century of cultural stagnation, examining the commercial and technological forces that have come to dominate contemporary culture—from music and fashion to art, film, TV, and beyond Over the past twenty-five years...

In the world of competitive dance, biased scoring, skimpy costumes, and toxic rivalries are the additional line items of a bill that exceeds thousands of dollars. Time and money are at stake for parents, but reputation is also at risk. For Chasta Hamilton, six years of sending dancers to competitions was six years too many. She swore off competitive dance and rewrote her curriculum to focus on the whole person within each dancer. In Trash the Trophies, Chasta shows you how she challenged preconceived notions of success in the dance industry and transformed her studio.

Not so long ago, studio quality recording, mixing, and music production was only available to the rich and famous artists. However, these days it's now possible to produce professional sounding music from your own home. In fact, you don't even need to know how to play an instrument or know anything about the technology or need expensive equipment. All you need is a decent computer + inspiration, and this book will show you the rest.

Sports journalist and veteran shoe tester Brian Metzler takes runners and kicksologists deep inside the $10 billion running shoe industry with a behind-the-curtain look at what makes iconic running shoe brands tick. Kicksology follows a shoe from inspiration to store shelf to show how innovative ideas evolve into industry-wide trends and fads. Metzler tours shoe labs where scientists advance our understanding of shoes and running mechanics as well as the domestic and overseas shoe factories where the world's favorite kicks are assembled.

Nice women never wore makeup. Even the word was taboo in polite society—until Max Factor entered the scene. Born in Poland in 1877, Factor worked as a beautician for the Russian royal family, the Romanovs. In 1904, he fled to America, where he opened a cosmetics store in Los Angeles. Creating makeup originally for silent films, then the talkies, and, ultimately, color motion pictures, Factor designed looks for Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, and countless other beauties of the day. Soon women everywhere wanted to look like their favorite glamorous stars, and Factor was there to help, bringing his innovative cosmetics to the general public.

Marc Guss’s advice is impeccable; he says the things no one else in show business will, things that those who want into the business need to know. He has a heck of a story to tell. It is powerful, outspoken talk from a widely recognized agent on how to master the industry using an entrepreneur’s specific skill set. Guss shares deeply personal experiences from the trenches, experiences he has shared with such eminent names as Lauren Bacall, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Christopher Reeve, Quentin Tarantino, Whoopi Goldberg, Dr. Phil, and others.

Some people think Jay-Z is just another rapper. Others see him as just another celebrity/mega-star. The reality is, no matter what you think Jay-Z is, he is first and foremost a business. And as much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle. This audiobook explains just how Jay-Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world.

Michael Jackson, Inc. reveals the incredible rise, fall, and rise again of Michael Jackson's fortune - driven by the unmatched perfectionism of the King of Pop. Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg uncovers never-before-told stories from interviews with more than 100 people, including music industry veterans Berry Gordy, John Branca, and Walter Yetnikoff; artists 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, and Jon Bon Jovi; and members of the Jackson family.

"Message for Success" by Francesco Vitali is a powerful guide to effective communication strategies for achieving personal and professional success. Drawing on his extensive experience as a Business advisor, Vitali provides practical insights and actionable tips to help listeners craft compelling messages that resonate with their audience.

Six Second Stories: Maximize Your Impact in Minimal Time with Video Storytelling was written with you in mind -- the beginner storyteller, entrepreneur, small business owner, nonprofit director, content creator, or influencer. Filmmaker and storytelling expert, Rain Bennett, will walk you through how to utilize the power of storytelling via video as a key marketing technique to help boost your overall audience engagement, and keep them engaged for the long haul.

Streaming music has proven it is here to stay. Artists and their teams now find themselves with many new challenges in the digital landscape. With more options than ever for music distribution, standing out in a crowd, deciding where to focus your energy and finding ways to reach your audience become critical choices you and your team will have to make. Music business executive Mike Warner provides actionable advice, time-tested through more than 20 years in the music industry with proven results.

Creating colorful candles by themselves, with various shapes and pleasant scents, is certainly a way to have fun and test your manual skills using your imagination. But how do you make candles artisanally? All this is possible using the right ingredients and following step-by-step a very simple procedure contained in this audiobook, directly at home, and turn this magnificent hobby into a real, highly profitable business! Making candles will be a pleasant pastime, not tiring, and will give the satisfaction of being able to decorate your home with objects made with your own hands.

Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.

Introducing You and the Music Business: Empowering Independent Artists, the ultimate self-care guide designed to help you find balance, joy, and success as a music creator in today's dynamic and demanding music industry.

You're in a career where it's considered "normal" to be broke. If you were doing anything else for a living, you'd have given up by now.

And I'm sure there are people in your life who wish you'd do just that... They want you to settle down, get a "real" job, and make music a hobby. Screw 'em. The truth is, if you know what to do, you can make a lot of money as a musician. This book shows you what to do.

Josh Blaylock's now classic how-to prose book about the business of comic book publishing, after selling out of its updated 2012 edition, is now being rereleased to include Tim Seeley's companion writings on the behind-the-scenes realities of being a comic book artist.