Entertainment Business

Why isn't there a professional level of competition for martial arts point fighting? A league with the standardization of rules, and points on a national or world level? A league with teams, franchise teams with owners, as in other major league sports? A national or world organization at which point martial artists can aspire to participate? Why hasn't someone started this? Why hasn't this happened? Well, that's exactly what Taking on the NFL with Pro Teams KumiteSport is all about.

Broadway’s most esteemed visionaries tell all - how they got started in the business, how they chose projects, how they raise money, why some of their shows were huge hits and others flopped, and much more. From Flo Ziegfeld and David Merrick, from Joseph Papp, from Cameron Mackintosh, from today’s up-and-coming new generation of producers - here are priceless words of wisdom.

More than 85 years after his untimely death at just age 37, Irving Thalberg remains a legendary Hollywood figure. Called the “Boy Wonder of Hollywood,” Thalberg quickly climbed the ranks at MGM studios to become one of the most powerful and high-profile producers of the time, elevating filmmaking to an art form. In this definitive biography, Bob Thomas brings Thalberg's legend to life, recounting how the producer's remarkable talent for developing stars and scripts led to the creation of beloved movies such as Ben-Hur, Romeo and Juliet, and Camille.

John Denver said, “I have a producer who looks like an accountant, and an accountant who looks like a producer”. Soberly dressed, unflashy, and a trained classical musician, in the golden age of the music business, Milt Okun stood out by not standing out. His legacy does that for him. He discovered and launched John Denver, and mentored him throughout his career. He created arrangements for Peter, Paul and Mary that the trio performed for half a century. He brought Placido Domingo a crossover career that made him an international star beyond the world of opera.

Beyond the Craft: What You Need to Know to Make a Living Creatively! is a revolutionary, current insider’s guide to doing what you need to do to make a living creatively. This bottom-line volume offers a unique strategy, philosophy, and even vocabulary for the enormous worldwide audience of aspiring, working, and successful creative professionals and students.

Ella is tired of crying. She's more powerful than ever before, but her personal life has the wow factor of vanilla ice cream. When Bear asks her to investigate a series of mysterious deaths at the ultra-hip Cauldron Festival, Ella accepts a job as one of the comedy performers but doesn't tell anyone why she is really there, not even her excited sidekick, Vanessa.

Before John Lennon retreated peacefully into private life in 1975, he fought a major legal battle that went under the public radar. Just as his rock 'n' roll oldies album hit the market, Morris Levy, the Mob-connected owner of Roulette Records, released Roots, an unauthorized version of the same record. The clash led to a lawsuit and countersuit between Levy and Lennon. Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer catches the high drama of the courtroom skirmishes in this previously untold story. It also paints a detailed personal picture of John and his world in 1975-76.

Harry Cohn was the cofounder and president of Columbia Pictures, which he ran from the 1930s through the 1950s. Cohn—who abhorred personal publicity—left no writings, made no speeches, and rarely submitted to interviews. Despite this, acclaimed biographer Bob Thomas brilliantly illuminates the life of the powerful but elusive studio head in King Cohn: The Life and Times of Hollywood Mogul Harry Cohn. Thomas details the studio head's rise from a New York City song-plugger to a Poverty Row impresario, highlighting his reign as one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

Michael E. Uslan, executive producer of the Batman movie franchise, offers an insider’s look at Hollywood and the process of how movies and television shows go from the drawing board to your screens. Continuing the delightful tale of his adventures begun in The Boy Who Loved Batman, Uslan draws on both his successful and less successful attempts to bring ideas to the screen, offering a helpful, honest, and breezily told guide to producing films.

For 20 years, Merge Records has remained true to their belief that you can sign bands because you love their music and respect what they're trying to do. As giant corporate labels struggle for survival, Merge has garnered a secure and growing fan base while releasing some of the best music of our time. Our Noise is the history of the much loved label as seen by those who were there. It features interviews with and profiles of now releases some of indie rock's biggest names.

To continue doing business in Germany, Hollywood studios agreed not to make films attacking Nazis or condemning persecution of Jews. Ben Urwand reveals this collaboration and the cast of characters it drew in, ranging from Goebbels to Louis B. Mayer. At the center was Hitler himself - obsessed with movies and their power to shape public opinion.

A deep, dark, sometimes unsettling look into the mind of writer, director Paul Schrader. The First Reformed and Affliction director bears all. Hear about why Scorsese, unlike he, just couldn’t be trusted with Scarface piles of coke. In this episode, Barry Sonnenfeld makes his compelling case for owning the title of show business’s most neurotic man. He has worked with virtually everyone and lives up to his reputation as the funniest, most brutally honest raconteur Hollywood ever produced.

Wondering how you can actually raise money for your songs and become a professional musician? Look no further! Within this well-researched and documented guide, you'll discover a new way to break into the music business, harnessing the power of music crowdfunding.

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.

As a musician, do you feel successful, respected, creatively fulfilled, supported in your creative goals, or inancially comfortable? If you answered no to any of these questions, you need to listen to The Happiest Musician.

As depicted in the movie Goodfellas, fictional gangster Henry Hill is not the kind of person who would ever use the phrase "life hacks", but if you know what to look for, the film is full of useful lessons that can help speed you through your personal journey, whether you're an executive, teacher, sales professional, artist, or forklift operator.

For 25 years, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has defined Cleveland’s image as the “Rock and Roll Capital of the World.” But while the Rock Hall has become an iconic landmark for the city of Cleveland and for fans of rock and roll around the world, it was just one missed phone call away from never being built in Cleveland. If the prominent singer and actress Lesley Gore hadn’t contacted radio personality Norm N. Nite in August 1983, the Hall of Fame would not be in Cleveland—period.

How to Keep Your Dukes Up in the Music Business is the guide every musician needs to navigate the music bizz. This book includes eight essential contracts that all musicians need, and with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment business and a music attorney today, Miss Krystle Shares some of the best kept industry secrets you need to know. Having the advantage means managing all the business aspects of your career, and it is an investment of time that will pay off in a big way.

Author Adam Cruz takes you on a fast-paced journey through the complicated world of streaming music. In his distinctive narrative style, he details the effects that manual interplay have had on royalties and chronicles the diminishing value of music, the rise of streaming services, and the changing attitudes of music lovers. Cruz also shares tips and tales from his days of running a widely popular NYC disco label at the turn of the millennium.

Get an inside perspective on the entertainment distribution revolution from an executive who lived it with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass, and who continues to consult, speak, and share his unique understanding of how to disrupt the status quo and adapt to what the customer wants. Mitch Lowe will tell the inside story of the dramatic evolution of the entertainment business, from the days of early cable television, Beta, and VHS to a world where consumers have infinite choice and control of the movies they see.