Film Entertainment

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.

Have you ever had an idea and thought to yourself "this would make a great movie?" Of course, storytelling is engrained in us all and movies have become our modern means to tell them. Recent innovations in film technology have made it easier than ever to get your ideas put onto the big screen. So what's stopping you from writing that award winning screenplay? Screenwriting for Anyone is a four book box set that is a comprehensive guide to writing your script starting from the ground up. Each book will detail different aspects of the writing process beginning with the first book. Book One outline how to develop your idea into a feature length screenplay. Book Two gives you a detailed schedule to complete the first draft within 30 days and Book Three is a comprehensive guide on the dos and don'ts when creating a modern masterpiece. Book Four dives into the business side of screenwriting with proven methods on how to pitch your script and negotiate a deal. Screenwriting for Anyone is a one of a kind four book box set that will help you finally get that idea on paper and up onto the silver screen.

Walt Disney left behind big dreams when he died in 1966. Perhaps none was greater than the hope that his son-in-law, Ron Miller, would someday run his studio. Under Miller’s leadership, Disney expanded into new frontiers: global theme parks, computer animation, cable television, home video, and video games. Despite these innovations, Ron struggled to expand the Disney brand beyond its midcentury image of wholesome family entertainment, even as times and tastes evolved.

Boone may be a troubled young man, but his troubles are just beginning. Set up as the fall guy in a string of slasher murders, he decides he'll hide by crossing the threshold that separates us from them and sneaking into the forbidden subterranean realm of Midian. Boone will live among the monsters.

Featuring a foreword from legendary director Martin Scorcese, Woodstock: Interviews and Recollections combines stories, anecdotes, and perspectives from dozens of musicians and filmmakers about the making of the Academy Award-winning documentary Woodstock. Assembled by associate producer Dale Bell, the oral history takes listeners behind the scenes - and behind the camera - at the decade-defining event.

When the Hollywood Ten refused to answer the questions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities about their membership in the Communist Party, they were sentenced to prison, the five who were under contract were fired by their studios, and all were blacklisted from reemployment until they "purged themselves of their communist taint". The Hollywood Motion Picture Blacklist: Seventy-Five Years Later offers new insights on the origins of the blacklist, the characteristics of those blacklisted, and the probability of future proscriptions of the blacklist type.

This edition of Story by Numbers is no longer available.

In 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark began work as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film that united Sir Laurence Olivier with Marilyn Monroe. The blonde bombshell and the legendary actor were ill suited from the start. Monroe, on honeymoon with her new husband, the celebrated playwright Arthur Miller, was insecure, often late, and heavily medicated on pills. Clark was perceptive in his assessment of what seemed to be going wrong in Monroe's life and became her confidant and ally.

The third of Judy Garland's five husbands, Sid Luft was the one man in her life who stuck around. He was chiefly responsible for the final act of Judy's meteoric comeback after she was unceremoniously booted off the MGM lot: he produced her iconic, Oscar-nominated vehicle A Star Is Born and expertly shaped her concert career.

Back in print after two decades, the story of Hollywood’s most exclusive hotel and its star-studded guest list Raymond Sarlot bought the Chateau Marmont in 1975, but what was originally a business purchase became a love affair as he delved into the hotel’s incredible history. From its perch...

The 1930s was a magical age in Hollywood, with Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney, Bette Davis, and Clark Gable lighting up the silver screen. But Deanna Durbin’s fame surpassed them all. Born in Canada, Deanna was “discovered” by star-maker Eddie Cantor, producer Joe Pasternak, and director Henry Koster, and she quickly became the world’s most celebrated star. She saved Universal Studios from ruin, she was a favorite of Winston Churchill and Anne Frank, and she became the highest-paid woman in America.

Max Fleischer (1883-1972) was for years considered Walt Disney's only real rival in the world of cartoon animation. The man behind the creation of such legendary characters as Betty Boop and the animation of Popeye the Sailor and Superman, Fleischer asserted himself as a major player in the development of Hollywood entertainment. Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution is a vivid portrait of the life and world of a man who shaped the look of cartoon animation.

Some Like It Hot occupies a unique place in American culture. This beloved classic showcases five comic geniuses: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, I. A. L. Diamond, Billy Wilder, and Marilyn Monroe. It has been honored by the American Film Institute as the funniest film of all time. It has contributed quotes, styles, and stories to film lore. Yet the full story of its making has never been told - until now.

Gone are the days of Hollywood agents going home each night with a stack of unsolicited screenplays by unknown script writers in the hope of finding their next star screenwriting client. Unsolicited material (your script) just doesn’t get read. Script writing competitions are now the system that provides the reading and analysis formerly conducted by Hollywood agents, producers, and studio development executives. This audiobook won't teach you the finer points of writing or how to write a screenplay. It's only about one thing: How to win a screenplay competition.

There are a lot of compendiums on The Twilight Zone out there, most offering a backstage peek at the ins and outs of producing this seminal genre series. The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone will offer you something these other books do not: a microscopic look into the themes and ideas that Rod Serling weaved into his landmark show to give you a deeper understanding of why The Twilight Zone still resonates with audiences over 60 years later.

As much coverage as Jane Fonda has elicited through the years, the stories often skim past her prime filmmaking core. Fonda on Film spotlights the signature political films Fonda generated in the 1970s—Coming Home, The China Syndrome, 9 to 5, and more—that are still underappreciated even as Fonda endures as one of the world’s most admired and controversial performers. This is a movie book about a mega-celebrity, an origin story voyaging through Fonda’s learning years in the 1960s and the calculated payoff of the 1970s.

Whether you are a professional grip looking to boost your skills or an aspiring one just beginning to learn the trade, the time-tested tips and techniques for smooth and safe operation on set make this new edition an indispensable reference guide.

From its very first episode, the Outlander TV series transported its viewers back in time, taking us inside the world of Diana Gabaldon's beloved series. Now, travel even deeper into the world of Outlander with this must-have insider guide from New York Times best-selling author and television critic Tara Bennett. Picking up where The Making of Outlander: Seasons One & Two left off, Bennett covers seasons three and four, bringing listeners behind the scenes and straight onto the set of the show.

Drawing on interviews with over 150 people who were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee - including Elia Kazan, Ring Lardner Jr., and Arthur Miller award-winning author Victor S. Navasky reveals how and why the blacklists were so effective and delves into the tragic and far-reaching consequences of Joseph McCarthy's witch hunts.

This book uses a black/white interracial lens to examine the lives and careers of eight prominent American-born actresses from the silent age through the studio era, New Hollywood, and into the present century: Josephine Baker, Nina Mae McKinney, Fredi Washington, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Lonette McKee, Jennifer Beals and Halle Berry.