# Can you recommend me a good book about how the film industry works? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019 "2015-06-20T18:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/1 "2015-06-20T18:32:32Z")
The title pretty much summarises what I’m looking for. I’d like to know more details about how the film industry works; not so much from the artistic side, i.e., how directors set up their films; more about the business models, the structure of the industry, and the respective roles, functions and responsibilities of the many people and companies involved - directors, producers, executive producers, studios, distributors, etc. Can anybody recommend a good read enlightening on these things? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/2 "2015-06-20T21:59:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Can you recommend me a good book about how the film industry works? no,I cannot. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/3 "2015-06-21T10:52:36Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > no,I cannot. Oh. Well then, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/4 "2015-06-21T11:23:13Z")
I know - great answer, right? I also don’t know - sorry. Can you try to look up the syllabussesssss / syllabi of Film School classes on the Business of Entertainment? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/5 "2015-06-21T12:51:23Z")
I recommend _The Hollywood Economist_ by Edward Jay Epstein as a realistic picture of how the American film industry works. Some people also praise his earlier book _The Big Picture_, but I haven’t read it. Here’s his blog, which I also haven’t read: [http://thehollywoodeconomist.blogspot.com/](http://thehollywoodeconomist.blogspot.com/) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/6 "2015-06-24T00:23:03Z")
[WORDPLAY:](http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/welcome.html) Not a book, but a series of essays by two successful Hollywood scriptwriters. It mostly covers the writing side of things, but includes several vignettes about how Hollywood works behind the scenes, as well as the process to greenlighting a film (or “development hell”, as they call it.) [Note: the website can be difficult to reach at times.] ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/7 "2015-06-24T15:50:07Z")
I’ve heard good things about this book, but haven’t read it: [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Cut-Making-Heavens-Artists/dp/1557043744](http://www.amazon.com/Final-Cut-Making-Heavens-Artists/dp/1557043744) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/8 "2015-06-24T16:04:45Z")
[You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again](http://www.amazon.com/Youll-Never-Lunch-This-Again/dp/0451205332) is by a producer, talking about her issues with Hollywood. She’s obviously coming from a specific perspective, but it gives you some idea about how Hollywood works. [Easy Riders, Raging Bulls](http://www.amazon.com/Riders-Raging-Bulls-Sex-Drugs-Rock/dp/0684857081/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1HZKEVWHS8B6SWST120F) is a bit from the artistic side, but also talks about the film industry in general. I haven’t read [Making Movies](http://www.amazon.com/Making-Movies-Sidney-Lumet/dp/0679756604/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0EMNV85DJD8Q0498G8TX)by Sidney Lumet, but the description says it goes through every stage of the process of making a movie from where the director stands. [The Devil’s Candy](http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Candy-Anatomy-Hollywood-Fiasco/dp/0306811235/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435161780&sr=1-1&keywords=devil%27s+candy) is about the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities being made, from start to finish. That ended up being a fiasco of a movie, but it shows you what all goes in to making a movie, and what can go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/9 "2015-06-25T14:01:33Z")
Sorry OP I don’t have a book recommendation, but if you can find/rent an HBO show called Action it is a humoristic but very informative about the different aspects of film making. Jay Mohr stars as producer Peter Dragon, who makes action blockbusters, but is on the hot seat after a flop. The show only lasted one season, and the humor is pretty raunchy (there’s a running joke about the size of Peter’s boss’ penis), but it was very funny. Some of the things the show dealt with included: hiring/auditioning actors/actresses and directors, dealing with the studio bosses (trying to get more money out of them while dodging their insane demands), trying to get backers to raise funding for the movies, dealing with tempermental and/or demanding cast/crew/etc, writers and how they are treated, the Hollywood gossip/rumor mill (including the seamier side of it). Sure it’s exaggerated for comic effect, but it’s a fascinating and funny look behind the scenes of a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/10 "2015-06-25T14:27:53Z")
The Robert Altman movie _The Player_ is also a good Hollywood satire. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/11 "2015-06-25T14:35:15Z")
Heartily second _ **Final Cut** _. It takes a while to get into the main story, but it’s well worth it. **This book** is also supposed to be excellent, > **[Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business...](https://www.amazon.com/Indecent-Exposure-Hollywood-Business-Essentials/dp/0060508159)** > > Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business Essentials) \[McClintick, David\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business... as is > **[United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars: Balio, Tino: 9780299069407:...](https://www.amazon.com/United-Artists-Company-Built-Stars/dp/0299069400)** > > United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars \[Balio, Tino\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars Enjoy! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/12 "2015-06-25T14:37:27Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Sorry OP I don’t have a book recommendation, but if you can find/rent an HBO show called Action it is a humoristic but very informative about the different aspects of film making. Jay Mohr stars as producer Peter Dragon, who makes action blockbusters, but is on the hot seat after a flop. The show only lasted one season, and the humor is pretty raunchy (there’s a running joke about the size of Peter’s boss’ penis), but it was very funny. Nitpick, but that was on Fox, not HBO. And I’d second the recommendation for the Hollywood Economist. Now I haven’t read the book, but I have read some of the columns written by the author on the same subject. (And I think the book is a compilation of his columns.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/13 "2015-06-25T14:39:21Z")
_ **The Making of Star Trek** _, by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen Whitfield might also be to your liking, as would David Gerrold’s _ **The Trouble with Tribbles** _ and _ **The World of Star Trek** _. I recommend trying to find the latter two in their original, unbowdlerized editions, though the later issues of _ **World** _ contain a lot of information on the series’ motion pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/14 "2015-06-25T14:41:11Z")
By, the way, the book Final Cut is from 1999 and it’s about the making of Heaven’s Gate, a movie from 1980. Things in the film industry have changed greatly since the movie was made and the book written. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/15 "2015-06-26T00:55:57Z")
That’s true, but _The Making of Star Trek_ is further out of date than _Final Cut_. Besides Peter Biskind’s _Easy Riders, Raging Bulls_, his book _Down and Dirty Pictures is also good_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-recommend-me-a-good-book-about-how-the-film-industry-works/723019/16 "2015-06-26T01:18:27Z")
My point wasn’t to criticize that book specifically, but that there have been big changes in the way movies are made and financed. Now, there are foreign investors (e.g., Image Nation from Abu Dhabi) and all sorts of ways that a movie can make a profit. I read somewhere that, typically, the US domestic box office represents only 20% of a movie’s revenue sources. (Foreign box office is really big now, plus there’s cable rights, broadcast TV rights, DVD sales, streaming media sales, showings on airlines and cruise ships and product placement.)