Film Production

Here are the very personal diaries of Richard E. Grant's debut behind the camera, as writer and director of his autobiographical movie of the same name.

It is both a fascinating insight into the intrigues and agonies he encounters along the way, and also a deeply moving portrait of his childhood and his love affair with Swaziland, where he was born and brought up during the last throes of the British Empire.

Scott Shaw is arguably most well known in the film industry as the creator of Zen Filmmaking. This is a style of filmmaking based on the fact that no screenplay is used in the creation of a film. Early in his career, however, Shaw did write numerous scripts. This book presents several of Scott Shaw's unproduced screenplays. Plus, it also presents the screenplay that he wrote for the Cult Film Classic, The Roller Blade Seven. This script was never used, however, as The Roller Blade Seven became the first Zen Film.

The Towering Inferno (1974) was the crowning achievement of über-producer Irwin Allen, the self-proclaimed “Master of disaster.” Crafted from two best-selling books and with a budget-busting cast headed by two mega-stars, it took two studios to bring it to the screen. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Towering Inferno, biographer-historian Nat Segaloff (who was a member of the film’s special publicity unit) writes about the production, its innovative marketing campaign, and the goings-on before, during, and after its box office success.

Practical filmmaking tips, tricks, and philosophies specific to the art and craft of directing commercials for television and the web. Filmmaker Jordan Brady has directed more than 1,000 spots and shares his insights from more than 20 years filming for advertising.

Barry Avrich - a self-made, Montreal-born film producer-director, flamboyant advertising executive, and legendary biographer and connector of moguls and stars. For over three decades, he has relentlessly produced films on some of the most notorious show-business titans and also found the time to market and promote feature films, concerts, and the biggest shows on Broadway.

Pennywise. Xenomorphs. Freddy Krueger. Beetlejuice. Jason Voorhees. Most movie fans immediately recognize these creatures and characters, but hardly know much about the artists behind these iconic designs. In Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1, journalist Heather Wixson shines the spotlight on 20 special effects makeup artists, creators, and technicians, whose work has left us captivated and marveling at their innovation, ingenuity, and creativity.

Peter Cowie's book chronicles the life and the sixty-year film and stage career of Ingmar Bergman as he wrestles of themes of love, sex, and betrayal with the figure of Death hovering overhead. Blending biographical information with critical comment, Cowie presents a man whose life and work were intimately fused.

Today's most acclaimed film directors reveal intimate behind-the-scenes details of their most influential work and their unique approaches to their art. In the companion to the Silver Plaque-winning Starz/Encore documentary series, this book offers interviews with 13 top filmmakers. Contains each director's filmography, complete listings of major awards, and cast credits for all films discussed.

Twilight for the Gods: The Art and History of Film Editing is a passionate exploration of the important role played by editing in the process of filmmaking and a functional guide to using editing most effectively. The book explains how an editor is, in many ways, responsible for the final rewriting of a script - and that editing is in reality a pictorial form of writing.

Jon Landau, the Academy Award–winning film producer behind Titanic, Avatar, Alita: Battle Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Dick Tracy, knew two things well: how to tell an unforgettable story, and how to find solutions. So, when he found himself confronting his fate, a diagnosis of improbable odds, he began to problem solve, ensuring that everything he learned behind the camera would live on after he was gone.

Emmy-winning editor Jordan Goldman, ACE, takes you inside the cutting room and pulls back the curtain on how and why directors, showrunners, and editors decide whether your performance makes it to the screen. He explains the key things actors should do—and shouldn't do—to avoid getting cut out. Topics include what an editor does, how editors evaluate your work, why actors get cut, what you can control, and what you can't control.

TOM SELLECK ist ein preisgekrönter Schauspieler, Autor und Produzent, bekannt vor allem für seine ikonische Rolle als Thomas Magnum in der ursprünglichen Fernsehserie Magnum P.I. Zu den vielen unvergesslichen Rollen, die er gespielt hat, gehören Lance White in Detektiv Rockford, Peter Mitchell in Noch drei Männer, noch ein Baby, Matthew Quigley in Quigley der Australier und Peter Malloy in In & Out.

Investigative journalist Sam Irvin's tell-all behind the making of FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY (Universal / NBC-TV, 2-part miniseries, 1973) has many facets. It is an eye-opening exposé on the movie industry of the early 1970s with an emphasis on Universal Pictures and the horror genre. But the chronicle also reveals a hidden agenda – fueled by the astonishing courage of a revolutionary group of LGBTQ+ artists spearheaded by producer Hunt Stromberg Jr. and his screenwriters Christopher Isherwood (THE BERLIN STORIES – the basis for CABARET) and his lover, artist Don Bachardy.

Filmmakers, film students, documentary makers for film and television, and lovers of pop culture will hear, in the filmmakers’ own words, the challenges and triumphs faced in making documentaries. Firsthand knowledge is shared on such topics as how the documentary process differs from making fictional films, storytelling technique, ethical boundaries, funding, film festivals, and much more.

From Drugstore Cowboy to Elephant, Milk and Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant's films have captured the imagination of more than one generation. Acclaimed as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker, he is also an artist, photographer and writer.

David O. Selznick (1902–1965) was one of the most prominent film producers of the Hollywood studio era. However, film production was not his only domain. Starting in the late 1930s, he built an impressive stable of stars within his own independent company. In Starmaker: David O. Selznick and the Production of Stars in the Hollywood Studio System, author Milan Hain reveals the mechanisms by which Selznick and his collaborators discovered and promoted new stars and describes how these personalities were marketed, whether for financial gain or symbolic recognition and prestige.

Between 1934 and 1968, no Hollywood studio could make a movie without the permission of, and a seal of approval from, the Production Code Administration. Formed in 1930 but not enforced until 1934, the Production Code was Hollywood’s official censorship system. Screenplays, books, plays, costumes, and even story ideas and song lyrics had to be cleared by the Code before they could be filmed, and Code staffers watched at every stage of the production process to ensure compliance.

Paris, Texas, directed by Wim Wenders and written by Sam Shepard, with adaptation by L.M. Kit Carson, and starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Hunter Carson, among others. Melinda Camber Porter passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008 and left behind a significant body of work in art, journalism, and literature. With her background as a journalist for The Times of London, her interviews had a unique way of getting to the heart of the creative process.

Driven is a candid and entertaining personal story taking the listener through the little known world of the stuntman. Forty-five years of memories offer a fascinating look that chronicles the rise of a stuntman turned director. With behind-the-scenes tales from such films as Predator, The Warriors, Rollerball, and James Bond, listeners will experience the sheer determination it takes to maintain a career as a stuntman and climb the ranks of the film industry to become a director.

In this fully updated second edition, award-winning film director and Slamdance Film Festival cofounder Dan Mirvish gives you soup-to-nuts, cradle-to-grave advice on every aspect of the filmmaking lifestyle and craft. He drops advice on playing the Hollywood and indie-film games, and shows you how to finance, cast, shoot and show your indie feature, documentary, episodic series, short film, student film, web video or big-budget blockbuster. Includes extensive tips on film festivals, distribution and continuing and sustaining your career.