2010 Industry Insider Holiday Gift Guide

Forget the malls and the madness of holiday shopping. This year, let Your Industry Insider make it easy on you by providing you with suggestions for every entertainment industry enthusiast on your shopping list. The budding director, the junior agent, the high school drama club president… There’s something here for everyone!

The below book and DVD picks are all personal recommendations or recommendations from YII profile subjects and other industry pros. Any of them make great gifts (even the kind you just go ahead and splurge on for yourself!). I’ve included special notes where appropriate.

 

And if you ARE the budding (or seasoned) entertainment professional for which this guide was created, just email a link to this post to your loved ones and tell them to consider it your personal wish list!

For ASPIRING MOGULS of every kind:

Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself (and Your Ideas) and Win Over Any Audience (Affiliate Link*) by Stephanie Palmer is a great read for everyone. Though her background is entertainment (specifically development) and the book is geared toward helping aspiring writers and producers with pitch meetings, a lot of the information in the book can be applied to virtually any type of in-person meeting from job interviews to first dates.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Dan Pink examines the 21st century world economy and explains the forces which are driving the commoditization of formerly valuable services and professions (at least when practiced in a traditional way), such as law or accounting. He further posits that creativity has become the force that will differentiate commodities and is a vital advantage in today’s world, where those who can provide us with meaning, story, fun and/or connection are the most in demand. It’s a brilliant read and a perceptive take on why going to art or film school might be a better bet than getting a law degree or an MBA.

Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson  There is a lot of inspiration and education to be found in this autobiography of the head of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, and many many more businesses. As someone who always asked not “Can I?” but “How can I?” Branson has a lot to teach those just starting out or facing challenges in any field.  I enjoyed the detailed accounts of growing several businesses, recovering from set-backs, making big mistakes but also achieving huge victories. I think anyone interested in succeeding in business on a large scale would be wise to pick up a copy of Losing My Virginity.

For DIRECTORS, ASPIRING DIRECTORS, and fans of film history:

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood by Peter Biskind  Fans of the films of the 60s and 70s – and those interested in film in general – will enjoy this colorful look at the auteur directors of that time. This book depicts a Hollywood where Francis Ford Copolla, Martin Scorscese, George Lucas and many others were just making a name for themselves and fighting to get their projects made.

To make an “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” gift basket, include some of these movies… The Godfather – The Coppola Restoration Giftset DVD, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Hearts of Darkness – A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, GoodFellas, Mean Streets, Chinatown, Bonnie and Clyde, The Exorcist, Easy Rider, The Deer Hunter, and/or M*A*S*H.

Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System* by Sharon Waxman The modern day version of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, this book covers David Fincher, David O. Russell, Quentin Tarentino, Spike Jones, Stephen Soderbergh, and Paul Thomas Anderson, all very talented individuals with strong points-of-view who have fought from inside the studio system - often successfully – to have their personal visions make it to the screen.

To make a “Rebels on the Backlot” gift basket, include some of these movies… Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Out of Sight, Three Kings, Spanking the Monkey, Seven, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Hard Eight, and/or Magnolia.

For ACTORS and ASPIRING ACTORS:

 Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making by Michael Caine

Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part by Michael Shurtleff

An Agent Tells All by Tony Martinez  [Actors- As soon as you decide you want to make money acting, you should read this and the other book on agents. Understanding what makes them tick is Step One in being able to win one over and get them working for you.]

Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams by Robert Englund

How to Agent Your Agent by Nancy Rainford [See note on "An Agent Tells All."]

For ASPIRING AGENTS, STUDIO EXECS, and other business types:

The Gross: The Hits, The Flops: The Summer That Ate Hollywood by Peter Bart [This is a business page-turner. Really fun read about the personalities, machinations, and twists of fate behind the box office numbers.]

The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players by Hilary Stamm

The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up by David Rensin [Every aspiring agent reads this, but I think it's also valuable for anyone who wants to work in the maintstream industry.]

Desperate Networks by Bill Carter

Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else by Kim Masters

The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood by Dennis McDougal

The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood by Thomas R. King 

For PRODUCERS and ASPIRING PRODUCERS: 

Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind

Hello, He Lied — and Other Tales from the Hollywood Trenches by Lynda Obst

Making Movies by Sidney Lumet

Sam Spiegel: The Incredible Life and Times of Hollywood’s Most Iconoclastic Producer… by Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni

You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again by Julia Phillips

For WRITERS and ASPIRING WRITERS:

Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman

And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on their Craft by Mike Sacks [This is a great gift for any fan of comedy. Wonderful interviews.]

Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business (Vintage) by David Mamet

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott [Every single writer, no matter the genre, should own this. It's like having a really hilarious seasoned professional writer best friend there every agonizing step of the way, guiding you, kvetching with you, and making you laugh.]

Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests by James A. Miller

Writing the TV Drama Series: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV by Pamela Douglas [Fantastic drama writing how-to. Both the how-to of the writing and the how-to of the biz. Features interviews with top show runners and writers working today.]

Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder (Also, Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Every Story Ever Told.)

The MUSIC BUSINESS:

 All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Seventh Edition by Donald Passman

Music 3.0: A Survival Guide for Making Music in the Internet Age by Bobby Owsinski

Artist Management for the Music Business by Paul Allen

Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock And Out by Bill Graham

This Business of Music, 10th Edition by M. William Krasilovski

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget by Bob Baker

Music, Money And Success (Music, Money & Success: The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business) by Jeffrey Brabec

Misc:

An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood by Neal Gabler

Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films by Donald Bogel

Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?: Women’s Experience of Power in Hollywood by Rachel Abramowitz 

DVDs of films and TV shows depicting THE BIZ:

30 Rock: Season 1

Adaptation

Barton Fink

Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

The Big Picture

Chaplin

Entourage: The Complete First Season

Get Shorty

Hearts of Darkness – A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse

The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series

Living in Oblivion

Mulholland Drive

The Player

Project Greenlight 2 (The Complete Second Series Plus Film The Battle of Shaker Heights)

This is Spinal Tap

Sunset Boulevard

* These are all affiliate links. That means that if you click through to Amazon and buy anything, YII gets a few cents. Think of it as a very, very low hourly rate for hand-picking these fabulous resources and putting up the post with all the links- thanks in advance!

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