Peter Guber is a legendary figure in the industry. An entertainment executive, film producer, entrepreneur, sports team owner, television host, and sometimes college professor, he began with some early success at
Columbia Pictures and kept on racking up the accomplishments throughout a career that has spanned over 40 years and counting.

His new book, Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story (affiliate link), is about the art, and benefit, of purposeful storytelling. In the promotional materials, the objective of the book is described this way:

“Guber shows how to move beyond soulless Power Point slides, facts, and figures to create purposeful stories that can serve as powerful calls to action. Among his techniques: Capture your audience’s attention first, fast  and foremost, motivate your listeners by demonstrating authenticity, build your tell around ‘what’s in it for them,’ change passive listeners into active participants, [and] use ‘state-of-the-heart’ technology online and offline to make sure audience commitment remains strong.”

Having seen Guber, along with co-host Peter Bart, interviewing industry figures on the television show, “Sunday Morning Shootout,” as well as observing him “in action” at social functions around town over the years, I was immediately intrigued when I found out about his book. This is someone who is clearly interested in finding out what makes others tick and that, coupled with his own accomplishments, made “Tell to Win” a must-read for me.

Here are the four elements of why I think it should be required reading for anyone aspiring to greatness (or even some modicum of success) in the industry:

1) Get the core message on why good stories are so important. Making the case for storytelling takes up the bulk of Part One, “There’s No Business Without Story Business.” Guber opens each of the four chapters in that section with a story, one from his life as a minor league baseball franchise owner, one from a rafting trip with friends, one from his travels in New Guinea, and one from his Sony executive days. Peppered throughout this section are other stories and key backstories to the introductory stories as well.

I must admit, I found myself skimming through some of Part One. I think Guber might have identified too heavily with
the professorial role he sometimes plays in life. He kept harping on the importance of storytelling rather than allowing his readers to accept the its value as a given early on and simply enjoy the read. But, as someone who writes resumes and bios professionally and interviews successful pros for this site, as well, maybe I’m a particularly easy sell on the conceit and others need more convincing.

2) Learn about the key element of purposeful storytelling and ways to use them. In the second section, Guber gets into specifics. He spells out the questions one should ask themselves when deciding what stories to tell (“Who’s the audience?,” What interests them?,” etc.) He breaks down the different ways storytelling can be used to help you achieve your goals and how to make sure you get the most bang for your storytelling buck. This includes some examples of stories that have worked well on him, such as when he was approached as a potential partner for GeekChicDaily.com, and stories he told that fell on deaf ears, like his attempt to get Howard Schultz to put TV screens with custom content in his Starbucks stores.

3) Be inspired by the examples of purposeful storytelling he provides. There are some seriously great stories told here. Bill Clinton using “High Noon” to connect to Guber and get him onboard as a donor and fundraiser and Tim Burton getting Jack Nicholson to commit to play The Joker in the original Batman movie, to name two.

4) Get a lot of insider information on how this industry giant got where he is. Though I must add the caveat that, as with many industry giants, you should take the stories he tells about himself with a grain of salt (like many of the most successful people in “the biz,” he understands the power he yields when he gets to be the one to convey what happened and the role he played), this book takes you along for the ride on some serious deal making.  If you pay attention, you can come away with some great lessons to apply to your own career.

If you adding this book to your summer reading list, you will be entertained. But more importantly, you will come away knowing a lot more than you knew before… about Guber, about what makes for a successful story, and what exactly “tell to win” means and how important it is.

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Whether or not you became a fan of Tina Fey when she was a co-host of Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live” or as the creator/showrunner and star of the Emmy winning NBC series “30 Rock,” you must recognize that she has broken a lot of ground as a woman in comedy, an especially male-dominated area of the entertainment industry. She was the first-ever female head writer on SNL. She is now an A-list writer, an Emmy winner, and a TV star who clearly charts her own course.

Her just-released autobiography, Bossypants (affiliate link), is a true window into the comedy world and into the challenges that anyone, especially anyone female, faces in trying to make it. It also offers insight into why and how Tina herself was able to get to where she currently is and provides a wealth of wisdom for  those just starting out as to how to give themselves the best chance for success.

On a pure enjoyment level, the chapter on her father is the best. He’s one of those 70s-style stoics who nobody messes with, which clearly shaped Tina’s development (kept her in line, really) growing up and into adulthood. She describes him as looking like Clint Eastwood and in the picture she includes of 70s-era Don Fey, you can tell, through the sleeves of his form-fitting long-sleeve turtleneck, he’s got guns. Much of this chapter is difficult to excerpt since it all builds upon itself, but here is a snippet:

Don Fey dresses well. He has an artist’s eye for mixing colors and prints. He wears tweedy jackets over sweater vests in the winter and seersucker suits in the summer. His garnet college ring shows off his well-groomed hands. He can still rock a hat.

There is a lot of silliness in this book, such as chapters devoted to her job at the local YMCA when she was in her 20s, to her disastrous honeymoon, and to starring in photo shoots. She also goes into much detail about how awkward she was as a child, an adolescent, and an early adult, and as she allegedly continued/continues to be even as a highly-successful comedy professional.

So if you aren’t a fan of Tina Fey’s work or her humor, you may have a hard time getting through it, in spite of your desire to get the career takeaways. But if you are a fan, this will be an extremely enjoyable and quick read.

For those who want an idea of what kind of takeaways you will get to apply to your own career, here’s a list of some of my favorites:

- The Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life – This is a small section about applying the rules of improv, which she initially learned during her time with Second City in Chicago, to your work life, such as, “Always agree.” She takes this to the real world by saying, “Be open. Start from an open-minded place.” And, not only that, “Always say ‘Yes, and…,’” meaning “Don’t be afraid to contribute.”

- Things I Learned from Lorne Michaels - This is a list of lessons she gleaned from her working relationship with the “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” executive producer (among many, many credits)/comedy legend who hired and mentored her at SNL. Lesson #2 is “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.” I’d imagine when you’re producing a live show, that little tidbit gets bandied about a lot, but it can be applied to many things in one’s career.

- I Don’t Care If You Like It - This chapter is named after something Amy Poehler said to Jimmy Fallon when she was new to SNL and he was complaining that he didn’t like some comedy bit she was doing. The chapter is about sexism in comedy, about men who say women aren’t funny and otherwise try to undermine their comedy confidence. Tina gives her unsolicited advice about how to deal with such behavior, which is a version of the title of the chapter, as in, “Unless they are your boss or are otherwise standing in the way of you getting what you want, tell them…”

There is plenty of other career instruction sprinkled throughout the book, as well as whole chapters about getting “30 Rock” on the air, juggling life as a new mother and a new showrunner, and about the series of appearances Tina made on SNL as Sarah Palin. But even on their own, the three sections listed above can educate and really light a fire under the right kind of person, especially (but by no means only) for a young woman who dreams of starring on “Saturday Night Live.” Unless you don’t “get” Tina Fey’s type of humor (and she even admits not everyone does), pick up or download a copy of Bossypants and get ready to laugh and learn.

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As you know, here at YII, we LOVE getting the inside story on successful professionals in the biz, as well as finding out about great resources we can all use. In this case, we’re getting both! Sarah Sido and Claire Winters are dedicated working L.A.-based actors who have taken their own “lessons from the trenches” and the expertise of those professionals in their boundless rolodexes and created the site they would’ve wanted when they were just starting out. Now that’s something that we can get behind!

 YII: Thank you ladies for agreeing to talk to us. So, to start with, give us a little background on your careers and where you were in them when you co-founded Brains of Minerva.

SARAH SIDO: I’ve always considered myself one of the lucky ones as far as my career is concerned. I’ve been working professionally for many years now, first in New York and, for the last decade, here in L.A. I’ve consistently gotten jobs in all the different mediums, including film, television, and theater. Voice-over work has allowed me to pay my bills and can be incredibly fun. After a video game session, I may barely be able to speak, but where else would you get direction like, “Now gurgle and drown in your own blood.”

At the time that we formed Brains of Minerva, I was doing a play with the Push to Talk Theatre Company. I really adored the group of artists that I was working with, and the fact that we truly felt like an ensemble. Commercial and television work, both on-camera and voice-over, had slowed down to a trickle as the recession had pretty firmly taken hold, making me financially far less stable than I had been in years.  This change definitely put me in a place to ask myself a lot of questions about what I wanted from my career and how I was going to go about it.

CLAIRE WINTERS: Prior to moving to Los Angeles, I had acted professionally for several years in New York – N.Y. & regional theater, some film and television – and had graduated from the MFA Program at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). During my last year in N.Y., I had realized that the on-camera work I’d done was actually the most creatively exciting for me, and started to wonder what was I doing in a town that revolved around theater. Also, I had fallen into a job teaching on-camera work to young actors at The Lee Strasberg Institute in which I’d coach the students through writing autobiographical scripts that we’d then shoot. Since film was where my heart was, I knew it was time to come to the city where the craft and business of it are in the air.

I was a year-and-a-half into my time in L.A. when Sarah approached me about doing the website. I’d know her forever. We’d met as seniors at The Interlochen Arts Academy, an arts high school in MI. And she was a huge part of my support network here. I was still trying to find my way and build a community. I was auditioning (though not as frequently as I’d expected), teaching film workshops in L.A. schools, and hosting monthly get-togethers of readings/career networking sessions for ACT alums in L.A. I was also learning how to drive in this city! I still can remember the first day, months in, when I got through the day without someone honking at me.

YII: What was the moment of inspiration that led you to co-create Brains of Minerva?

SARAH: I was working on the above-mentioned play and taking a career and marketing class. As one of the more experienced actors involved, I found that people were coming to me with questions, both about their careers and about the actor’s life in general. I’ve always found there to be a gap between the way that acting is discussed in the media and the real issues that actors struggle with in the day-to-day. I started to think about ways that these questions could be addressed on a wider stage. My career and the industry as a whole were experiencing so much change, and I also wanted a forum to explore my own questions about the business.

CLAIRE: When Sarah and I would get together socially, we’d often kvetch about what more we wanted to be doing in our careers. We sometimes got into the habit of glossing over how far we’d come. Sarah thought it would be great to develop an online community where we could share a lot of the information and perspective we had amassed over the years. About the same time, I’d gotten my first taste of journalism by writing a couple of articles on teen actor training for a now-defunct magazine called “Intercut.” I knew I wanted to do more writing.

When I moved to L.A., I was shocked by the assumption I encountered, when meeting new people and telling them I was an actor, that I was an idiot! I could feel my social currency at parties, etc., drop ten-fold. And yet, all the actors I knew out here were incredibly hardworking and intelligent people. I was excited about the information on our site not only adding value to the lives of actors, but also reflecting an alternative image of the power and intelligence of actors.

YII: What are your criteria for including content on the site?

SARAH: We are interested in content that enriches and engages our community.  When speaking with our writers, we regularly refer to “takeaways”. We want our readers to leave with something they can act on. That comes in many different forms. It may be advice, a specific plan of action, more in-depth knowledge, or perhaps inspiration.

CLAIRE: Our tag-line is “The Guide to the L.A. Actor Hustle,” so we ask that all pieces contain actionable information, something a reader can use immediately to improve his or her own acting hustle. That said, we encourage a variety of styles and love to change things up. Some pieces are very instructional (e.g., “The Craft of Romance” has exercises to create chemistry with your acting partner). Other articles might be first-person narratives (e.g., “Queer as Folk”’s Scott Lowell’s piece on finding his community in television) in which case the reader can find out about turning points in the writer’s personal story and apply them to his or her own life and work.

YII: What is your favorite thing about your blog?

SARAH: There are so many different ways I could answer this, but I’ll go with this: It has taught me the power of partnerships. Claire and I have truly created this together and it could never be what it is without both of us.

CLAIRE: I don’t think there’s anything out there like it. Our articles assume their audience is made up of smart, hard-working professionals. Many actor resources are written from a fear-based or expert-on-the-mountaintop perspective – “You Must Sit Like a Good Little Girl in the Waiting Room and Not Be Rude to the Receptionist!!” On Brains, we avoid the “should”s and “must”s and instead offer “this is how I did it/ didn’t do it/wished I’d done it/might do it differently in the future.” We want our site to encourage actors to share resources and to recognize how much knowledge and power they already possess (especially when the nature of the day-to-day life can often make it seem otherwise).

YII: What are your some of your favorite posts?

SARAH: It’s incredibly difficult for me to single out just a few. I know just how much work has gone into each article, but if I must pick a few to highlight:

Claire’s articles on the Breakdowns (Part One and Part Two) set the bar incredibly high and really let our readers know that this was not your run of the mill blog. and

Jody Rosen Knower’s “So I Married an Actor” makes me cry it’s so sweet and I re-read it whenever I need inspiration. It is a must read for anyone crazy enough to spend their life with an actor.

Risa Bramon Garcia (FATAL ATTRACTION, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, NBC’s “The Cape”) is a casting legend and we were absolutely honored when she reached out to us about writing. Her piece reminds me that what we do is needed in the world as it makes our own and others’ lives all the richer.

Do I have to stop?  Kai Soremekun’s series is so generous with vital information  and I love Jeffrey Marcus’ article on creating chemistry.

CLAIRE: That is a Sophie’s Choice question! All of our posts are tops! Though, some which stand out as particularly unique to our site are actor Suzie Plakson’s “The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly- A Vet’s Take on 30 Years of Auditioning,” Sarah’s “How Volunteering Enriches My Life in Acting” and Brendan O’Malley’s “10 Books to Inspire” (about using literature in your craft).

YII: What is the most surprising thing about running Brains of Minerva?

SARAH: The biggest surprise for me has perhaps been the reception by the community. Others have regularly referred to it as a service (as in, an act of service) that Claire and I are providing to our fellow actors. In some ways, it’s silly that this came as a surprise. We are putting enormous amounts of our time and energy into this project which we give away for free, but having others recognize it as that right away, was somehow a big surprise.

CLAIRE: In her piece A Clarion Call to Plan and Dream Big! actor Leslie Ishii (“Lost”) shares how she’s grown through her long relationship with the East West Players theater company by having a place to practice “stick-to-it-iveness.” As an actor, your opportunity to practice your work long-term is often in others’ hands. Brains has given me a place to practice “stick-to-it-iveness.” Through consistently applying myself to it over the last year-and-a-half, I’ve seen my strengths and weaknesses in ways I couldn’t by just auditioning or going from one short-term acting project to another. I’ve learned a lot about balancing my workload, moving on from set-backs and setting the bar higher for myself.

YII: How, if at all, has your blog helped your acting career? 

Sarah from the film ROSEVILLE

SARAH: It’s a little difficult for me to answer this, because in many ways my focus has changed from how I went about my career before we started Minerva. Before, I was really an actor for hire. I just wanted other people to hire me to “just act” and often enough (well, it’s never enough, is it?) they did.

Since founding Brains of Minerva with Claire, I have really changed the way I look at the industry and see myself as more much more invested in the entire process than someone who is hired “just to act.” I fell in love with a script and launched a production company, Term of Art Productions, to develop it. I have honed my producing chops by working on a variety of projects, currently ControlTV.com. I still get hired to act and love it, but my entire perspective is so different now.

So, to answer the question, I have made relationships through the site that I really cherish. None of them are specific, “and then she hired me!” relationships, but I have no doubt that all will be valuable in this more holistic way that I currently view my career.

CLAIRE: I’ve certainly made loads of new contacts. When I arrived in L.A., I quickly realized that I had taken for granted all the years of contacts I had made, with little effort, in New York. When I arrived, even though I had friends and alum contacts in L.A., I didn’t have a community of directors, writers, and actors. Brains has definitely helped with that, and the site has renewed my already existing contacts.

Most importantly, working intimately on blog pieces with directors, actors I respect, casting directors, et al, has broken down the industry hierarchy in my head and made me less fearful. I take rejection a lot less personally since I’m always reaching out to contributors (and often hearing the tumbleweeds in response!), and through my own writing, I’ve started dialogues with people I respect. After “Love, Work and Documentaries” I heard from a couple of the filmmakers I wrote about and that was wonderful – to feel that by shining a light on the work I love, I’m building a community that is interested in and supports my work.

YII: What services do you offer through your blog?

CLAIRE: We offer peer-to-peer coaching sessions (“Brainstorming With the Brains”) in which both Sarah & I participate, helping an actor with their L.A. transition, opening up our Rolodexes to share the resources we’ve found valuable. We also speak to student groups, and we’re moving into live events to expand and to support the site (and us) financially.

We have two upcoming events we’re thrilled about! We’re partnering with event planner Christina Malpero to host an evening that’s a panel discussion and cocktail party with the creative team of the new NBC show, “The Cape.” We’re then offering a 4-part webinar series with celebrity publicist Joy Donnell called “Brave New World,” which teaches you how to use all the tools at your disposal to authentically develop your brand as an actor. (Email us at info@brainsofminerva.com to be notified of details for those events and other special offerings.)

YII: Where do you see Brains of Minerva going in the future?

SARAH: I see us continuing to be a place for great conversation and exploration. I’d like to include more video content.

YII: How has your acting career evolved in the time Brains of Minerva has existed?

SARAH: I went into this a bit before. The way I look at my career is very different now, but in some ways I have come full circle. As we end what has been an incredibly busy year, I look forward to re-focusing on my acting. Auditions have unquestionably picked up, and some recent bookings have made me realize that I don’t need to always do everything. It’s so nice to show up on set and get to “just act” and oh yes, the paychecks are lovely too. I always seem to learn with big pendulum swings, and perhaps now I can find some balance. I’m as excited as ever about the feature that I am producing, but I realize that doesn’t need to rule out work for hire.

CLAIRE: Prior to Brains, I had begun working on a passion project that started out as an audition tape for a film in development that’s based on a novel I love. As I worked on it, though, it took on a life of its own, and I ended up shooting a series of shorts about the character. I then started to envision it, now called ‘Analices,’ as a gaming-influenced web-based project about the intersection of an actor and a character. I’m now finishing the writing component, which has definitely been transformed by having to write consistently for Brains, as has my capacity to project-manage a creative work long-term. Brains has helped me develop a deeper understanding of both acting and writing, and I want to continue to use the actor in me to become a better writer, and vice versa.

YII: What would be your dream acting job?

SARAH: For me, I get excited about the people I’d love to work with.  The image that sprang to mind as I read this question – a feature film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson or Sofia Coppola. In it I’m working on a role that requires me to bring everything I have. It’s terrifying and pushes me to places I haven’t necessarily been before, but I’m surrounded and supported by such amazing talents. Sounds fun, no?

Claire in a scene from ANALICES

CLAIRE: I love the opportunity to collaborate long-term on the development of a character, as is the case with some feature projects (the Mike Leigh process, for instance, of improvisation to develop character and story). And I’d love to be part of the ongoing dialogue with society as with the best TV shows – “Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”… When I hear interviews with the creators and actors of “Friday Night Lights,” my heart beats faster; the spontaneity of shooting with three cameras, characters so connected to a place and time, and the huge talents – it seems like the best of both worlds.

If you haven’t hopped over there yet, take a moment to check out Brains of Minerva. For actors and anyone else pursuing a creative live, it’s an inspiring and informative resource.

Know anyone who could use an entertainment industry insider? Encourage them to sign up on the YII home page to receive our Mogul Mindset eBlasts today!

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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Media-Match.com is a site which helps entertainment professionals and those looking to hire them find each other. Job-seekers (both freelance and permanent) can create profiles and can also search the jobs posted to the site, which come directly from the companies doing the search or from other job sites across the internet. Companies can post jobs directly, as indicated above, or search for profiles of people who do what they are looking for someone to do.

This site is not location-specific. As I am writing this, I see jobs posted for Los Angeles, Chicago, DC, San Francisco, Houston, Franklin, TN and many, many others. Positions range from Casting Recruiter (Nebraska) to Production Manager (San Francisco) to Graphics Coordinator (Los Angeles) to Camera Assistant (Paramus, NJ). There is even a posting for a News Anchor (Buffalo, NY).

The bottom line is that if you are a budding (or not-so-budding) crew member, subscribing to Media-Match.com is well worth the ten bucks a month it will cost you. And if you are looking for entertainment professionals, it is also a great place to get the word out and find people who can do the job. (That set doesn’t light itself, does it?)

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There are many books on the market about the TV writing business. Unfortunately, most tend to fall into one of two somewhat-unsuccsesful camps. Those that are written by academics tend to cover the basics well, but have too much of an outsider POV to give true insight into the actual workings of the biz and the path to success. Those written by actual insiders tend to assume too much “base” knowledge on the part of the reader so the valuable “seasoned veterans” tips and “what to avoid”s go over the head of a rookie.

Writing the TV Drama Series: How to Succeed as a Professional Writer in TV by Pamela Douglas is successful in both conveying the basics and giving the inside scoop, probably because the author is both an academic (an associate professor in the USC School of Cinema-Televison) and a true insider, having had a long career as a TV writer/producer. This book contains solid, current information, such as:

- An overview of the basic TV calendar (pilot season, pick-ups, staffing season, etc.).

- A dissection of the classic one-hour drama script.

- An explanation of how a TV writing staff works and seven mistakes to avoid.

- A breakdown of the different positions on a writing staff.

- A concise explanation of how to break in to the world of TV writing.

- Interviews with other top industry insiders.

This book provides everything an aspiring TV writer needs to know and is current for today’s market with three exceptions: Those doing the hiring these days (the showrunners, with help from studio and network executives) like to read an original pilot by writers they are considering for their staff in addition to a spec sample of a similar show. This is a new development in the last couple of years.

Another change is that with the rise of TV dramas appearing on both premium and basic cable channels and the increase in mid-season replacements being lined up by network brass with itchy trigger fingers, the calendar doesn’t always hold true. Projects can get picked up off-season. The third very recent development is the increasing frequency with which projects brought to pilot by one network, but not picked up to series, are being bought by other networks and cable channels. Lately, what would’ve once been a “dead” project is finding a pulse after being put in the coffin.

So if you are looking for a one-book answer to all of your questions about breaking in as a TV drama writer, pick up a copy of Writing the TV Drama Series by Pamela Douglas. You’ll be glad you did.

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Depending upon who you are as a music professional, it’s either a very scary, depressing time or a very exciting, creative time.

For those who are/were part of the old model of the music business, when record companies ruled the world and getting signed was the way (as in the only way) to make it in the recording industry, things are not going so well. The A & R execs and others tied into the mega-conglomerate side of the biz are finding themselves shut out as the market for recorded music issued on CDs shrinks smaller and smaller.

For those who are part of the new model, developing artists and then creating and marketing their music, merchandise, and live performances directly to the fans, there is a freedom to innovate, to get outside-the-box in monetizing the careers of up-and-coming recording artists.

It is a confusing time, though, for those trying to make the transition from the old model and those just coming into the business, not to mention those trying to understand the evolution of the music business from the outside. The general public is starting to think of music as something you get for free off the internet, or buy a song at a time rather than as a complete album. How can an industry sustain itself with a revenue drip-drip-drip instead of a revenue stream coming in?

Musician/producer/engineer/professor/writer Bobby Owsinski has provided a very readable, comprehensive guide to the current music business, aptly titled Music 3.0: A Survival Guide for Making Music in the Internet Age. He starts out by introducing the original (or 1.0) version of the business and the subsequent phases (1.5, 2.0, 2.5) and then presents an overview of the 3.0 model, which is essentially a direct link between the artist and the fan, with traditional record labels, as well as record stores and old-school radio stations (and charts) cut out of the mix.

The rest of the book covers the power players in the business, new marketing and distribution, survival rules, examples of artists who are doing it right, and a section that would be particularly well-worn if I were an artist or manager: “How to Make Money in Today’s Music World.” Owsinski is a music industry vet with contacts in all sectors of the business and he provides quotes throughout and one-on-one interviews with them in the last section. This provides a more diverse point-of-view to the book overall and introduces additional tips, expertise, and ongoing resources (since many of these people have companies, blogs and/or books to seek out).

The only downside to the book is that it’s so dense it will require several reads to really absorb the bulk of the key points. This is not a fault of the book, but just a consequence of having so much information to pass along on one topic. But after the initial read, delving into individual chapters as needed will allow budding music industry professionals to take in and apply what they have learned immediately to their own projects and career journey.

In addition to picking up Music 3.0: A Survival Guide for Making Music in the Internet Age I also recommend checking out Bobby Owsinski’s two blogs, Music 3.0: The Blog Behind the Book and Bobby Owsinski’s Big Picture Blog. He also just released The Music Producer’s Handbook: Music Pro Guides, which I’m sure is just as educational and readable as Music 3.0. If anyone gets to it before I do, let me know what you think!

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Like Hollywood Mom Blog which we recommended earlier this year, ChildrenInFilm.com was created to provide information about children working in entertainment.

While Hollywood Mom Blog is written from the point-of-view of the mother of a child actor (actually several mother/managers now write for it), and has a fun, friendly tone, and free content (with advertising its only apparent revenue source), Children In Film has a more serious tone and is primarily a membership site for parents of aspiring child actors and professionals who work with them, as well as a promotional vehicle for a (child work) permit service. 

Children In Film was created by the founder of an agency for studio teachers who became an authority on California Child Labor Laws and then on larger issues related to child actors. The members have forums, share information on and reviews of products and services, create their own profiles, are part of a searchable directory, and get access to a wide variety of information relevant to the profession, such as casting notices and specifics on the laws and rules governing the use of child actors.

Some of these features, usually in a more basic form, are available for free, but to get the benefit of all the features, there is a subscription fee of $16.99/month. If you are the parent of a child actor or a professional who works with them, it seems worth considering membership on Children in Film. The benefit of networking and trading information with other parents of child actors and/or industry professionals, as well as all of the knowledge on the sometimes hard-to-understand rules and laws governing employment of child actors, would probably more than compensate you for the monthly expense.

At the very least, check out some of the free content on the site. The success stories from parents of famous child actors can definitely help the parents of aspiring young actors to avoid some of the pitfalls other parents fall prey to, as detailed on Hollywood Mom Blog’s “Moms Gone Wild” page.

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We here at YII HQ have been fans of “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross for many years. But it was a special treat to find the iPod loaded up with an interview of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.

The description provided indicated that they would talk about the award-winning album, “American Idiot”‘s transformation into a Broadway musical, which they did, but Terry Gross trained her anthropologist’s mindset on the process of becoming (and enduring as) a band, touring, performing, songwriting, and so much more.

For those who are fans of Green Day, aspiring rock stars, or just people who are particularly interested in the creative process, this is not to be missed. So check out this interview of Billie Joe on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” If you like it, consider supporting your local NPR station that carries “Fresh Air” (assuming you are lucky enough to have one).

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Being in entertainment means taking a lot of meetings. Job interviews, pitch meetings, investor meetings, actor meet-and-greets, press meetings, do-I-like-you-enough-to-want-you-on-my-project meetings. It never ends. Often there are meetings to prep for the real meeting!

The term ‘good in a room’ originally referred to writers, directors, producers, and others who excelled at pitching stories/projects in meetings with decision-makers. They would walk out, sometimes miraculously, with a done deal.

The author of “Good In A Room,” Stephanie Palmer, was a studio executive for many years who participated in thousands of meetings. Having a theater-directing background, she sat in these meetings with a critical eye on performance and figured out what it took to ace the meeting, to close the deal, to walk away with the job, the assignment, the part, the money.

And when she left the studio development world, she started working one-on-one with Hollywood players and wannabe players, and then with people from all walks of life who wanted to be able to better sell whatever they had to sell in those all-important meetings.

“Good In A Room” is an easy-to-read breakdown of what goes into a good meeting performance, as well as how to develop relationships and actually getthose meetings, and how to reach out over the phone and via email and have the outcome you desire. It’s like a textbook for the human interaction side of the business and it’s definitely worth the time it takes to read it (or listen on MP3 if you prefer). In fact, you may find yourself returning to it over and over again as you progress in your entertainment career.

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