The Movie Business Book, 3rd Edition

by Jason E. Squire

Drawing on the knowledge of a full spectrum of industry experts including producers, independent filmmakers, managers and financiers, the third international edition of "The Movie Business Book" offers a comprehensive, authoritative overview of the film industry. It features a preface written especially for the international edition, which contextualizes this definitive, state-of-the-art sourcebook for readers in the expanding global entertainment business. A must-read for anyone working in the film and entertainment industry, it covers the nuts-and-bolts of financing, revenue streams, marketing, DVDs, globalization, the Internet and new technologies. Using actual examples and advice from practitioners, this edition includes contributions from key industry players such as David Puttnam; Tom Rothman, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment; Benjamin S. Feingold, President, Business & Operations, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment); Sydney Pollack; and Mel Brooks. "The Movie Business International Third Edition" is an essential guide for anyone wanting to launch or advance a career in the growing media marketplace.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Business, Media Tie In

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Chris Merola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, and thoroughly depressing. Overlong and repetitive at points, but there's a lot that can be absorbed in here.

[Eric Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife and I are movie fans...though not like those hard core guys who hang out at independent film festivals...and we love this book.[return][return]It's a wonderful introduction to all the ins and outs of the movie business. The writers talk about film as a business and how the business side of film influences their creative choices. Revenue streams, copywrite issues, and how to "make it in Hollywood" are all discussed thoroughly in this book.[return][return]The authors were obviously choosen because of their expertise, but most of them are surprisingly good at conveying information in a way non-industry people can understand. I was expecting that each chapter in this book would be filled with Hollywood jargon...like when you read an article in Variety, but that is not the case.[return][return]If you love movies and REALLY want to understand how they work, this book is a must. Other books are great at explaining the artistic side (for example, How to Read a Film is a great title), but The Movie Business Book is wonderful since all of its contributors understand that modern film cannot be fully understood as a work of art unless you understand how the economics of Hollywood influence how the art is shaped.

[Josefine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting bits but I felt I really had to push myself through this one. It didn’t help that my teacher put it on her recommended reading list after I started reading it. I wish they hadn’t glorified the old Hollywood studio heads.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lame anthology of Film Industry Business articles. It automatically feels like a text book, but is actually actually helpful/interesting if you already hold some curiosity about the mysterious backside of film biz. The book generally focuses on Hollywood larger budget films, though every once and awhile acknowledges and mentions the little fledgling micro-budget movies out there.

[Nick Livanos]

This is a pretty good resource for expert perspectives on all sorts of movie business topics. Topical chapters make it simple to have a non-linear read. However, it is dense with business/finance/legal jargon, making it a potential challenge for the artist-types like myself.

[S.M. Dotson]

for a class on the political economy of mainstream and independent markets of film.

[Ms · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer for those getting to grips with the Hollywood and mini-major business model. A book for grown-ups.