Shoot Out : Surviving the Fame and (Mis)Fortune of Hollywood

by Peter Bart

Two of Hollywood's major players come together to share their insights and anecdotes about the art and business if film-making in the 21st century. A superb view from the inside drawing on a vision of the future as well as the oft-unheeded lessons of the past. (non)

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Film

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please read this book before moving to Los Angeles.

[Sean Wicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two Peters - Guber and Bart - had a show on AMC called SHOOT OUT where they discussed entertainment business (it aired on Sunday morning). Here they take their format to book form where the two join their forces to talk about the state of the movie business - warts and all - and how movies get made compared to what these two have experienced in the past (Guber as a producer and studio head, Bart as a journalist turned studio executive and right back to journalist). Less cynical than usual Peter Bart writings (and I think we have Guber to thank for this since his front-line involvement in the making of pictures is more recent than Bart's who seems obsessively stuck in the 70s heyday at Paramount when he worked there) and since it covers mainly the 90s to early 00s, the Internet starts to show some signs of changing things (like word of mouth) but what clearly comes through is the separation of the art with the business. At the end of the day, the business will always take the front seat given the amount of money involved in the making of pictures and how consumers now consume. The art is still there, hidden away, but the focus of this book is the business and it gives a pretty good overview as to how things were at that time, again thankfully lacking Bart's not-hidden bitterness at corporations and the content of pictures being made (he loves to describe everyone he writes about in detail, which every time comes off as insulting and condescending which I don't think is the intention, but it definitely reads that way). Thankfully Guber is on hand to keep things balance which is why I prefer this book compared to others written by Bart.

[Josh Folan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly just name dropping and third-party retelling of Hollywood lore, the actual first-person stories are dripping with cynicism - which would be fine if they were funny storytellers. They are not, at least in this instance.

[Sonny Dyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, specifically for anyone who wants to understand more about the business end of the movie business!

Two absolute icons in the industry from a nearly forgotten time!

It’s a great read!

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely nothing like I thought it would be. Too full of lingo like, "shoot out" and "vision keepers." Pretty darn disappointing.

[Shauna Frente · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I'm actually listening to this as a book-on-tape (yes TAPE)... And I've made fun fun of everything and anything associated with Variety. The two Peters, who sound almost exactly the same, take it upon themselves to mint the kind of bullshit Industry newspeak you'd expect - Visionkeeper? Dream merchants? Lick my left one dudes. But guess what? This stuff is golden - the anecdotes, the Realpolitik perspicacity, I will even add the wisdom: it's unmatched in many ways. I still think James Cameron is a worthless douchebag and so forth, but you can still listen - maybe not read; I find their voices really re-assuring Xanned out in the small hours - to these two and still believe in film as an art.

[Jim Nirmaier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining read from two insiders from the Hollywood industry. Somewhat dated as it was published in 2002. However, good quick read for film buffs interested in how all the different behind-the-scenes pieces fit together in bringing a movie to market.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read elucidating upon the wild and uppity lifestyles of film directors.

[John Devlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A by the numbers recitation of Hollywood stories that display greed, stupidity and narcissism.