The Movie Business Book

by Jason E. Squire (Editor)

Drawing from a variety of experts in an industry that has seen major technological advances since the second edition, The Movie Business Book, Third Edition, offers the most comprehensive, authoritative overview of this fascinating, global business. A must-read for industry newcomers, film students and movie buffs, this new edition features key movers and shakers, such as Tom Rothman, chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment; Michael Grillo, head of Feature Film Production at DreamWorks SKG; Sydney Pollack; Mel Brooks; and many others. A definitive sourcebook, it covers nuts-and-bolts details about financing, revenue streams, marketing, DVDs, globalization, the Internet and new technologies. All of this -- and more -- is detailed in this new edition of the classic Movie Business Book.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Business

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Chris Merola]

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

[Eric Nelson]

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]

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.

[Lynne J.]

Excellent insight.

[Mike]

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.

[Nicholas]

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]

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