Showing titles in Direction & Production

Damn good coffee, cherry pie, and the “big bang of auteur television”―why Twin Peaks deserves to be a pop culture classic In 1990, avant garde filmmaker David Lynch (Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet) and acclaimed television writer Mark Frost (Hill Street Blues) teamed up to create a television show that would redefine what the medium could achieve in a one-hour drama.

Do you have a movie you want to make? Or a screenplay that you want produced? Are you going to pitch a project to a studio executive, producer, name actor or private investor? Pitching means asking producers, name actors, and studio executives for help. No one pretends this is easy. "I’ve seen other filmmakers give presentations," says film producer/director/screenwriter Tom Marcoux, "Presentations that crashed and burned. But remember, people do this all the time, successfully. You can as well!" After gaining funds for a number of projects (one film went to the Cannes film market), ...

Are you looking for new ways to be authentically you on camera when the record button goes on? Maybe you want to start making videos because others are doing it with great results, but you have no clue how to start or if you've even got what it takes. It can all feel complex and intimidating. In Be You on Video, author and video coach Celeste Gehring shares what she’s learned from years of working in the media industry to show you how video can be an easy and fun way to grow your business and create revenue.

Known as “Hitler's Filmmaker,” Leni Riefenstahl directed two of the most innovative and effective propaganda documentaries ever made, Triumph of the Will (1935) and Olympia (1938), which glorified the Third Reich. In this definitive biography, Steven Bach illuminates the truths and lies regarding the self-proclaimed apolitical artist's involvement with Hitler and other Nazi leaders who financed and advanced her career. Probing the borders that divide art and beauty from truth and humanity, Bach untangles the past and gives an objective but unsparing appraisal.

Pennywise. Xenomorphs. Freddy Krueger. Beetlejuice. Jason Voorhees. Most movie fans immediately recognize these creatures and characters, but hardly know much about the artists behind these iconic designs. In Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 1, journalist Heather Wixson shines the spotlight on 20 special effects makeup artists, creators, and technicians, whose work has left us captivated and marveling at their innovation, ingenuity, and creativity.

Two classic filmmaking books in one box set: Fast, Cheap and Under Control: Lessons Learned from the Greatest Low-Budget Movies of All Time--Learn the tricks and pitfalls of low-budget filmmaking from 33 successful independent films and the filmmakers who created them. Fast, Cheap and Written That Way: Top Screenwriters on Writing for Low-Budget Movies--Hollywood's top screenwriters look back at their early low-budget efforts and provide valuable tips, tricks, and advice on how to create a solid screenplay for a low-budget movie.

Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan is among Time’s "100 Best Movies Ever", and his Roja launched A.R. Rahman. For the first time ever, Mani Ratnam opens up here, to Baradwaj Rangan, in a series of freewheeling conversations - candid, witty, pensive, and sometimes combative - and looks back at these and 19 other masterly films. With Rangan’s personal and impassioned introduction setting the Tamil and national context of the films, Conversations is a treat for serious lovers of cinema as well as the casual moviegoer looking for a peek behind the process.

One of Hollywood's biggest players for almost 50 years, Darryl F. Zanuck presided over Twentieth Century-Fox during its most glorious era. These were the studio's golden days, with stars like Marilyn Monroe and Henry Fonda, directors like John Ford and Elia Kazan, and blockbusters like All About Eve and The Grapes of Wrath.

Lessons from the Set is a comprehensive filmmaking guide that takes a cinephile’s do-it-yourself approach to low-budget indie film production and distribution. The book is peppered with filmmaking tips and tricks, as well as valuable, practical insight into the process of writing, directing, producing, and distributing commercial feature films on a low budget - whether you’re working with $1,000 or $1 million.

In the book, you'll learn everything you need to know about AFM. What badge to buy, what projects to bring, what printed materials you need, and all important etiquette tips for maximizing your success at the American film market. Producers need to understand distribution to find success, and this guide is a primer for the most reliable way American filmmakers can find traditional, non-DIY distribution.

Barry Avrich - a self-made, Montreal-born film producer-director, flamboyant advertising executive, and legendary biographer and connector of moguls and stars. For over three decades, he has relentlessly produced films on some of the most notorious show-business titans and also found the time to market and promote feature films, concerts, and the biggest shows on Broadway.

Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book FestIn 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept - a television channel focused 100 percent on just one thing: Comedy - to the chairman of HBO. The station that would soon become Comedy Central, with celebrated programs like South Park, Chapelle’s Show, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, was born.

Jean Renoir's career almost spans the history years of cinema - from the early silent movies, to the naturalism of the talkies, committed cinema, film noir, Hollywood studio productions, the Technicolor-period comedies and fast television techniques. His film The Grand Illusion remains one of the greatest movies about the effects of war.

Based on exclusive interviews with the surviving cast and crew, friends and families of the stars, and other Hollywood insiders, Killin' Generals is a riveting must-listen for film buffs, military fans, and anyone who loves a down-and-dirty adventure tale. Detailed, insightful, and gossipy, Epstein's homage spotlights the movie's endless barrage of cinematic gold.

In this fully updated second edition, award-winning film director and Slamdance Film Festival cofounder Dan Mirvish gives you soup-to-nuts, cradle-to-grave advice on every aspect of the filmmaking lifestyle and craft. He drops advice on playing the Hollywood and indie-film games, and shows you how to finance, cast, shoot and show your indie feature, documentary, episodic series, short film, student film, web video or big-budget blockbuster. Includes extensive tips on film festivals, distribution and continuing and sustaining your career.

What do you really hope for with your acting? Imagine you could learn the real pitfalls that lie ahead. More, that someone shared effective countermeasures to all the traps. Just look inside this book. Discover the 21 Darkest Secrets of the Film and Television Industry Every Actor Should Know. Protect your career by getting ready for the tough choices. But first, you need to know what those choices will be. Learn to recognize traps. Find ways around the inertia of the current system and use what's new, fresh and surprising. In addition to guiding you with effective audition and acting ...

The Directors, Take Three offers dozens of masterful insights on the craft of directing from such renowned filmmakers as Robert Altman, Wes Craven, Alan Parker, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg, and Barry Levinson. Here are details of their experiences making a variety of classic films from Nashville to Nightmare on Elm Street, Rain Man to Raging Bull, and Pee Wee's Big Adventure to Schindler's List.

10 Legal Basics for Getting a Distribution Deal describes the different provisions that are commonly included in a contract for distributing a film. It details the rights you are licensing and the obligations you have in return for what the distributor will do in releasing your film. It lists the many documents you need to supply and suggestions on what you can’t or can negotiate, such as the cost of marketing fees, the term of the agreement, and the requirement for insurance on your film.

From Drugstore Cowboy to Elephant, Milk and Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant's films have captured the imagination of more than one generation. Acclaimed as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker, he is also an artist, photographer and writer.

From the Emmy-winning writer and creator of All My Children, One Life to Live, and Loving, a memoir of her trailblazing rise to the top of the television industry, including behind-the-scenes stories from some of the most beloved soaps of all time.