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Rating: 
Summary: One way to fish through the crowd
Review:
As a beginning screenwriter I know the competition is fierce especially for those like me without film school, living outside of Hollywood. That's why I bought Breakfast with Sharks. There isn't a screenwriting resource out there like it. Sure, I've bought a few screenwriting books but most of them say the same things, how to write a screenplay and a query letter. This book delves into the business of screenwriting, if you don't have a father in the business you will need to learn the business and Breakfast with Sharks is a way to do it. I found the book also enjoyable to read with personal stories of Hollywood misfortune and finally success. Breakfast with Sharks rises above the competition with a unique purpose and helps you to write above the competition with what many others forget to bring to Hollywood, a plan and a unique voice.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST
Review: As a writer on the edge - no, not that edge, but the edge of selling his first spec script I have to say this is far and away the BEST book on working Hollywood that I have ever read! It is excellent in its execution. Michael Lent covers issues that most authors at best touch on. He tells you the WHY of things. He covers issues such as agents and managers that aren't working for you - why it's likely happening and what you can do about it.
In my mind this is really the first and last book you'll need to read. Of course there will be other books and articles that can give you other tidbits of information but this is really a FOUNDATIONAL book. From Lent's book you can go forward with your career and not NEED to read anything further in the realm of HOW TO.
My hat is off to Lent and the great service he has done for all of us trying to storm the gates of Hollywood!
Rating:
Summary: The Universe is Complete
Review: Finally, a book that complements the hundreds of screenwriting how-to-books with practical knowledge of the "biz" that film school professors don't have and professionals don't want to share.
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Summary: THE REAL DEAL
Review: How many screenwriting books have a foreword by a studio chief like Mike Medavoy who has over 300 films and a bunch of Oscars under his belt? I don't know of any others. And I notice that veteran producer Linda Obst has this book listed on her website. Those are people from the other side of the Hollywood desk and that tells you a lot. The book is long on Here's How to Do It ... and short on pie-in-the-sky theory. If you're a writer starting to get your career going the book is kind of a well-organized reference source of strategies for many situations you're likely to encounter in Hollywood. Lent is a magazine columnist, too. His breezy, sometimes mischievous style comes through on the page. He's realistic about the difficulty of the movie business but still manages to give you hope. It's a good read that you can digest in a couple of nights but the substance sticks with you.
Rating:
Summary: Practicle Advice
Review: I'm on my third reading of Michael Lent's "Breakfast with Sharks" (2-7-05), and I highly this book to any screenwriter making serious go of trying to sell his/her work.
Micheal Lent doesn't make things up. His book is filled with real life "lived" experiences.
This book is a godsend if you've a written a screenplay and have started your foray into the next scary step-selling!! "Breakfast with Sharks" will help you disciminate information and buzzwords used at screenwrinting seminars and help decode the Hollywood Creative Directory.
My favorite section in the entire book is "Studio Notes: What They Are and How to Handle Them".
Overall a great book, insprationaly it ranks right up there with Karl Iglesias' "The 101 Habits of Hightly Successful Screenwriters".
- Review given by Eric C.Henrikson Febuary 7, 2005
Rating:
Summary: Every Serious Screenwriter Needs This Book!
Review: I've been a fan of Michael Lent's column in CREATIVE SCREENWRITING magazine for years. Now he's distilled his experiences into a book like no other. Learn to write elsewhere -- learn to live and manage your screenwriting career right here.What's the difference between an agent and a manager? How can you turn a spec script into a writing assignment? Why do 90 percent of all scripts fail to get a "Pass" grade from readers? What's the best LA map to have in your car? This book answers questions about being a screenwriter that other books don't even ask. Highly recommended. And I hope Three Rivers Press plans to publish updated editions.
Rating:
Summary: A guide to the profession of screenwriting
Review: Lent's book divulges the nuts and bolts of the screenwriting profession, delineating the norms of the business and where writers are commonly led astray.
He covers everything from the types of deals and agreements are offered to screenwriters, the very VERY important pitch (which is horribly covered by other books) to the players and their functions (thankfully not a regurgitation of common stereotypes of producers and development execs... but something that a writer can use in developing a working relationship). He covers new territory by adding a guide to the often over looked supporters of the writer (wives, husbands, etc.) and how they should deal with the work and lifestyle.
I've read too many books on the business of screenwriting to count. They're either too thin on topics that matter, too heavy on stuff that is ultimately only a piece of the larger puzzle, or they simply put a new glossy cover on the same old crap. This is the only book I've read that covers, from stem to stern, a concerted overview of professional screenwriting and it's facets.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Screenwriters
Review: Simply the best book out there on the business of screenwriting. As a screenwriter still looking to get "over the wall" I abide by the rule: read everything. And I have. Not every book out there will appeal to you based on your needs and experience level, however, "Breakfast With Sharks" is one of the few books that acts as an excellent resource for both beginners and those who know the industry. Michael Lent has systematically thought through just about every conceivable issue screenwriters face in Hollywood and presents his take on the "biz" in an articulate and readable manner. This is about the business, not the craft, of screenwriting, and it fills a need for not only a book of this nature but of this level of quality and usefulness.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Screenwriters
Review: Simply the best book out there on the business of screenwriting. As a screenwriter still looking to get "over the wall" I abide by the rule: read everything. And I have. Not every book out there will appeal to you based on your needs and experience level, however, "Breakfast With Sharks" is one of the few books that acts as an excellent resource for both beginners and those who know the industry. Michael Lent has systematically thought through just about every conceivable issue screenwriters face in Hollywood and presents his take on the "biz" in an articulate and readable manner. This is about the business, not the craft, of screenwriting, and it fills a need for not only a book of this nature but of this level of quality and usefulness.
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