Description:
Art Linson, producer of such Hollywood films as Car Wash, The Untouchables, Melvin & Howard, and This Boy's Life, among others, has written a chummy and chatty how-to "for that small and perhaps unfortunate group"--aspiring movie producers. Seduced by the glitz, glamour, and cutthroat glee that clung (and clings) to Hollywood producers, young Linson never really "got" what it was they did. In 1961, when he was getting started, a producer's role was as ill-defined as it was just this side of unseemly. Producers, begins Linson in the highly amusing, anecdotal A Pound of Flesh, were "compared to Willy Loman, not Arthur Miller." Make no mistake: Linson is lecturing to the Hollywood aspirant--not to aspiring auteurs or scrappy independent filmmakers. As such, A Pound of Flesh is a strange breed--more travelogue through Tinseltown than down-to-earth how-to. It's ripe with gossip and "aren't we wonderful?" scenes--the morphing of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas into an updated, drug-drenched version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Walking into Thompson's hotel room for the initial meeting, Linson was confronted with a smoking gun and a four-inch hole in the wall. And that's just the beginning of their "negotiations." (The film actually became Where the Buffalo Roam, starring Bill Murray.) Where the chatty, chummy Linson primer becomes useful is with behind-the-scenes examples of such "lessons" as pitching the idea; working with writers, directors, and cast members; and understanding budgets and the studio system. Where it goes soft is with such vague and hip promptings as "if you have a head filled with good ideas, an extended list of Hollywood hangouts is more beneficial than a list of agencies and production companies." So introverts beware! To succeed in Hollywood, you still need the chutzpah, the connections, and the dough. Wild exploits, turns of fate, and serendipities characterize the brazen and breezy teachings of A Pound of Flesh. What is fabulous is Linson's unbridled enthusiasm. Aspirants and movie fans alike will find this highly entertaining book a quick read, hard to put down, and irresistible. But rely on Linson as your sole Virgil through Tinseltown and your dreams of artistic success will surely falter.
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