Customer Reviews

Directing Your Directing Career, Support Book & Agent Guide for Directors: Second Edition

5 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, if you are an independent filmmaker you will want to steer clear of this brutal attack on your psyche. On the other hand, if you're young, have parents that can support you through the much coveted internships this book recommends, and the Hollywood system is your dream home, then you might want to give this a once over.

But be warned. By page 100 you'll want to throw your wrist on the kitchen table and open a vein. The author takes great care in taking excerpts from interviews with directors and applying the most negative and unispirational examples possible. Her basic message is "You're a loser and you'll always be a loser unless you take a vow of poverty and say just the right thing to just the right person at just the right time". What a load of hooey!

If I had known the author isn't even a director I may have reconsidered my purchase. I'm not a whiner by nature nor do I need to be handled with kid gloves. The book does contain some helpful information, but the delivery of this info is so sadistic that I finally put it down at page 134. Maybe actresses should stick to writing books on acting.

Having recently graduated from one of those big film schools, I struggle with my pride as I fetch coffee and bagels in the real world of filmmaking. This book reaffirms (in a comforting way) that yes, I have chosen a difficult career for myself, and yes, I will be faced with attacks upon my ego. It adresses what the recent grad, Production Assistant, film set gofer is going through. But then it moves on, says with little hesitation that one must persevere, and starts getting into the stuff needed to make it in this town. Getting an agent. Gaining exposure. Festivals. Building a reel. What to do with connections. With real world advice from "working" directors and agents on almost every page of this volume, it is a fast read that welcomes multiple reads. Even includes an agent list complete with honest remarks from the editor, as well as info on festivals. A must to the aspiring independant filmmaker AND/OR those interested in breaking into the Hollywood system. Inspiring AND honest.

The book is mostly just a collection of quotations from professionals in the entertainment business. The quotes and copy are hacked together in an amateurish fashion reminiscent of a bad high school term paper.

If you're interested in the subject and have read a couple of books on "breaking in" to the business in Hollywood, Directing Your Directing Career will offer very little new insight. If you're interested in the subject and HAVEN'T read any books on it, Hollywood 101 is the best of the genre. Skip this one.

You can glean some good tips from the quotations, though, and sometimes they are mildly entertaining. Two stars for the work involved in all of the interviews.