The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches [Paperback]

Peter Lefcourt (Editor), Laura J. Shapiro (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2002

The First Time I Got Paid for It is a one-of-a-kind collection of essays by more than fifty leading film and television writers, with a foreword by screenwriting legend William Goldman. Linked by the theme of a writer's "first time"—usually the first time he got paid for his work, but sometimes veering off into other, more unconventional, "first times"—these always entertaining (and sometimes hilarious) pieces share what it takes to succeed, what it takes to write well, and other aspects of maintaining creativity and integrity while striving for a career in Hollywood. Richard LaGravanese (The Fisher King, The Horse Whisperer, Living Out Loud) confesses that his first paid writing job was crafting phone-sex scripts. Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune, Matilda) explains why, in Hollywood, an oral "yes" often turns out to be a written "no." Peter Casey writes about the unparalleled pitch meeting for the award-winning series Frasier. Virtually every big-name writer in Hollywood has contributed to this collection, making it essential research material for anyone trying to make it in the entertainment industry, and a perfect read for movie and television buffs everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This delectable collection of entertaining essays by more than 50 TV and screenwriters is a treat not only for neophytes hoping to break into the business, but also for film buffs. While most of the contributors write about their first paying job in the profession, many of the tastiest tales venture off to detail other "firsts": Chuck Lorre (Roseanne; Cybill) hilariously recalls the first time he was fired (from a Beany & Cecil revival show); Melville Shavelson recollects the first time he was sued (by former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower to stop the filming of a movie about the Ike-Kay Summersby affair); and 12-time Emmy winner Carl Reiner remembers getting $1,000 to write his first novel, Enter Laughing. Many of the short pieces create suspense by withholding the name of a long-delayed or much-rewritten project until the very end. One of the best stories illustrating Hollywood's fickle nature is Australian Jan Sardi's piece on being at the center of a fierce bidding war over Shine; it concludes with the sobering fact that, over 12 years, he's had six movies produced in Australia but none in America. Each reminiscence is only a few pages long (Michael Tolkin's biography at the end of his recollection is almost as long as his story), which keeps the pace quick and the writing lively. The sassy title, eye-catching faux noir cover art and the impressive list of contributors (Steven Bochco, Eric Bogosian, Cameron Crowe, Delia Ephron, Larry Gelbart, Lawrence Kasdan and Joan Tewkesbury are just a few listed on the back cover) make this a compelling item for film buffs.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Showbiz mavens ought to like the inside poop this gathering of script scribblers' testimonies serves up. Cop show master Steven Bochco remembers his first writing job, which involved stretching "unsold one-hour pilots and anthological [sic ] dramas into two-hour movies" for a "cigar-chomping veteran producer" who pronounced his given name "Stiff." Youth culture chronicler supreme Cameron Crowe registers his memories of discovering that his first movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, was a hit in the sticks, though it had tanked at an L.A. preview. M*A*S*H TV veterans Larry Gelbart and Alan Alda expound, though only Alda talks about the long-lasting hit series: he cites Schnitzler's La Ronde as the inspiration for the episode he wrote about a pair of long johns being passed around during the frigid Korean winter. Other contributors include Eric Bogosian, Gary David Goldberg, and Carl Reiner. Great vocational reading for scripting wanna-bes. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (February 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306810972
• ISBN-13: 978-0306810978
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was expecting, April 24, 2002

By 

anonymous-pete (los angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches (Paperback)

Maybe I missed the fine-print or something, but this book isn't what I was expecting, really, or what I was looking for. The book doesn't get three stars because it's bad -- it's not a bad book -- but because I think, well, the title is a sort of false advertising. When I picked up the book, I was expecting essays by successful writers about how they broke into the business of screenwriting ... inspirational-type stuff. Instead, what the book contains are stories about:

"The first time I ...

"... sold a tv-pilot after working for fifteen years as a staff-writer for a highly successful television show."

Or ...

"The first time I ...

"... adapted one of my highly sucessful stage plays into a screenplay."

And so on.

Many of the personal essays are interesting, some are funny, and the book is worth reading, if what you want to read are the kind of mildly amusing, sometimes hopeful essays contained in this book. If what you want is a book of essays by highly successful screenwriters about how the broke into the business, you'll find little (although some) of that here.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of laughs and a little wisdom, October 10, 2000

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Time I Got Paid For It : Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches (Hardcover)

This book is a hoot! The tone of this compilation of short essays by Hollywood writers ranges from thoughtful to irreverent to downright hilarious. The title is somewhat of a misnomer since not all chapters tell about a writer's first sale. Chuck Lorre tells of the first time he was fired from a writing job (for defending a remake of "Beany and Cecil" from the eventual creator of "Ren and Stimpy.") Carl Reiner skips telling about his extensive television and screenwriting but focuses instead on the sale of his first novel. Delia Ephron covers the sale of several books as well as how she came to be a screenwriter. Peter Casey, already a successful television writer, relates the miraculous meeting when he and his partners pitched the idea for "Frasier." While these essays provide glimpses into the Hollywood machinery and a few of its gears, facts and advice are scarce. You won't learn how to navigate the "trenches" by reading this. Instead, you'll be entertained by the irony, good humor, and storytelling presented by this large group of talented writers. Because each piece lasts for only three or four pages, you can dip into this book for a few minutes at a time and read passages out of order. Don't skip any, though, because you might miss a gem.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring in an offbeat way ..., February 21, 2002

By 

M. Yung "mooshmeesh" (Santa Monica, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches (Paperback)

For anyone who's ever wanted to get paid for it, you ought to read this book. Especially wonderful for those who follow the Who's Who of Hollywood writers, and how they struggled. The foreword by William Goldman is especially charming as is the closing anecdote by Steve Zaillian, which I found touching. Audrey Wells' tale is flippant and funny as is Pamela Gray's.