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The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players
 
 
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The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players [Paperback]

Hillary Stamm (Author), Peter Nowalk (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 7, 2008
Are you young, eager, smart, and heading off to LA to make it big in the entertainment business? Time for a reality check: Leave your diploma at home, put your grandiose dreams on hold (where hopefully they'll get tired and hang up), and start by repeating the first rule of the industry: Who you work for is more important than who you are. Then leapfrog over everyone else by reading The Hollywood Assistants Handbook.

Written by two very sharp and successful assistants to HPPs (Hollywood Power Players), here are 86 lessons packed with a combination of blunt truth, insider humor, and juicy secrets that explain the unwritten rules of how to get a foot in the door and make all the right moves as you climb to the top. Here are the minimum-wage jobs that will put you in the path of HPPs. An annotated resume roundup. The clubs to frequent and the cocktails to order. Movies to watch and books to read (it's called homework). Dressing do's and don'ts. How to get on the Free List. A lineup of boss genres—the Horror Show, the Romantic Comedy, Mr. Action—and how to dodge the tirades that will soon be hurled your way, along with the proper outlets for venting. Plus, the ins and outs of your most important tool, the telephone—when to listen in (always!), who to put through and who to put off, and your new best friend forever, the Plantronics CS70 cordless headset.

With its hilariously snarky tone—the gate-keeping quiz is "How to Tell if You're a Moron Who Should Pack Up the Corolla and Move Back Home"—The Hollywood Assistants Handbook is as baldly entertaining for everyone who loves reading about Hollywood as it is indispensably practical for the job-seeker.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"As a former assistant myself, I know well the dirty little secret of Hollywood ... all knowledge resides with the Hollywood Power Player's assistants; they are the ones who know how to get things done. The only danger in reading this book is that if you become too good an assistant, your boss will never let you go on to bigger and better things. Read this book—it will tell you what to do!"
—Laura Ziskin, producer, Spiderman 1, 2, and 3

From the Back Cover

It's the assistant, and here at last is the essential book for how to get a foot in the door and begin your exhilarating climb to Hollywood Power Player. The Hollywood Assistants Handbook is the ultimate insider's guide, packed with practical tips, unwritten rules (#37: Please don't touch the celebrities), quizzes, industry secrets, humor and advice ("Giveaways are never given. They're traded. Most likely for your soul…") All of it priceless knowledge for anyone who's ever dreamed of making it in la-la land.
Been there, done that, kept notes:
• Minimum-wage workplaces to put you in the path of HPPs
• Perfect that resume
• Homework: the must-see movies, the must-read books
• What to wear to your first interview
• Boss genres and personality types
• The 18 favorite insults
• How to roll calls
• Swag!
• To gift or not to gift: the holiday dilemma
• Why there is nothing better than interns
• The 20-10-10 trick to reading a screenplay
• Your very own entourage
• Appropriate company party behavior
• Fail up
• Knowing when to quit
• Rolodex management

Product Details

  • Paperback: 200 pages
  • Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; annotated edition edition (May 7, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0761147462
  • ISBN-13: 978-0761147466
  • Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
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4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Good for an agent desk, July 31, 2011
By 
Emily Cook (Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As a production assistant, I found some of the material useful. I think it's more for a development office or an agent's desk.
It's a good book to help people decide if they really want to enter the entertainment industry.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift, May 5, 2008
By 
This review is from: The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players (Paperback)
Manages to strike the balance of fun and informative that makes it a great gift for a college grad pondering a career in the entertainment biz.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars HOLLYWOOD WORKPLACE REVEALED FINALLY, July 4, 2008
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This review is from: The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players (Paperback)
I found the information to be very helpful in understanding the worlds of working in the entertainment industry. Having insider information on the Hollywood industry should provide guidance for people deciding if this is the work career place they want. I got the book out of curiosity about the industry that provides the public with amusement products. The information is well arranged and easy to understand. The publication does not hold back from warnings about making mistaken moves while working in Hollywood.
It comes across as a very useful workplace guide.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
phone sheet, assistant gig, tracking boards, dirty truth, fellow assistants
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Beverly Hills, Four Seasons, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, William Morris, The Grill, Santa Monica, Job List, New York, Barney Greengrass, Big Mac, Ari Gold, Dan Tana, Canyon Lie, Jerry Bruckheimer, The Grove, David Fincher, Drama Queen, Harry Potter, Wilshire Blvd, West Hollywood, Wish List, Jodie Foster, Coffee Bean
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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