Customer Reviews

SCRIPT: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE HOLLYWOOD JUNGLE

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I found this book to be very encouraging for a new screen writer like myself. I like the part where the author says there are no failures in Hollywood for writers, but they just give up. This is a great resource book that has the "whose who" of places a screen writer can get recognition. It isn't an instructional book on how to write screenplays, but where to promote one's script once it is completed and ready to sell or compete in a screenplay contest. The author also tells what kind of scripts make it to the box office and what's the kind of audience that producers want to see the scripts attract for a writer needs to know what kind of scripts sell and what doesn't. This book gives direction on where to take one's script.

I like this author's writing style. The book is easy to read, straight forward and no non-sense. It just explains what you need to know in a light effortless way. Essential reading for the aspiring screenwriter.

Disclosure: I'm an outsider to Hollywood, though I have spent a few years researching intellectual property, collaborative entertainment, and transmedia storytelling. Seasoned vets may disagree with my view, but I suspect that even they would learn a thing or two from this book.

I found this to be a fast but informative read that succinctly explains so many areas of Hollywood and how they relate to each other. It's a pretty aptly named book.

I recently read Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat!" Snyder's book is often referenced and recommended (with good reason), but it focuses primarily on job #1: how to write a great screenplay.

Certainly, writing a great screenplay is key to breaking into the business, but it's far from the only one (and it's certainly not a guarantee for success).

Marx provides an amazing amount of information about all the remaining items you need to address if you manage to complete job #1, as well as references to get you started:

- the market externalities that may still result in a rejection of a great screenplay
- a detailed understanding of just what happens to your screenplay once you manage to submit it
- several links and resources to the organizations orbiting around the studios/networks (think unions, guilds, writers groups, agencies, etc.) and how they all work together
- quick historical overviews that give readers a larger context of understanding ('why does the movie industry function the way it does?') without becoming yawn-inducing
- an appendix that summarizes topics like copyright in a practical, just-what-you-need-to-know format.

I also preferred Marx's more pragmatic, direct writing (Snyder's overly casual tone grew annoying after a while).

Two small notes:

1) The section on RPGs/gaming is shoehorned into Chapter 9 ("Feature Animation"). It feels rushed, its content is overly focused on a single source/reference, and it doesn't seem to fit with animation. I do have decades of RPG experience, so I feel more qualified to comment here. Nothing felt outright inaccurate or misleading here, but I felt it omitted some larger developments in this area. This topic either deserved its own chapter (given the number of movie tie-in video titles being produced, the increasing number of writers being hired by game developers, the rise of transmedia, etc.), or it should have been shortened.

2) While there's a section on RPGs/gaming, there's no equivalent coverage for comics/graphic novels (curiously, Marx even mentions them as one of many sources of green-lit movies). Not a fatal omission, to be sure, but I would love to know how Marx views the increasingly close relationship between comic creators and studios in relation to writers (e.g., do the numbers support writing a comic as a worthwhile alternative to spec scripts?).


IN SHORT: Writers aren't the only ones who will benefit from reading this book. It's a great overview of the incredibly opaque, sometimes mysterious, and often confusing world of Hollywood for anyone just getting into the industry (or even thinking of doing so).

And kudos for having a Kindle version (no better way to keep this resource at your digital fingertips!).

I read this book out of support for the author - not the subject matter. I'm into sales not Hollywood scripts but i was captivated by the sheer amount of information and held there by the writing itself, especially the formatting. A practical guide for anybody reaching lofty goals like getting noticed in that wild environment. I highly recommend it whether you're a hopeful screenwriter or not.

JC.

An honest insiders look at how Hollywood films get made, with step by step explanations of what goes on behind the scenes. This is an absolute requirement for every writer who hopes to get their foot in the door with an original screenplay.The book explains in simple, elegant language the Hollywood Jungle with some funny antedotes and history as well. Only someone actually in the field would know the way it's done, and this author was obviously on the front lines. As a documentary producer, I have read countless books on the art of film making, but to get the practical step by step instructions on what to actually DO with your project is priceless. Why spend years trying to re invent the wheel when its all laid out for you? I would recommend it to every film school student with their eye on getting their script in the door. I only hope there will be a sequel with more information on documentary distribution.