Customer Reviews

Shoot Out: Surviving the Fame and (Mis) Fortune of Hollywood

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had a chance to hear Bart and Guber speak at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair about this book and to meet them at the book signing afterward. My initial interest was in trying to find out if the stories you hear about guys like this are true. Was Guber really the type of person depicted in Kim Masterss book "Hit and Run"? Was Bart really the most hated man in Hollywood as a recent Los Angeles Magazine article suggested. Was Shoot Out (a loaded title if I ever heard one) the chance for these two guys to launch a full scale assault against their numerous critics? If that's what anyone is expecting (I know I was) you might be a bit disappointed. But it's not all bad.

This book is an interesting guidebook through the process of making movies from A to Z and I have to admit that it was a pretty enjoyable read. These guys have been in the entertainment business a long time and clearly know a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to making movies. I found many of the stories and anecdotes amusing and relevant not only to "the industry" (in which I toil away at a menial production job currently) but relevant to many business practices in general.

In a way, I respect them for not pandering to the lowest common denominator and writing a Lynda Obst or Mike Medavoy style tell all (in case you haven't noticed I read way to many of these types of books). Shoot Out is not a great book, but for anyone who wants to learn about the true inner workings of Hollywood from two guys who've held a bunch of high level jobs, it is well worth your time...

Different genre, but this book has a promotional effort on the web that is as significant to the book world as the Blair Witch site was to the movie world. Bravo to the authors and the publishing company for taking the lessons taught in the book and making them accesssible on a completely different scale even if you only have a 56k modem...

A terrific must-read for anyone pursuing a career in film or just the civilian Hollywood enthusiast. This book mergers a nuts-and-bolts broad view of how tinseltown operates with two film titans' war stories. Just don't forget that this is anything but impartial, with Guber's personal stories highlighting his victories and skipping over his failures. Bart comes off as having less to gain than his self-championing co-author, who can't help but toot his own horn at every turn. The narcissism notwithstanding, a quick, informative read.

This book is unique in that it tries to tell the "behind the scenes" true war stories inside the context of a "road map to Hollywood deal making". I prefer the war stories but this book does a very good job in it's "how to" section being very careful to not let the reader get bored.

Peter Bart, who appears to do 80% of the writing, does an excellent job describing what is involved in doing a deal. It lets a nonindustry person realize why some movies are made that turn out to be bad movies. The bottom line is there is a process, a "Hollywood dance" so to speak, that is how deals progress. Many outsiders have talked about changing Hollywood to a more standard business environment. It will never happen. Too much history to change and frankly, with the creative people involved, they probably couldn't work in that environment. Disney has tried to shift the process with some success but the negative press does keep some creative people from working with them.

Peter Bart provides many war stories from the 1970s with Guber has more current stories given his success as a producer. I expected this book to be similar to Mike Medavoy's biography of his movie career. It wasn't. But it was still very good and would recommend it.

As a fervent admirer of Peter Bart's previous books, The Gross and Who Killed Hollywood, I was extremely disappointed with this one. I feel he sold out by flacking for Peter Guber, whose exploits were richly detailed in the book "Hit and Run". There's really nothing new in here, and you'd be well advised to avoid it.

I'm a big fan of Peter Bart's books and column in Variety, and Peter Guber certainly has a load of top-tier credentials. I'd really hoped for an insightful commentary on the current state of the movie business - but this isn't it. "Shoot Out" reads like a dozen other entry-level memoirs by bigtime moguls. There's nary an original comment, and (as other reviewers here have noted) too many war stories. "Final Cut" by Steven Bach gives you the story on "Heaven's Gate" far better than Guber and Bart (and they acknowledge as much); Sidney Lumet's book on making movies gives you a far better insight into the director's world and - above all - Frank Rose's magisterial "The Agency: William Morris and the Hidden History of Hollywood" tells the story of the rise of the agencies in far greater detail, with much more insight than do Guber and Bart.

I really had high hopes for this one, but it was a waste of time. Rose's book - and, of course, "Adventures in the Screen Trade" by William Goldman (again, acknowledged repeatedly by Guber and Bart) are essential reading. This sure isn't.

An intriguing book but one that is in definite need of a date checker. You would think that Peter Guber would know what year Midnight Express (his own production) won the Golden Globe (1978, not 1974). The ten other errors regarding release dates, etc. do not lessen the educational value, but do lend a careless feel to the read.

Shoot Out, although entertaining in it's own right, is not what it represents itself to be. It presents no insight or strategy about how to get a film made. The authors simply recount amusing stories drawn from their own experiences. If you're just looking for entertainment, this might fit the bill. However, if you're an aspiring filmmaker looking for an insider's view of how to deal with the movie making process and the various egos involved, then steer clear.

Guber if FUNNY! Liked it. Another great book is "hollywood dealmaking" by Dina Appleton. Check it out too!

I was looking for a book that explained exactly how a movie gets made. This book was mostly full of blather with some inside stories about movies the principals were involved with. Not worth the time.