You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot [Hardcover]

Mike Medavoy (Author), Josh Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 2002

The legendary studiohead with seven Best Picture Oscars under his belt takes us behind Hollywood's velvet rope with an authoritative, inside history of the movie industry from the 1960s on. Name any one of the most highly regarded films of the last four decades and chances are better than good that it's got producer Mike Medavoy's prints somewhere on it: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Amadeus; The Silence of the Lambs; Apocalypse Now; Philadelphia; Rocky, the list is endless. Born in Shanghai and raised in Chile, Medavoy has taken the hard road to the highest echelons of Hollywood power, rising from the mailroom, never losing sight of his convictions, and staying true to the art of making movies. YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR NEXT ONE explores in detail what Medavoy calls a terrifying business for the faint of heart.' He traces how the making and marketing of movies has changed now that the Hollywood studios have become divisions of large corporations. Recalling his many successes (and claiming just as many failures), Medavoy takes the reader into the eye of Hollywood's biggest storms: the madness on the set of Apocalypse Now; the political fallout of Mississippi Burning and The People vs. Larry Flynt; and the Woody Allen scandal that rocked Husbands and Wives, plus close encounters with colleagues like Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Dustin Hoffman, and Steven Spielberg. It's a look at the last forty years in a business that is everybody's second business.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Studio mogul Medavoy and journalist Young worked for two years on this hefty Hollywood history. Documenting decades of filmmaking with authoritative ease, Medavoy's memoir mainly focuses on ad campaigns, big budgets, box-office battles, executive egos, movie marketing and the politics of deal-making. Slipping in only four paragraphs about his childhood in Shanghai and Chile, his UCLA education and his family history, Medavoy instead tells of his career's early years, starting in the Universal mailroom, then moving into casting. Rising as a top agent, he packaged such films as The Getaway and Jaws, and his client list included Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and Jane Fonda. "I had two requirements for my clients," he writes, "that they be talented and that they be passionate about their work." Medavoy moved into production by joining United Artists in 1974, and his insider anecdotes of those productions (Rocky, Apocalypse Now, Coming Home and New York, New York) are revelatory. Cofounding Orion in 1978, he worked with leading talents like Woody Allen and oversaw top-grossing films (e.g., The Silence of the Lambs and Dances with Wolves). In 1990 he became chairman of Tri-Star, a stint that was followed by more successes in the mid-1990s with Phoenix Pictures. Other chapters detail his efforts to garner Hollywood support during Gary Hart's and Bill Clinton's presidential campaigns. Medavoy maps some of the same territory readers know from Robert Evans's The Kid Stays in the Picture and Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, yet the writing lacks the electricity and humor found in those titles. This is a solid memoir, yet some may wish Medavoy had covered certain films in depth instead of compressing 40 years to fit into one book. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb. 15)Forecast: Anyone interested in the marketing of motion pictures will seek this book out.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In a refreshing departure from the typical gossipy Hollywood behind-the-scenes memoir, producer/executive Medavoy (chair, TriStar Pictures and Phoenix Pictures; cofounder, Orion Pictures) focuses on the complex business deals, negotiations with distributors, and political exigencies necessary to make a successful motion picture coalesce. This could be a boring lesson in corporate machinations, but Medavoy is an engaging storyteller as he traces his rise to fame and fortune from his humble beginnings working in the mailroom at Universal Studios to making such landmark films as Philadelphia and Apocalypse Now. The dynamics of power brokership in Hollywood, the prime importance of the distribution network, and the battles for controlling rights are among the topics explored in the jaunty, entertaining narrative. There are some shopworn themes fame is fleeting, actors are prima donnas, and films can have a great social impact but this book nevertheless offers an engrossing exploration of what really makes Hollywood tick. Highly recommended for academic libraries and all cinema collections. Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (January 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743400542
• ISBN-13: 978-0743400541
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great history of the movies from the 70s till now, February 26, 2002

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R. Spell "raspell" (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (Hardcover)

If you like movies over the past 30 years, you'll love this book. It's well written by an intelligent man who saw the industry from a perspective few do, as studio head. The man that writes the checks. Medavoy is pretty blunt about how movies get made and how he managed to make bad movies as well as good.

The highlight of the book comes early as he is in charge of production at UA and produces Best Oscar movies repeatedly in his first few years starting with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Rocky. UA specialized in making artist's driven movies which shaped Medavoy's footprint to stay away from youthful, tentpole event movies throughout his career. From Rocky to The Terminator to Silence of the Lambs you will be amazed at the stars and movies that Medavoy worked with. To further this study of movie history, after UA Medavoy worked at Tri-star pictures shortly after it was purchased by Sony working with Peter Guber and Jon Peters. This first-hand account of the Japanese invasion in Hollywood is interesting in and of itself.

Medavoy does a great job of focusing this book on the movies, the personalities involved, and the business side of the industry. He does not burden the reader with unwanted history of his childhood. But he does give great insight into the cultural influences of his job, the intellectual environment he functioned in, and his political involvement with Gary Hart and Bill Clinton. I strongly recommend this book if you like movies, stories of the business side of making movies, or American cultural influences of the last 30 years.

While on vacation a year ago, I played tennis for a couple of days with Medavoy and his business associate Arnie Weems. In my brief encounter with him, it's obvious he is an extremely intelligent man. A somewhat reserved man, who showed no real interest in intellectual discussion but only in relaxing and enjoying his tennis. His associate who was mentioned in the book was much more outgoing and friendly. I believe Medavoy's reserved nature is due to the many people who want to know him to somehow break into the movie business so his reserved nature is understandable.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the insider, January 25, 2002

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C. Holly (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (Hardcover)

My friend gave me a copy of this and I couldn't put it down. Medavoy gives a killer insider's view of what it is really like to run a film studio. If you want to know what really went on behind great films like Silence of the Lambs and Rocky, Medavoy tells you. There are great stories about Robert Redford and Kevin Costner, but the funniest is about Madonna trying to get her first movie. Recommended for people who want to know more about the behind the scenes of movies in the 70's, 80's and 90's.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Take on the Film Industry - 1970's and Beyond, February 22, 2002

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Joe Bruin'79 (Walnut Creek, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot (Hardcover)

A fascinating take on the film industry from both an agent's/producer's point of view. A number of the films he's had a direct handle in are amongst my all time favorite list and it's interesting to read backstage stories about the process, how these films came to be and how sometimes it's merely the luck of the draw.

Kudos to Mr. Michael Medavoy for an extremely well written book as well as a long and distinguished career.

His book is enjoyable from start to finish.