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The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up (Paperback)

~ (Author) "LOU WEISS: My recollection of all this is unfortunately perfect..." (more)
Key Phrases: mailroom guy, lit agent, motion picture department, William Morris, New York, Los Angeles (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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  • This item: The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up by David Rensin

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rensin (coauthor, Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man) captures the ambition, manipulative plotting and hustler mentality of a few Hollywood mailroom employees in this series of raunchy, realistic interviews with some top agents who started out in the mailroom. As with any entry-level gig, "the hours are long, the pay... abysmal." Star mailroom grads from the William Morris Agency, Creative Artists Agency, ICM and others voice conflicting views, making Rensin's book an uncompromisingly truthful tell-all of what it takes to make it in the movie biz. William Morris's Norman Brokaw recalls, "I made it a point to develop relationships early on," while Bernie Brillstein's a bit more blunt: "I kissed ass." Most of the agents admit opening up private correspondence and packages, insisting, "everybody did it." Rensin also exposes affairs with secretaries to learn company secrets, fights over use of phones that led to wrestling matches, and homophobia. Sam Haskell, William Morris's worldwide head of television, offers a different take: "Your primary power is your character and your integrity." Rensin furnishes fresh anecdotes about an embarrassed novice who didn't recognize Judy Garland, or another who believed in Marilyn Monroe despite a casting specialist calling her "just another blonde." Clashing views of Mike Ovitz, from "a superb leader" to someone who preferred "style over content" and to whom "appearances were everything," help explain Ovitz's meteoric rise and massive collapse. Most notably, Rensin shows that the road from mailroom to mogul is a rough one. The stories are amusing, intriguing and sometimes horrifying, but Rensin, to his credit, never dilutes sordid details.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Booklist

Rensin's upward-mobility saga suggests that aspiring Hollywood conquistadors should start in the mailroom of a talent agency instead of hanging around soda fountains in tight sweaters, waiting to be discovered, or essaying other such fabled, fame-and-fortune-seeking ploys. Focusing on the cesspools of power behind the stars--the William Morris Agency, Creative Artists Agency, and lesser stokers of the dream machine--Rensin outlines the path to real power in filmdom by relaying the personal stories and reminiscences of the back-channel operatives who wield it. He reveals no shortages of backbiting, antisocial behavior, and power politics in the mailroom, though the place lacks the glamour usually gleaned to gild such showbiz exposes. Do readers dig the dirt on the David Geffens and Barry Dillers of the world as much as that on the Winona Ryders and Mickey Rourkes? Well, if they're money minded, they ought to. The goods Rensin's got on the likes of Michael Ovitz makes his ilk as exciting as the stars an Ovitz lucratively manipulates. 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: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 3, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345442350
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345442352
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,413 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #22 in  Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Performing Arts
    #100 in  Books > Entertainment > Movies > Direction & Production

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David Rensin
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
LOU WEISS: My recollection of all this is unfortunately perfect. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mailroom guy, lit agent, motion picture department, phone sheet, talent department, mail cart, junior agent
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
William Morris, New York, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Abe Lastfogel, Mike Ovitz, Ray Kurtzman, Nat Lefkowitz, Jeremy Zimmer, Ron Meyer, David Geffen, Phil Weltman, Kathy Krugel, Literary Department, Norman Brokaw, Bernie Brillstein, Jeff Berg, Barry Diller, Lou Weiss, Mike Rosenfeld, Ron Mardigian, Stan Kamen, Tom Strickler, Jack Rapke, Jim Wiatt
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4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Read this book before heading to Hollywood, April 29, 2006
I'm a former talent agency trainee. I worked at one of the majors. This book tells it like it is, and I wish this book was published before my talent agency stint. If you have ever seen the show "Survivor", you can get an idea of what it's like to climb the agency, or Hollywood ladder. There are very few spots, and there many people clambering for those spots. And those people who want it the most will do whatever it takes. It's very cutthroat. An agency with 100 agents, has 100 assistants, all of whom want to be agents. Maybe 10 of them will make it. Family members of Hollywood VIP's most probably WILL get promoted to agents (but after that it's still sink or swim..you'll read the story of Peter Guber's daughter in this book...she sunk). Same goes for Harvard grads...deep Harvard connections in Hollywood. Many trainees quit. The attrition rate is huge. It's a crazy business, and nearly impossible to have a balanced life as a trainee (or agent, or for anyone else in Hollywood). It's no walk in the park for new agents either. They start with a tiny salary (although more than a trainee)and must perform or they're out.

Before going to Hollywood, be real with yourself and determine if you're cut out for it. This book gives you a good glimpse into those who make it. Unless you are highly extroverted, and an extremely high energy person, than don't choose this career. If you are a person who needs downtime to collect their thoughts, than don't choose this career. If you are a person who needs their 8 hours of sleep a night, than don't choose this career (you may never sleep again!). If you aren't a highly social person, than don't choose this career (i.e. does your phone ring off the hook in your personal life?). Are you politically savvy, or do you put your foot in your mouth? Can you handle egomanic clients? (and agents). Can you handle being screamed at on a regular basis? Can you handle the pressure of doing more work in one day than most people accomplish in two weeks, including juggling several hundred phone calls? I'm convinced that those agents that make it to the top, are people who'd make a fortune in any business. They're natural salesmen, born with charisma; have endless energy, and can win people over with a glance.

Also, determine if your morals/values are congruent with Hollywood. You might have to do some nasty things to people on your way up the ladder to success. In Hollywood, nastiness is embraced, not frowned upon. In Hollywood, real world morals and values are turned upside down. Believe it or not, many people in Hollywood are so egomanical that they consider people who don't work in Hollywood to be, "losers", or "the little people" (unless you're an internet billionaire or the equivilent). They believe they are the chosen ones. Even if you made a couple mil a year manufacturing cardboard boxes, they'd turn their nose up at you. It's a very snobby club.

Does all this bring people happiness? For some I guess. It seemed to me that many agents were very unhappy and perpetually stressed out.

Although my experience was interesting, had I realistically assessed my personality, which I would have, had I read this book, I would never have set foot in Los Angeles. Other than that, this book is a very entertaining read on the ins and outs of a ruthless business.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, informative anecdotes of the low rung on the ladder, March 28, 2003
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This review is from: The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up (Hardcover)
I love entertainment business books and this one does not disappoint. Unless you're in the biz, which I'm not, almost all of the names will be unfamiliar. This book has no story. It's a known fact that a way into the entertainment industry is to work in an agency's mailroom, eat sh*t, and hope for your break. This book is a series of interviews with the former mailroom attendees on the good, the bad, and the mental make-up of the wannabes struggling to get out of "mailroom jail". It's funny, informative, and one of those books you can't put down.

Many industries have a proving ground. In investment banking we put them on as a trading or sales assistant hoping they will pick up the lingo and learn on the fly. But the agency mailroom seems to be about feeding egos of senior agent's with much more screaming, yelling and attention paid to personal chores. They do mention many of the nice agents as well as the agents who were best at teaching the mailroom guys. My favorite stories are about CAA because it is next door to my favorite hotel the Peninsula and because of the Mike Ovitz aura. Mike doesn't come off particularly well in the book but partner Ron Meyer does come off as a particularly sharp and nice guy.

The positives and negatives of the mailroom run from taking your bosses stool sample in the doctor to having nude actresses answer the door. I also enjoyed the stories of the CAA mailroom which had a particularly high level of paranoia. I had met media mogul and former agent, Mike Medavoy so it was interesting seeing his son's quotes who was eventually fired due to information leaked to his father.

If you have any interest in the business side of Hollywood, you'll like this book. Other books of interest would be "Wannabe" about an MBA's attempt to succeed at the low levels of Hollywood, and Lynda Obst's book "Hello, He Lied" about her journey from journalist to producer.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars FAST, FUNNY, OUTRAGEOUS MUST-READ, February 5, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up (Hardcover)
I haven't even finished reading this book and already I love it. I know Hollywood isn't like any place else in America, and this just makes what it's like to start at the bottom in Tinseltown all the more fascinating. At the same time, these kids who went through the mailroom share much with all of us. Everyone has to start somewhere, and in the end the experience isn't all that different.
You won't believe some of the crazy stuff these kids had to endure and survive while learning how to play the game. I love the story about delivering the, uh, stool sample. And the one about how David Geffen kept from getting fired by faking a letter from UCLA saying he graduated. And the ones about hoping to deliver stuff to pretty young actresses, or crashing the company cars out of total frustration. It's endless. And mind-boggling. And really frank. A history of Hollywood also comes through. In the beginning, behind-the-scenes people got into show biz for the glamour, to rub elbows with the stars and be dazzled; then it became about the power and money and business. Or maybe it was always like that, only the perks became accessible to more than just the top layer, which is why Harvard law grads and Wharton MBAs began to forgo huge corporate salaries to push a mail cart for $400 a week -- or less. The Mailroom paints a stunning picture of ambition -- with lots of humor and humanity -- and best of all, the author just lets the people speak for themselves in this oral history. It's truly a book that shows instead of tells.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars good book
It's a good book for whoever wants to work in entertainment world. You will find the key to success is always your desire and efforts to make it.
Published 9 months ago by Teng Zhang

3.0 out of 5 stars This is why books need editors
The book is a collection of anecdotes, a collection that is far larger than it needs to be. The author seems desperate to show us how comprehensive he can be, putting in... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Eric A. Reitman

4.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood History from the Bottom Up
You don't get what you deserve in life, you get what you negotiate.

This is the first quote in the book and I cannot tell you how many times I have used this in the... Read more
Published on January 6, 2005 by E. M. Dawson

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Amazing Real Stories of working for the Agents
I listened to the book on tape of The Mailrooom. Different mailroom employees from different Hollywood & New York Agencies give their stories of what it was like to work in the... Read more
Published on August 1, 2004 by Donna G. Grayson

5.0 out of 5 stars I'd rate this one 15 stars if I could!
If you have an interest in the entertainment industry, this is an absorbing must-read, absolutely fascinating from cover to cover, the kind you don't want to put down. Read more
Published on November 9, 2003 by E. Schultz

1.0 out of 5 stars SO?????????
A Studs Terkel-like verbal history of the role of the talent agency in Hollywood; with a particular focus on the Mailroom where the movers and shakers get their start. Read more
Published on July 3, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up
Anyone that wants to be in the agent or management business should read this book. David Rensin provides a compulation of agents starting from the ground up (in the... Read more
Published on April 19, 2003 by modelsnet

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious. Brutal. True.
After suffering through an agency mailroom through to promotion I can vouch for the veracity of this book. Read more
Published on March 13, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wild Ride from Start to Finish!
Pick up the book and open to any page, this stuff is hilarious, shocking, and all true. I kept asking myself: Ohmigod, did these people know they were being interviewed for a... Read more
Published on March 12, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up
I've always had an interest in the backrooms of Hollywood and assumed all the power people who are there got there because they knew someone, or through typical nepotistic routes... Read more
Published on February 26, 2003 by Lisa Kusel & Victor Prussack

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