Search the Products Store
Search the Book Store
clog dancing Book Store Index
Privacy Policy
Copyright Notice
Home
|
|
Breakfast with Sharks: A Screenwriter's Guide to Getting the Meeting, Nailing the Pitch, Signing the Deal, and Navigating the Murky Waters of Hollywood |
Author: Michael Lent
Published: 2004-05-25 |
List price: $14.95
Our price: $10.17
|
Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: December 01st, 2008 07:02:09 PM
|
|
|
Customer comments on this selection.
 Lots of Important and Practical Advice
This book is a great insider's guide to the inner-workings of the Hollywood machine. I found it not only enlightening and helpful, but entertaining as well. The author often illustrates a point or principle with personal anecdotes that brings the issue to life. In fact, I wish he'd done this with virtually every subject he discussed. He also dwells heavily in the world of pitch meetings: how to get the meeting, how to prepare, what to do, even what to wear (not a suit) and how to sit (not on the couch if possible).
Lent goes into great detail on the function of all the major cogs in the movie-making wheel: producers, directors, actors, agents, managers, creative executives, and more. For those of us with a script to sell but little in the way of industry know-how this is an invaluable course.
On the downside, I'm sure most people reading this book are relatively new to the business and the first questions on their mind are: "Do I need an agent, and how do I get one?" Lent, in my opinion, wrote the book in the wrong order. I would have addressed this point up front, but instead you have to wait 123 pages for your answers. And it's not just burning curiosity that would serve this order, Lent often speaks about 'your agent' in the first 100 pages as if he's assuming you've got one and I don't think that's a fair assumption. My second fault with the book is his exceedinly sparse coverage of the screenwriting contest world. This is a vital topic for new screenwriters, one he devotes an astonishingly petite 4 pages to. The topic is well represented online, but we turn to Lent, again, for an insider's view on this milieu and are very disappointed with the lack of coverage.
Overall, a quick and easy read that provides loads of useful and applicable information.
 MEDIOCRE
First a disclosure - I am not a screenwriter. I am an avid reader. So the fact this book didn't thrill me may mean nothing. If you're in pursuit of this dream you may have the background to assess the advice proffered.
From purely a readers point of view I think the book could flow better. I have a keen interest in most things Hollywood, and those chapters dealing with Hollywood as town were intriguing. Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
 Good advice for any entrepreneur
I read this book expecting to find a lot of Hollywood gossip. Instead, it was a down to earth 'how to' guide for becoming a star-screenwriter.
Some of the suggestions are very specific to the industry. For example, how to decide when to move to Hollywood or how to get across the San Fernando valley for an interview when you don't own a car. Most of the advice is fairly general, though. Ben Franklin would approve.
The text is fast paced and entertaining. It doesn't quite read like a novel, but you will start watching for the author's name to appear on your local cinema.
Breakfast with Sharks!
Wow! Full of sound advice from experience. Michael Lent is clearly someone who pays attention to the whole process. The best part is he shares it with the rest of us! This book is fun to read from start to finish. Lent constantly encourages the reader (screenwriter) to adopt an attitude of, what I would call, "strategic humility" in their business dealings. How rare!!! This stuff helps in life too! I've never written a feature length screenplay, but I still found this book efficacious in learning the ins and outs of this goofy industry. And I know goofy - www.chrismundell.com
Practicle Advice
I'm on my third reading of Michael Lent's "Breakfast with Sharks" (2-7-05), and I highly this book to any screenwriter making serious go of trying to sell his/her work.
Micheal Lent doesn't make things up. His book is filled with real life "lived" experiences.
This book is a godsend if you've a written a screenplay and have started your foray into the next scary step-selling!! "Breakfast with Sharks" will help you disciminate information and buzzwords used at screenwrinting seminars and help decode the Hollywood Creative Directory.
My favorite section in the entire book is "Studio Notes: What They Are and How to Handle Them".
Overall a great book, insprationaly it ranks right up there with Karl Iglesias' "The 101 Habits of Hightly Successful Screenwriters".
- Review given by Eric C.Henrikson Febuary 7, 2005
|
|
Our clog dancing book picks:
|
|
Search the clog dancing Products Store
LCS Amazon Store 2.5 © 2008
|