Discover the secrets of Hollywood storytelling in this fascinating collection, in which fifty screenwriters share the inside scoop about how they surmounted incredible odds to break into the business, how they transformed their ideas into box-office blockbusters, how their words helped launch the careers of major stars, and how they earned accolades and Academy Awards.Entertaining, informative, and sometimes startling, Tales from the Script features exclusive interviews wi...

Too Weak to Govern investigates the power of the majority party in the United States Senate through a study of the appropriations process over a period of nearly four decades. It uses quantitative analysis, case studies, and interviews with policy makers to show that the majority party is more likely to abandon routine procedures for passing spending bills in favor of creating massive 'omnibus' spending bills when it is small, divided, and ideologically distant from the minority. This book...

Born in Vancouver, Peter Hanson got his MD degree at age 24 which began at age 14 with comedy monologues on live TV. He became an emergency room physician for 3 years before he established his own family practice where he delivered over 1000 babies, made over 5000 house calls and saw the effects of stress on his many patients… He was particularly inspired by his patients who were able to thrive with good management choices to live long healthy lives. This is the essence of this presentatio...

When Steven Soderbergh exploded onto movie screens with sex, lies, and videotape in 1989, it represented more than the arrival of an important new director--it heralded the arrival of an entire generation of important new directors. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Kevin Smith (Dogma), David Fincher (Fight Club), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), Ben Stiller (Reality Bites), Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor), and dozens of others...

Is The Wire better than Breaking Bad? Is Cheers better than Seinfeld? What's the best high school show ever made? Why did Moonlighting really fall apart? Was the Arrested Development Netflix season brilliant or terrible?For twenty years-since they shared a TV column at Tony Soprano's hometown newspaper-critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz have been debating these questions and many more, but it all ultimately boils down ...

An essential handbook featuring never-before-published writing exercises from the acclaimed screenwriters of Raging Bull, Ali, Terminator 2, Fame, Groundhog Day, Cape Fear, "Lost", "True Blood", "The Shield", and many other hit films and television shows.Now Write! Screenwriting-the latest addition to the Now Write! writing guide series-brings together the acclaimed screenwriters of films like the Oscar-winning Raging Bull, Oscar- nominat...

Millions of people dream of writing a screenplay but don't know how to begin, or are already working on a script but are stuck and need some targeted advice. Or maybe they have a great script, but no clue about how to navigate the choppy waters of show business. Enter Cut To The Chase, written by professional writers who teach in UCLA Extension Writers' Programme, whose alumni's many credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; Twilight; and the Academy Award nominat...

A life in film. An extraordinary career. An unforgettable story—from the “most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world” (The Hollywood Reporter)“[Field’s] illuminating, consistently entertaining memoir displays enough wit, intelligence, and empathy to inspire a host of great films.”—Publishers WeeklyWhat makes a great movie great? An actor legendary? A screenplay extraordinary or just ordinary?Syd ...

An NPR "Book We Love"**“Age of Cage might be the closest we will get to understanding the singular beauty of each of Nic Cage’s always electric performances. You are holding the Rosetta Stone for Cage. Enjoy it.”*—*Paul Scheer, actor, writer and host of the How Did This Get Made? and Unspooled podcastsIcon. Celebrity. Artist. Madman. Genius.**Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no den...

The life and film genius of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream director Wes CravenWes Craven is one of the most successful and iconic horror movie directors in Hollywood. His masterful examination of the nightmarish nexus of dreams and reality helped spark a career that has spanned close to forty years. Then, with their mix of horror, sex, and humor, Craven's Scream movies helped revitalize the slasher film genre.An absorbing portrait of cult film ...

From the star YouTube reviewer, "a fantastic selection of movies, both big and small, that all film lovers can enjoy . . . a wonderful reference guide" (Alicia Malone, author Backwards and in Heels).Comic book heroes, ice princesses, apocalyptic lovestruck teens, whatever masterpiece Pixar is rolling out—not to mention countless indies and foreign films—there's been no shortage of things to watch in recent years. But which films are the best of the best? Wh...

WITH 8 PAGES OF BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHSHow—and why—do we obsess over movie stars? How does fame both reflect and mask the person behind it? How have the image of stardom and our stars’ images altered over a century of cultural and technological change? Do we create celebrities, or do they create us?Ty Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe, answers these questions in this lively and fascinating anecdotal history of stardom, with all its blessin...