Synopses & Reviews
Gaffers, Grips, and Best Boys goes way beyond the usual Hollywood glamour and hype to explain every aspect of who does what in the making of a motion picture--from conception and casting to production, postproduction, advertising, and marketing here and abroad. A veteran film-industry insider, Taub takes readers through the labyrinthine world of today's studio system, sharing the candid and revealing interviews he's conducted with some of Tinseltown's most successful actors, directors, producers, and so forth. Each of Taub's subjects offers behind-the-scenes accounts of the precise role that he or she has played in making today's top-grossing (and, in some cases top-flopping) movies.
Review
"This fascinating book carries the reader from preproduction to postproduction, explaining through interviews with professionals (e.g., Haskell Wexler on photography, Neil Koenigsberg on publicity) exactly what such people as the sound mixer and story analyst do in the making of a motion picture . . . Presented in narrative rather than dictionary form [and] updated from the 1987 edition to reflect ratings modifications and technical breakthroughs in films like
Jurassic Park and
Forrest Gump, this is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in film production today. Highly recommended for all film collections."--
Library Journal
About the Author
A writer, producer, and industry executive,
Eric Taub frequently contributes articles on Hollywood and technology to
The New York Times and other leading national publications. He is also the author of
Taurus: The Making of the Car That Saved Ford.