Out of Focus : Power, Pride, and Prejudice - David Puttnam in Hollywood

Kipps, Charles

ISBN 10: 0688090222 / ISBN 13: 9780688090227

Published by Morrow/Avon, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1989

About this Item

First Edition/First printing, Fine/Fine/ hardcover, 8vo, 336 pages, no marks clean and tight.Out of Focus is the insider's view of Hollywood. Not since Adventures in the Screen Trade has there been such a revealing account of power and influence in the studios. By telling the dramatic story of the rise and fall of David Puttnam, the author shows how and why certain projects get made into films in preference to others. Octavo. 336pp, with illustrations.

Seller Inventory # 002946

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Out of Focus : Power, Pride, and Prejudice - David Puttnam in Hollywood
• Publisher: Morrow/Avon, New York, NY, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688090222
• ISBN 13: 9780688090227
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • FIRST EDITIONS

About this title

Synopsis

Recounts producer David Puttnam's war against commercialism and the Hollywood film established during his brief chairmanship of Columbia Pictures, drawing on interviews with powerful Hollywood insiders

Reviews

Variety editor Kipps reveals a stunning combination of arrogance and naivete on the part of British filmmaker David Puttnam, whose 1986 appointment as CEO of Columbia Pictures ended in less than one year amid a storm of controversy. Puttnam, who produced a series of minor period pieces before his Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire , thought he had a mandate from Columbia's parent company Coca Cola to challenge the Hollywood establishment for what he perceived to be a tradition of mediocrity, according to the author. He shows how Puttnam became a media darling with antagonistic broadsides aimed at the Hollywood creative and business communities. He scuttled moneymaking properties like Ghostbusters II and Moon struck , later claiming he had not realized Coke's main objective was to produce highly profitable films. This lively, entertaining book concludes that Puttnam's efforts to keep the stature and money of the CEO position while wearing the mantle of an outsider led to professionally self-destructive behavior. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Earlier Hollywood management upheavals have produced best sellers (Steven Bach's Final Cut , LJ 8/85, and David McClintick's Indecent Exposure , LJ 8/82), so Morrow and Kipps probably have high hopes for this account of Puttnam's rise and fall at Columbia Pictures. Puttnam, producer of Chariots of Fire and The Killing Field , was widely heralded when he was picked for the job of CEO and chairman at Columbia, and his exit has been largely blamed on philistines in the film industry. Kipps shows that there's enough blame to go around for everyone, including Puttnam. His book may not be a best seller, because he uncovers no criminal activity, and big stars play only a tangential role, but it is thoroughly researched, well written, and fascinating for anyone interested in the movie biz.
- John Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan,
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.