Synopsis:
Welcome to the world of Hollywood - a constantly spinning cyclone of glamour, money, and gossip where there is no glossary and people play by rules discernible only to those on the inside. It is a world that Lynda Obst, one of the most successful producers in Hollywood today, entered two decades ago as a neophyte and where through resolve, determination, and quick wit, she has been able to produce some of today's biggest movies, including The Fisher King and Sleepless in Seattle.
Now in Hello, He Lied, Lynda Obst takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of her world - onto sound stages with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, inside meetings with David Geffen and Peter Guber, on location in New York City with George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer, and into negotiations over The Hot Zones. She shares what she has learned in over twenty years in the business, about how to pitch an idea, impress a suit, win a bidding war over a hot script, and massage egos, as well as the all consuming issue of how to dress on location, what to say to skittish directors, where to eat lunch - whether in New York, LA, or a town you've never heard of - and most important, how to produce successful, critically acclaimed movies.
Reviews:
In her first book, movie producer and former New York Times Magazine editor Obst creates a peculiarly Hollywood kind of hybrid, a memoir/survival guide that describes what it's really like to get a movie made while still managing to say something nice?or at least benevolently neutral?about everybody in power. Obst left a dream job at the good gray Times to become a "development girl" (scouting material and overseeing script writes) for hyper-ambitious studio head Peter Guber. From Guber she learned that success means never going to a meeting (or doing anything) without a strategy. Her strategy here is to portray herself at work, describing how she has learned to handle tough situations and tough people. Thus, supermogul David Geffen, who once mused during a meeting that she should consider collagen shots, is praised for his personal manager-like interest in his employees' lives. Obst distills her experience into a coda for survival. She knows not to buck major trends ("Ride the Horse in the Direction Its Going," reads one chapter title). She knows when to put projects on the back burner ("Putting It on the Roof"). Above all, she understands the "Tao of Power," as explained in a chapter that reads like a contemporary Hollywood version of The Art of War: "The secret that all powerful people know is that no one else gives you power.... With power, there is no permission to be granted. Permission must be seized." At times, the writing is awkward: "The latent energy that makes imploding friendships so dangerous is the fact they are playlets of this familial struggle." But there are gems in the gravel. Obst's rundown of the difference between an arty "fuzzy girl" as opposed to an Armani-wearing "crisp girl" is worth the price of admission. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
If the Girl Scout troops of Beverly Hills need an illuminating manual for their Fundamentals of Successful Producing merit badge, this is it. And they can also use it as an object of meditation. In the late '70s, Obst left a good job as an editor at the New York Times Magazine to accompany her husband to L.A. This is her articulate memoir about the road to big-time Hollywood success (having started as mogul Peter Guber's ``d,'' for development girl, Obst produced Sleepless in Seattle and is finishing One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney). Obst lifts the discussion into the realm of Zen, physics, metaphysics, psychoanalysis, Kant, and evolutionary science (e.g., ``The velocity of change is so staggering it creates a kind of turbo-Darwinism, a revved-up struggle for survival in which one must constantly mutate to survive''). She's used every sort of philosophy, cosmology, spirituality, and professional connection, as well as the kitchen-sink advice of her Jewish mother, to ``narrate the chaos'' of Hollywood and to get her films produced. But happily, despite her industry reputation for toughness (Buzz magazine voted her one of Hollywood's biggest bullies), she quite generously mentors a new generation with this little gem about how to be a Girl Producer. She gives specific instructions about gaining entree, pitching a script (``Before the segue into the pitch, the producer has to prep the room. We do this by talking about the spouse, the boy/girlfriend or lack thereof, Gymboree, yoga, diets, the playoffs . . . any playoff will do''). She talks about professional agendas (``Never go to a meeting without a strategy''), making alliances, talking to stars. Though this isn't a feminist tract, except in the broadest and best sense, Obst celebrates the new phenomenon of ``chix in flix,'' women with lots and lots of power (and husbands). An up-close chance to meet a tough cookie who loves being a pro--and who probably wouldn't take your calls. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
The title reveals Obst's success producing Hollywood films?part adolescent aggression (Hey, you idiot!) and part practical philosophy (lies can be truths). Writing in a breezy, readable style, she frankly steps through the ups and downs of her "high-stakes career" producing Sleepless in Seattle, Flashdance, and The Fisher King. Many bulleted lists ("tips on moguls") punctuate chapters titled "Never Go to a Meeting Without a Strategy," "The Tao of Power," and "My New Best Friend." And she does not shrink from telling a story about herself, particularly if it flatters one of her many powerful mentors. Obviously a sharp, well-read, and industrious worker, Obst has produced a book that is unfortunately short on details about the art of producing and long on sensible advice useful no matter what career you pursue. Primarily for those into Hollywood "wisdom," this book also substitutes as a popular psychology lesson in interpersonal politics. For larger public libraries and where there is demand.?Jane E. Sloan, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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