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My POV
Brian A. Wilson
Review: It's All Your Fault: How to Make It as a Hollywood Assistant
"It's All Your Fault" begs for the informed rebuttal. After reading it--hell, WHILE reading it--one keeps telling oneself, "Life can't really be that deranged, uncertain, confusing, decadent, dumb and mystifying in Hollywood? Can it?"
Naturally, the answer is an authoritative "yes" from authors Bill Robinson and Ceridwen Morris. Bill founded Blue Relief, Diane Keaton's shingle, while Ceridwen went from Bill's assistant to full-time screenwriter.
Their entertaining/enlightening/frightening book gives the lay of the land to anyone pondering life as a Hollywood assistant. If you read this, then get a job as an assistant, you couldn't possibly say, "I had no idea what I was getting into!"
You have been warned, via chapters that cover every aspect and atmosphere of assisting. One section breaks down the differences between working for a Star, Director (Lights! Camera! Protein Shake!), Agent (How to be Satan's Handmaiden), Producer and Studio Exec.
This is a rockin' book for somebody new to the business, if for no other section than the one on "Finding Your Place Among The Stars." This is good, solid information that everyone wants yet no one seems willing to provide, regarding strategies and opportunities for breaking into Hollywood.
"What Your Job Really Entails" lays it on the line. It's all there waiting for you: gift baskets you can call your own, producers who throw things at you, being paid to listen in and take notes on your boss's calls, insane hours, meager pay, and all the schmoozing and snob appeal you can grab for 500 clams a week.
The writing has a wonderful, acidic quality to it, a perfect match for the subject matter. It's an entertaining read, packed with gallows humor that instructs even as it makes you wince.
The book provides either a crash course or a refresher course (depending on your level of experience) that's very valuable for writers. You get a tremendous portrait of the environment into which you're sending your script. You suddenly understand the harried assistant you're calling--again--to badger about a response on your unsolicited script. You get to look through the eyes of the producer or exec to see how they view you, and how they view your script.
You're reminded: when things are slow or screwy or you get ignored, it ain't pretty, and it ain't personal. It's just business. Show business. Find out how you fit in, and make it work.
If you learn only that from this book, it would be worth the time spent reading it.
It's All Your Fault: How to Make It as a Hollywood Assistant
Bill Robinson & Ceridwen Morris
Well worth it at only $12.00
Highly recommended, especially for the sections applicable to writers.
Paperback - 240 pages 1st edition (January 2001)
Fireside; ISBN: 0684869586 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.58 x 8.52 x 5.50
Available at a bookstore near you or at Amazon.com
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