These are books I like. They are not necessarilly "how to write movies"
books. There is more to writing movies than books that yell about three
act structure will ever say. There is the world you are entering, this
strange odd world of filmmaking. And special books that take you there.
And show you what is wonderful in it. And what is not. Or just take you
somewhere else for a while. And sometimes make you smile. These are those
books for me. I unpack them first.
:::see at amazon:::
"Conversations with My Agent" by Rob Long is hillarious
and so accurate it maybe should not be funny.
"Love is a Dog from Hell" by Charles Bukowski. When
my head and chest feel empty like there is no more writing in me, I read
"Love is a Dog from Hell" and when I stop, I am not empty any
more.
"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David
Foster Wallace -- Wallace is brilliant and you have not read real art
until you have read his description of a shipboard cruise.
"40 Stories" by Donald Barthelme is special. My favorite
story is "The Baby." I fall hard for his fairy tale stories
too.
"Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty
Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space" by Dav Pilkey is funny as
hell and for me a break when nothing is funny anymore.
"Writers Houses" by Marguerite Duras, Francesca Premoli-Droulers,
and Erica Lennard is the coolest book. There are houses in here like William
Faulkner's Mississippi mansion and Ernest Hemingway's Key West house.
"Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics" by Michael
Rabiger was required reading in my film classes. As far as I am concerned
it is still required reading.
"The Technique of the Love Affair" by Doris Langley
Moore edited with notes by Norrie Epstein is the book every guy writer
who complains he doesn't understand women should read.
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu edited and translated
by James Clavell (what, you thought you were going to a picnic in Hollywood?).
Read it till you understand it.
"The Art of Strategy" by R.L. Wing (I repeat, did
you think you were going to a picnic?). This is another translation of
Sun Tzu's work. Read several.
"The Intimacy Struggle" by Janet Woititz is a real
interesting look at relationships, how they work, and how they do not.
"When Your Phone Doesn't Ring It'll Be Me" by Cynthia
Heimel -- Cynthia Heimel is who I want to be when I grow up.
"Breaking the Rules: Last-Ditch Tactics for Landing the Man of
Your Dreams" by Laura Banks and Janette Barber is the book I
quote most in life.
"Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope: All Story" by Francis
Ford Coppola (introduction), Adrienne Broeur (editor) and Samantha Schnee
is a collection of amazingly wonderful short stories.
"Ellen Foster" by Kaye Gibbons. Many of Gibbons'
books for me are just okay books, not great, not terrible. Decent fiction.
But not this one. This one is special to me.
"The Art of Makeup" by Kevin Aucoin -- I just wish
I was as good at creating beautiful faces as Kevin Aucoin and whenever
I get tired of my eyebrows I whip open one of his books and play with
white pencils till I am a new woman.
"Making Faces" by Kevin Aucoin -- did I mention I
am a huge Kevin Aucoin fan? My poor eyebrows. . . .
"The Essential House Book" by Terence Conran is a
photograph collection of places I want to live when I grow up.
"Screen
Kisses Quotes of Love, Sex, and Romance from the Movies" (compiled
by Ian Hardy and Gretchen Zufall) is a small wonderful collection of quotes
from love stories and heartbreak stories.
"Screenwriters America's Storytellers in Portrait" edited by Helena Lumme & Mika Manninen is a collection of (wow, someone can photograph writers) portraits of some of our more famous members.
"Lofts" by Marcus Field & Mark Irving is more places I want to live when I grow up. Lofts are my favorite.
"Feng Shui: Harmony by Design" by Nancy SantoPietro is my bar none most favorite feng shui book.
"The Feng Shui House Book" by Gina Lazenby is a good simple
introduction to feng shui with beautiful photographs illustrating the
process.
On another shelf are the books you have to have if you are a screenwriter. They are "how to know what you are doing in Hollywood" books. I unpack them, um, second. That is because I have already read them. All of them. A whole lot of times.
"The
Screenwriter's Survival Guide or Guerrilla Meeting Tactics and Other Acts
of War" by yours truly is the book that tells you how to use
the other books. [For the next person who emails me asking "What
advice do you have for me?" This is it. 320 pages of advice for you.
That is why I wrote it. Read it.]
"Producers Directory " from the people who brought you "The Hollywood Creative Directory" is a comprehensive listing of production entities and studios, their staffs, their addresses and contacct information.
:::see at amazon:::
"Hollywood
Agents and Managers Directory" from the people who originally
brought you "The Hollywood Creative Directory" is a comprehensive
listing of agencies, their staffs, their addresses and contact info.
"The Complete Guide to Standard Script Formats: The Screenplay" by Cole & Haag is the definitive and original script formatting guide.
"Film
Writers Directory" is a comprehensive listing of writers and
their credits and, if you are a writer, you should be keeping track.
"Film
Directors: A Complete Guide" is a comprehensive listing of directors
and their credits and, again, if you are a writer, you should be keeping
track.
These are books you should have. They are also "how to know what you are doing in Hollywood" books. They are not life or death books like the books above. You can live without them. But you will be living on ramen noodles.
"The
Script is Finished, Now What Do I Do?" (second edition) by K.
Callan is one of the better resources out there for the agent hunt.
"Making a Good Script Great" by Linda Seger is one of the best books on craft out there and I lived and breathed it for a long long time.
"The
Secrets of Action Screenwriting" by William C. Martell -- Terry
Rosio said this is the best book on the practical nuts and bolts of writing
he has ever read.
"The
Screenwriter's Bible" by David Trottier. David Trottier is one
of my former instructors -- one of my absolutely most inspirational former
instructors.
"The
Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay : How To Write Great Screenplays
and Movies for TV" by Cynthia Whitcomb. Cynthia's book, "Selling
Your Screenplay," was my bible early in my career.
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