Gaffers, Grips and Best Boys - 2nd Edition by Eric Taub (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

From the Back Cover

When the credits roll at the end of a movie, do you know what a producer, a gaffer, or a computer special-effects creator actually does? How about a key grip or best boy? Who makes the trailers you see before a feature film? Who decides the rating that each movie receives? Gaffers, Grips, and Best Boys goes way beyond the 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, Eric Taub takes readers through the labyrinthine world of today's studio system, sharing candid, revealing interviews he's conducted with some of the most successful actors, directors, producers, film editors, sound mixers, stuntpersons, story analysts, publicists, sound-effects editors, computer visual-effects producers, and marketing executives in the motion picture business today - with each one offering behind-the-scenes accounts of the part he or she plays in making today's top-grossing (and, in some cases, top-flopping) movies. Comprehensive and up-to-the-minute, this newly revised edition of the industry classic includes cutting-edge interviews with the Academy Award-winning special-effects team that created the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park; the marketing team that created the trailers, movie posters, and advertisements for Terminator 2; and dozens of others who contribute to the making and marketing of the movies.

Review Quotes

"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.