The mailroom : Hollywood history from the bottom up / David Rensin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rensin, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion picture industry--California--Hollywood--History.

Motion picture industry.

History.

California--Los Angeles--Hollywood.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 439 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Ballantine Books, 2003.

Summary:

It's like a plot from a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. But for dozens of Hollywood's brightest, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment -- including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz -- began as trainees in musty talent agency mailrooms. Now, in this fascinating new book, veteran Hollywood writer David Rensin travels behind the scenes and through sixty-five years of show business history to tell the real stories of the marvelous careers that began -- and in some cases ended -- in the mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution -- in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you'll go where the trainees go, learn what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. The kids in The Mailroom have done it all: from hanging out with Elvis to delivering a senior agent's urine sample to the doctor; from pouring drinks for Sinatra to sending ice to Johnny Carson on the Nile; from crashing the Academy Awards ceremony to hoping to deliver more than just the mail to sexy actresses' homes.

The Mailroom reveals why Harvard M.B.A.s turn down secure six-figure corporate salaries to work at a major agency for less than $400 a week; what it takes to appease impossible bosses, outsmart the competition, and "agent" the agents; and how a hungry, starstruck kid can become the next Geffen or Diller by sorting mail, eavesdropping on crucial conversations, and trying anything to get noticed. Full of revealing stories and delicious dish, The Mailroom is not only a nonstop, engrossing read, but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed anywhere through hard work, shrewd manipulation, and a hell of a lot of nerve. The Mailroom is classic Hollywood -- a vibrant and complex tapestry of dreams, desire, exploitation, power, and genuine talent. If you want to know who rules Hollywood and how they got their power, if you want to know how to start with nothing and get ahead in any business, this is the book you must read.

Contents:

Kids at Work

Kids at Work: William Morris Agency, New York, 1937-1951 3

A Charmed Life, or A Thirty-Six Short Makes It Big: Norman Brokaw: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1943 16

The Thrill of It All

Traffic: Music Corporation of America, Los Angeles, 1942-1958 23

The Thrill of It All: William Morris Agency, New York, 1955-1958 35

The Mentor: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1957-1959 54

Ambition

The Man Who Loved Show Business: Sandy Gallin: General Artists Corporation, New York, 1962 75

Sons of the Triple Cross: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1961-1963 78

Everybody Loves Ronnie: Ron Meyer: Paul Kohner Agency, Los Angeles, 1963 101

Ambition: William Morris Agency, New York, 1961-1967 108

The Good Mike: Michael Peretzian: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1969 131

Ties that Bind

Ties That Bind: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1974-1977 139

The Guinea Pig: Michael Menchel: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1976 172

The Wild East: International Creative Management, New York, 1978-1981 176

Thoughtfully Political: Sam Haskell: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1978; Rob Carlson: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1989 194

If I Do Say So Myself: Jeremy Zimmer: William Morris Agency, New York, 1979 201

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure

Our Job is to Say Yes: Judy Hofflund: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1982 209

For the Love of Mike: Assisting Michael Ovitz: Stuart Griffen: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1982; David "Doc" O'Connor: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1983 214

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1984-1990 225

As the mailroom Turns

Outpost on Sixth Avenue: William Morris Agency, New York, 1981-1986 273

Came and Gone: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1980-1986 292

Brothers in Arms: Brian Medavoy and Kevin Misher: Creative Artists Agency, International Creative Management, Inter Talent, Los Angeles, 1986-1990 321

As The Mailroom Turns: International Creative Management, Los Angeles, 1989-1993 331

In Your Face! ... With Love

Jeremy's Kids: United Talent Agency, Los Angeles, 1991-1994 357

In Your Face! ... With Love: Adriana Alberghetti: Endeavor, Los Angeles, 1995 395

Stairway to Heaven: Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1994-1996 408

The Second Hundred Years

Kids at Work: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1997-1999 427.

ISBN:

0345442342 :

OCLC:

51565606