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Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
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About This Book
This heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life, gives a dishy, behind-the-scenes look at working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. "I'll be dropping a few names," Ed Zwick confesses in the introduction to his book. "Over the years I have worked with self-proclaimed masters-of-the-universe, unheralded geniuses, hacks, sociopaths, savants, and saints." He has encountered these Hollywood types during four decades of directing, producing, and writing projects that have collectively received eighteen Academy Award nominations (seven wins) and sixty-seven Emmy nominations (twenty-two wins). Though there are many factors behind such success, including luck and the contributions of his creative partner Marshall Herskovitz, he's known to have a special talent for bringing out the best in the people he's worked with, especially the actors. In those intense collaborations, he's sought to discover the small pieces of connective tissue, vulnerability, and fellowship that can help an actor realize their character in full. Talents whom he spotted early include Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Claire Danes, and Jared Leto. Established stars he worked closely with include Leonardo DiCaprio, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Craig, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Connelly. He also sued Harvey Weinstein over the production of Shakespeare in Love —and won. He shares personal stories about all these people, and more. Written mostly with love, sometimes with rue, this memoir is also a meditation on working, sprinkled throughout with tips for anyone who has ever imagined writing, directing, or producing for the screen. Fans with an appreciation for the beautiful mysteries—as well as the unsightly, often comic truths—of crafting film and television won't want to miss it.
Reviews
"a wildly entertaining portrait of moviemaking that combines wry humor with irrepressible passion."
"Writing in an age of superhero franchises and declining theatrical attendance, he observes with a sigh that 'movies for grown-ups on a large scale,' his métier, 'just aren't being made these days.' There are notable exceptions to that claim, of course, but his memoir still evokes an era of Hollywood that feels different from our own."
"Filled with both behind-the-scenes anecdotes, including his difficulties with Matthew Broderick on Glory and his attempts to wrangle a young Julia Roberts for Shakespeare in Love, and his pointed and insightful tips for directing and writing and thoughtful meditations on making a life in the arts, there's plenty to enjoy here for film buffs and aspiring creatives alike."
"Although Zwick's accomplishments are numerous, he eschews self-congratulation in favor of arguing for the power of storytelling to enrich the lives of both audiences and creators."
"None of the dish Zwick delivers is very spicy or surprising—DiCaprio likes women, Cruise is intense, Brad Pitt has an ego, Shia LaBeouf is mercurial—but it explains how easily personality clashes can derail a project and how a good director manages the difficult dance between art and commerce in an industry overflowing with narcissists."
"It is part how-to guide, peppered with frank lists that crunch hard-won advice into easily digestible bites, and will be useful for young film-makers – but the layperson will inhale it for the gossip and what it reveals about the frankly bewildering systems of power that prop up the entertainment business."
"Ultimately, Zwick seems less troubled by the suspicion that his own time may have passed than by the near-certainty that the types of movies he makes — entertainments, but entertainments of weight and substance — have gone extinct, at least at the big studios that funded his."
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