Direction & Production

Beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards share the unauthorized, behind-the-scenes story of the stunning rise and suddenly uncertain reign of the most transformative cultural phenomenon of our time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe....

Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry (or Garry or Larry) on Parks and Recreation and co-hosts the hit podcast Parks and Recollection, brings fans a heartfelt behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s most beloved sitcoms, brimming with never-before-told stories featuring the cast and crew!

A memoir of leadership and success: The executive chairman of Disney, Time’s 2019 businessperson of the year, shares the ideas and values he embraced during his 15 years as CEO while reinventing one of the world’s most beloved companies....

The co-founder and longtime president of Pixar updates and expands upon his New York Times bestseller on creative leadership, reflecting on the management principles used to build Pixar's singularly successful culture, including what he got wrong—and how he made it right....

The Walt Disney Company honors its 100th anniversary in 2023. As part of the festivities, this must-have biography tells the story of Walt Disney's life— told as no other book can....

Who made the phone call that got HBO to launch The Sopranos? What’s the significance of all those eggs? And, what the hell ever happened to the Russian? Michael Imperioli, Steve Schirripa, and the entire cast and crew of The Sopranos have all the answers....

In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's runtime) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication.

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, notably the actors....

Packed with all-new, exclusive interviews with the producers and entire cast, The Big Bang Theory:The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series is a riveting, entertaining look at the sitcom sensation.

In this essential guide to acting, internationally renowned directing coach Judith Weston demonstrates what constitutes a good performance, what actors want from a director, and what directors do wrong....

Nora Ephron at the Movies offers an unfiltered look at Ephron as a champion of the rom-com and as a feminist Hollywood trailblazer.

Multi-Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Shane Stanley writes a book anyone and everyone should hear if they want an entertainment industry insider's professional guidance on how to create a movie....

Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here listeners will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed....

It’s harder today than ever before for independent filmmakers to make money with their films. From predatory film distributors ripping them off to huckster film aggregators who prey upon them, the odds are stacked against the indie filmmaker....

A fascinating look at Hollywood’s most turbulent decade and the demise of the studio system—set against the boom of the post-WW II years, the Cold War, and the atomic age—and the movies that reflected the seismic shifts....

A full-speed-ahead oral history of the nearly two-decade making of the cultural phenomenon Mad Max: Fury Road....

Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, a classic film noir and also a damning dissection of the Hollywood dream factory, evokes the glamour and ruin of the stars who subsist on that dream....

From such cult hits as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski to major critical darlings Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema....

This audiobook follows the wild ride that was Hollywood in the 70s - an unabashed celebration of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll and a climate where innovation reigned supreme....

Roberta walks you through the minefield of mistakes that an aspiring filmmaker can make - so that you don't have to make them yourself....

For 60 years, since the birth of United Artists, the studio landscape was unchanged....

Running the Show takes you inside building a show from the ground up and what a showrunner's life looks like in Hollywood. This unique job covers aspects from the creative to the managerial and everything in between....

Miss May Does Not Exist is a remarkable love story about a prickly genius who was never easy to work with, not always easy to love, and frequently punished for those things, despite revolutionizing the way we think about comedy, acting, and what a film or play can be.

Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars....

When she died in 1977, Joan Crawford was remembered as an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age—until publication the following year of her daughter's memoir, Mommie Dearest.