by Andreas Kessaris for Curtains Up!
“You taste bottom in this business. When you fail, you pick yourself up and get yourself back, whether with one movie or two. It’s not over, just keep going.”
-Harvey Weinstein
Growing up the movies were one of the few things my father, mother, brother and I did as a family, whether it was going to the Cote-Des-Neiges or Snowdon theatres on a Sunday afternoon, or catching a classic James Bond thriller or John Wayne oater on the tube. In the ‘70’s, CFCF-12 would broadcast a film every night at midnight. We would sometimes order Chinese food and huddle around the television together. That is probably why cinema has always had a certain warmth and magic to me, and why I not only enjoy the movies, but a good book about the movies as well.
The $11 Billion Year, the debut effort by seasoned entertainment print journalist Anne Thompson, covers a year, (in this case 2012, when the industry grossed $11 billion at the box-office, hence the book’s title), in the life of Hollywood, from creative to business and marketing. She begins at The Sundance Film Festival, to Cinemacon, through Cannes and Comic-Con, to various other festivals, eventually making her way through the holiday season when the industry touts its prestige pictures, finally ending with the 2013 Oscars.
I already knew a number of facts in the book, and it didn’t really offer anything really new or original about the overall “Hollywood system.” Most of its information could be found on online magazines, or in Variety or similar publications. The $11 Billion Year contains informative box-office charts and a helpful glossary of movie industry terms, jargon and expressions that lead me to believe it was intended for the unversed. Still that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the book, and yes, I confess I did learn a few things.
Thompson is a skilled author and although there is nothing outstanding, challenging, or quotable about her writing, it is a solid piece, and her direct, honest style and old-school journalistic sensibility, as well as the subject matter, make The $11 Billion Year interesting and efficient. She wisely lets the principals involved, rather than herself, be the stars of the show, not offering smarmy asides and judgments, (clearly she knows Hollywood and its players quite well). Her observations are astute, her analysis is fair and sound, and her conclusions are discerning.
I’ve read many books about inside Hollywood, and The $11 Billion Year is as good as any, better than most, and I recommend it for any fan of the movies interested in an accessible read.
