A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond
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A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond
by Authors:
Christine Vachon , Austin Bunn , John Pierson
Released: 19 September, 2006
ISBN: 0743256301
Hardcover
Sales Rank: 29943
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| Book > A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond > Customer Reviews: |
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Average Customer Rating: 
A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond >
Customer Review #1:
 So so.
The book is readable in as much as trash pop and pulp fiction is watchable and readable.No matter what is said,at the end of the day,this producer is yet another example of someone grandfathered into the industry ,with a production loan to get her started.A lump sum equvalent of about USD 100 000 today.There were a handful of active indie female producers operating in those times(most without that financial leg up.)Vachon is but one story.For that reason this is an ill researched book.
lt;br /gt;A few other women may not have stood on others toes as much as Vachon is capable of, nor claimed as much public or industry credit for themselves, but this book is but one story from the nineties,and it is in that context only it is best read.There were a small handful of extremely strident indie and studio women in Hollywood at the time,who broke significant paths for other women,not just themselves- in the choosing of projects they developed and the actions they took.The book is readable but indulgent insider name dropping. In one aspect a shallow take on a very political hollywood film business at the time.
A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond >
Customer Review #2:
 You couldnt pay Christine Vachon enough money to give a course like this...
...which kind of gets me wondering--why the heck dont *even more* aspiring producers and D-boy and D-girl wannabes get their hands on this amazing compendium of production experiences, take them to heart, and learn themselves a whole lot about the global film game in the process. If youve got the answer to that question, let me know. Im still scratching my noodle.
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lt;br /gt;Okay, so youre going to totally dig this book. Christine Vachon and her Killer Films outfit in N-Y-C, using that well-known convention of theirs--break the bounds of traditional (read: boring) publishing with a rather unconventional approach to bookwriting. Prepare for a wild wooly ride of a read...Christines deft collaborators (egs. directors, financiers, and studio consigliatores) have chimed in here in various sections, offering up sage advice on the pit- and prat-falls of the indie and studio sides of the filmmaking biz, and what its generally like working with Christine and her able band of brothers and sisters. That, for this here reviewer, was a right privilege...live recordings of Christines conversations with her colleagues wouldnt have been richer. And like I tell you in my title...you couldnt pay Vachon enough to give this course. For a couple of Lincolns, this was a gold mine.
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lt;br /gt;By the way, I think Ive tattooed my entire Netflix wish list with every single Killer title known to Movieland. As luck would have it, ONE HOUR PHOTO was one of the better films of 2002, and little did I know that Christine was even responsible for getting this one made. Small world, baby.
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lt;br /gt;Its an unsung job, the producing game can sometimes be, but mark it--without Christines valuable input at various stages of the process, many of these so-called little pictures mightnt have been made, languishing in that purgatory of "development hell" (or turnaround) like 98% of the projects out there are in (according to every single statistic known to the filmmaking poobahs). One of the most inspiring statements from the entire book which I triple underlined, dogeared, and highlighted in tri-colour was her frank admission that producers must maintain "eternal optimism." They are the ones who are enthusiastic at all times, oftentimes when theres no reason to be, and oftentimes when theres no production necessarily to speak of. The equivalent to selling short on the stock market. If your sources predictions are bang on, chances are youre going to make a "buchta" of cash.
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lt;br /gt;Such boundless enthusiasm the mark of a truly gifted deal-maker, and in the trenches which is the modern-day studio system (read: the business of making movies), and the relatively recent advent of the "mini-majors" (or classics divisions of the major Hollywood studios), this brand of relentlessness has become all the more critical. Remove one element from the positivity puzzle, strip away a single grain of that much-needed goodness which is a key ingredient of the all-encompassing feelgood--by definition, a must towards smooth functioning on the film set--and off your high film concept goes into the grey ether.
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lt;br /gt;Just for the rekkid, listening to podcasts helps, kids! Id heard about this title after listening to Claude Brodesser Ackners THE BUSINESS on NPR (goo-search it). I was so intrigued by Christines outspokenness, that I simply couldnt curb my enthusiasm to hop on over to my favourite online book purveyor and pick up the nearest copy of her A KILLER LIFE.
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lt;br /gt;Where is that extra star when I need it? Five estrellas, kids. Count em. Cinco.
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lt;br /gt;--ADM in Prague
A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond >
Customer Review #3:
Film buff or not...
This book is riveting reading for the fan or the filmmaker. Vachon has a talent for balancing intensive amounts of details with storytelling skills. You really will want to know how a distribution is made before the first frame is filmed. Her personality -- tough, passionate, centered -- also makes the book a compelling read. Even when her foes are completes a-hats, Vachon does not descend into bitterness, but rather, makes another compelling lesson.
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A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond >
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