Greenhouse Community
There are all sorts of books that we strongly encourage people to read to really understand the arts & entertainment world, so we’re providing the following lists of recommended reading. Some of these materials should be read by anyone in the entertainment industry, while others we’ve broken down by discipline. You can get these books at any number of places, but we’ve provided links to Amazon where we can, just to get you started. We’re kinda helpful that way.
The Top Ten Books Every Creative Should Read
No matter what your discipline is, here are the top books we strongly recommend you read if you want to succeed as a creative professional.
One
The Movie Business
Two
The War of Art
Three
The Biz
Four
Creativity, Inc.
Five
Steal Like an Artist
Six
Story
Seven
More than a Movie: Ethics in Entertainment
Eight
The Artist’s Way
Nine
One Big Thing: Discovering what you were born to do
Ten
The Big Picture: Money and Power in Hollywood
Sorted by creative Discipline
General
All You Need to Know About the Movie and TV Business
Gail Resnik & Scott Trost
The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era
Thomas Schatz
The Movie Business Book, 3rd Ed.
Jason E. Squire
My First Movie: Twenty Celebrated Directors Talk about Their First Film
Stephen Lowenstein
My First Movie, Take Two: Ten Celebrated Directors Talk About Their First Film
Stephen Lowenstein
Acting
Acting for the Camera
Tony Barr
Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Movie Making
Michael Caine
Acting Is Everything: An Actor’s Guidebook for a Successful Career in Los Angeles
Judy Kerr
Acting Professionally: Raw Facts About Careers in Acting
Robert Cohen
Acting: The First Six Lessons
Richard Boleslavsky
The Actor’s Encyclopedia of Casting Directors: Conversations with Over 100 Casting Directors on How to Get the Job (2016)
Karen Kondazian
An Actor Prepares
Constantin Stanislavski
Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part
Michael Shurtleff
How to Audition: For TV, Movies, Commercials, Plays, and Musicals, 2nd Ed.
Gordon Hunt
How to Be a Working Actor: The Insider’s Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film & Television, 5th Ed.
Mari Lyn Henry & Lynne Rogers
How to Stop Acting
Harold Guskin
Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques
Viola Spolin
The Intent to Live: Achieving Your True Potential as an Actor
Larry Moss
The Power of the Actor
Ivana Chubbuck
Respect for Acting
Uta Hagen
Sanford Meisner on Acting
Sanford Meisner
Self-Management for Actors: Getting Down to (Show) Business, 4th Ed.
Bonnie Gillespie
Your Film Acting Career: How to Break Into the Movies & TV & Survive Hollywood
M. K. Lewis
Producing
Bankroll: A New Approach to Financing Feature Films, 2nd Ed.
Tom Malloy
The Complete Film Production Handbook
Eve Light Honthaner
Film Budgeting: Or How Much Will It Cost to Shoot Your Movie?
Ralph S. Singleton
Film Scheduling: Or, How Long Will It Take to Shoot Your Movie?
Ralph S. Singleton
Filmmakers and Financing: Business Plans for Independents
Louise Levison
From Concept to Screen: An Overview of Film and Television Production
Robert Benedetti
How to Shoot a Feature Film for Under 10,000 (And Not Go to Jail)
Bret Stern
Independent Film Producer’s Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Sourcebook
Gunnar Ericsson, Harris Tulchin & Mark Halogen
Making Movies
Sidney Lumet
Making Your Film for Less Outside the U.S.
Mark De Wayne
The Producer’s Business Handbook: The Roadmap for the Balanced Film Producer
John J. Lee, Jr. & Anne Marie Gillen
The Production Assistant in TV and Video
Avril Rowlands
The Reel Truth: Everything You Didn’t Know You Need to Know About Making an Independent Film
Reed Martin
Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies that Matter
Christine Vachon & David Edelstein
Music
All You Need to Know About the Music Business
Donald S. Passman
Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business
Fredric Dannen
Music Industry Forms: The 75 Most Important Documents for the Modern Musician
Jonathan Feist
Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail
Mike King
The Plain & Simple Guide to Music Publishing: What You Need to Know About Protecting and Profiting from Music Copyrights, 3rd Ed.
Randall D. Wixen
This Business of Music, 10th Ed.
M. William Krasilovsky & Sidney Shemel
Monetizing Media
YouTube Black Book: How To Create a Channel, Build an Audience and Make Money on YouTube
Christopher Sharpe
YouTube Marketing Strategies
John Tighe
Writing
Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting
William Goldman
The Art of Character: Creating Memorable Characters for Fiction, Film, and TV
David Corbett
Art Of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives
Lajos Egri
The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style, 2nd Ed.
Christopher Riley
How To Write For Television
Madeline DiMaggio
Making a Good Script Great, 3rd Ed.
Linda Seger
The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue & Vice for Box Office Success
Stanley D. Williams
On Writing
Stephen King
Poetics
Aristotle
Reading for a Living: How to Be a Professional Story Analyst for Film and Television
T.L. Kathy
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
Syd Field
The Screenwriter’s Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script, 6th Ed.
David Trottier
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need
Blake Snyder
Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Every Story Ever Told
Blake Snyder
Save the Cat! Strikes Back: More Trouble for Screenwriters to Get into… and Out Of
Blake Snyder
Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete Guide to Turning Story Concepts into Movie and Television Deals
Michael Hauge
Writing Television Sitcoms
Evan S. Smith
Directing
Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know
Jennifer Van Sill
Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television
Judith Weston
Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics
Michael Rabiger
Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation
Francis Glebas
Directing Your Directing Career: A Support Book & Agent Guide for Directors
K. Callan
Film Directing: Cinematic Motion, 2nd Ed.
Steven D. Katz
Film Directing Fundamentals: See Your Film Before Shooting
Nicholas T. Proferes
The Film Director Prepares: A Practical Guide to Directing for Film and TV
Myrl A. Schreibman
In the Blink Of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, 2nd Ed.
Walter Murch
Kazan on Directing
Elia Kazan
MasterShots Vol 1: 100 Advanced Camera Techniques to Get an Expensive Look on Your Low-Budget Movie, 2nd Ed.
Christopher Kenworthy
MasterShots, Volume 2: 100 Ways to Shoot Great Dialogue Scenes
Christopher Kenworthy
Master Shots, Volume 3
Christopher Kenworthy
Moviemakers’ Master Class: Private Lessons from the World’s Foremost Directors
Laurent Tirard
On Directing Film
David Mamet
On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director
Alexander Mackendrick
Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
Robert Rodriguez
Sense of Direction: Some Observations on the Art of Directing
William Ball
The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV & Digital Media
Bruce Block
Business & Legal
The Business of Media Distribution
Jeffrey C. Ulin
This Business of Television
Howard J. Blumenthal & Oliver R. Goodenough
Contracts for the Film & Television Industry, 3rd Ed.
Mark Litwak
Dealmaking in the Film & Television Industry, 4th Ed.
Mark Litwak
Digital Media Law, 2nd Ed.
Ashley Packard
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
Robert Fisher & William Ury
Give and Take: The Complete Guide to Negotiating Strategies and Tactics
Chester L. Karrass
Hollywood Dealmaking: Negotiating Talent Agreements for Film, TV and New Media
Dina Appleton & Daniel Yankelevits
Movie Money: Understanding Hollywood’s (Creative) Accounting Practices, 2nd ed. Bill Daniels, David Leedy & Steven D. Sills
Philosophy & Spirituality
Addicted to Mediocrity: Contemporary Christians and the Arts
Franky Schaeffer
Art and the Bible
Francis A. Schaeffer
Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture
Barbara Nicolosi & Spencer Lewerenz, eds.
The Heart of the Artist
Rory Noland
History of Beauty
Umberto Eco
Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts
Steve Turner
More Than A Movie: Ethics In Entertainment
F. Miguel Valenti
On Ugliness
Umberto Eco
The Purple Curtain
Brian S. Chan
Reflections on the Movies (Reflective Living Series)
Ken Gire
Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture
Makoto Fujimura
Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change Your World
Bob Briner
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Madeleine L’Engle
The Saints & The Poets
Shun Lee Fong