To Live and Die in L.A.
Original Publication Date: May 2003
To Live and Die in L.A.
Information leaks, bid-rigging, pumping and dumping. Just another day inside the secret network that will make or break you in Hollywood.
By Ben Mezrich
I'm at a party, and it's as crowded as it is glamorous. Elbowing my way to the balcony for a breath of fresh air, I gaze down at the unreal scene below: Fur coats draped over pink tank tops, sable hoods dyed to match, Gucci boots with impossibly high heels, designer cell phones in waterproof holsters, pashmina scarves, sunglasses hanging from platinum straps. Nobody seems to care that it's 30 degrees outside, with a stiff wind sweeping down from the mountains. There's enough star power here to keep everyone warm: Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire, Kate Hudson, J.Lo, Ben Affleck.
"Welcome to fucking Sundance," somebody next to me says. I turn to see Dana Brunetti, who's also watching the crowd. Brunetti is a producer with TriggerStreet.com, Kevin Spacey's production company. He's the reason I was able to get past the black-clad goon at the door.
The truth is, I don't belong here. I am not a Hollywood player. I am a writer from Boston, a novelist and occasional journalist. Over the past few years, like a million other struggling writers out there, I have chased the dream of breaking into the movie business. I've collected hundreds of rejection slips from agents, producers, and studios. Recently, all this changed. I wrote an article last year called "Hacking Las Vegas" (Wired 10.09), and the next thing I know I'm being approached to turn it into a movie starring Spacey. (We're in the very early stages of negotiating a deal.) I want to believe that Hollywood sat up and took notice of my talent and hard work. But I've heard rumors that have made me question my confidence - whispers of a dirty little industry practice that has brought me here to Utah on a mission both personal and journalistic.
I've been tipped to the network of semisecret cyberhallways, called tracking boards, that are open only to the most elite power players in the industry. In simplest terms, these boards are sophisticated chat rooms and BBSes where high-level executives at various studios trade information about potential projects.
REST OF ARTICLE
To Live and Die in L.A.
Information leaks, bid-rigging, pumping and dumping. Just another day inside the secret network that will make or break you in Hollywood.
By Ben Mezrich
I'm at a party, and it's as crowded as it is glamorous. Elbowing my way to the balcony for a breath of fresh air, I gaze down at the unreal scene below: Fur coats draped over pink tank tops, sable hoods dyed to match, Gucci boots with impossibly high heels, designer cell phones in waterproof holsters, pashmina scarves, sunglasses hanging from platinum straps. Nobody seems to care that it's 30 degrees outside, with a stiff wind sweeping down from the mountains. There's enough star power here to keep everyone warm: Matt Damon, Tobey Maguire, Kate Hudson, J.Lo, Ben Affleck.
"Welcome to fucking Sundance," somebody next to me says. I turn to see Dana Brunetti, who's also watching the crowd. Brunetti is a producer with TriggerStreet.com, Kevin Spacey's production company. He's the reason I was able to get past the black-clad goon at the door.
The truth is, I don't belong here. I am not a Hollywood player. I am a writer from Boston, a novelist and occasional journalist. Over the past few years, like a million other struggling writers out there, I have chased the dream of breaking into the movie business. I've collected hundreds of rejection slips from agents, producers, and studios. Recently, all this changed. I wrote an article last year called "Hacking Las Vegas" (Wired 10.09), and the next thing I know I'm being approached to turn it into a movie starring Spacey. (We're in the very early stages of negotiating a deal.) I want to believe that Hollywood sat up and took notice of my talent and hard work. But I've heard rumors that have made me question my confidence - whispers of a dirty little industry practice that has brought me here to Utah on a mission both personal and journalistic.
I've been tipped to the network of semisecret cyberhallways, called tracking boards, that are open only to the most elite power players in the industry. In simplest terms, these boards are sophisticated chat rooms and BBSes where high-level executives at various studios trade information about potential projects.
REST OF ARTICLE
Labels: Hollywood, how it works, producers, screenplays, the biz, tracking boards
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