Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting

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Two big bonuses of this book: Goldman provides his entire screenplay of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and then analyzes what worked and what didn't. It would seem that Hollywood can always find something to worry about on the business side, no matter what era it's in. The full text of "Da Vinci" and the subsequent screenplay that he wrote are included, followed by interviews with key movie industry figures, including director George Roy Hill, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and composer Dave Grusin.

In "Part Three: Da Vinci", Goldman shows the reader how he would go about adapting his own short story "Da Vinci" into a screenplay. Billy also loves to explain other people's decisions and character traits he dislikes by ascribing thought processes to them, while managing to ignore the fact that he's making shit up out of boogers and ego. Over the years I have met and worked with a dozen prize-winning American directors, and there is not one whose “philosophy” or “worldview” remotely interests me.Writing in the wake of the "Heaven's Gate" disaster which shook the confidence of almost everyone in Hollywood (1982), Goldman still manages to end the book on an upbeat and hopeful note. My only gripe about an otherwise insightful book is that the author is very hard on schlock horror b movies - a staple of my life for as long as I care to remember. Goldman also name-drops like a gossip columnist with revealing details and tidbits about familiar names and the then-current (early 1982) Hollywood climate - Stallone, Redford and Newman feature prominently - and many forgotten or never heard of films have been added to my radar.

Quiconque est sérieux à l'idée d'être scénariste se doit de lire cette Bible de Bill Goldman, scénariste de Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride, etc.

This collection of anecdotes, advice, and essays is one of the most engaging pieces of writing that I’ve read. Goldman's insider's approach is still compelling, though I wondered how much of what he says about how Hollywood works is still true 36 years later. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. He then solicits feedback from a suite of movie insiders: a director, editor, cinematographer, etc . It's an interesting tutorial on the craft of screenwriting, but I'm not sure it belongs in this book.

If there's any profession where some perspective is required on your importance to the engine that pays you, it's screenwriting. Some of Goldman's answers were edited into a magazine piece for Esquire; this was read by an editor at a publishing house who contacted him about writing a book on screenwriting. Goldman never says that phrase exactly but his famous phrase, "nobody knows anything," says more than enough: all you can rely on is our own work, so try to make some good work and let the stuff you can't control take care of itself.

He talks a lot about Hollywood and there are some darling little stories about particular stars and directors, then he shows you the actual screenplay for the movie with directions to the actors etc. It seems to me that some stars now take on character actor roles purposefully while others pursue indie roles to broaden their reach.