Koncocoo

Best Video Direction & Production

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It tells of how the company was formed and the various challenges and changes along the way as well as how the people in charge are constantly attempting to maintain Pixar as a separate entity from Disney after being purchased by the latter while fixing Disney's animation studios and making Disney a world class entity itself."
"The book is definitely about creativity and the creative process, but it's equally about business and management."
Find Best Price at Amazon
The Wes Anderson Collection
Also available from Matt Zoller Seitz: The Oliver Stone Experience , The Wes Anderson Collection: Bad Dads , The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. , and Mad Men Carousel . “In The Wes Anderson Collection , Seitz expands a series of video essays on Anderson’s influences, illuminating as much of Anderson’s process as possible in a massive, beautifully rendered volume. Although it looks (and sometimes reads) like a coffee table book, The Wes Anderson Collection brings together style and substance to provide a loving homage to Anderson’s films and moviemaking in general.”. ( FILTER ). “ The Wes Anderson Collection comes as close as a book can to reading like a Wes Anderson film.
Reviews
"It's a cool book to page through in moments of time or fully immerse yourself in if you're interesting in making films."
"Anderson doesn't release many films....this book shows you why."
"Essays and interviews by Mark Zoller Seitz, amazing illustrations by Max Dalton and endless fascinating stills from the films plus a potpourri of relevant items from old films, books, magazines, catalogs and advertisements that will have you intrigued and wanting to keep returning again and again to marvel at all this content."
"When I first got the book it was damaged on the corners of the spine (like it had been dropped) but Amazon was great about exchanging it and I had a new book in perfect condition in just two days."
"Bought as a gift for a Wes Anderson fan."
"This was purchased for my son a 21 year old burgeoning film director/producer and he really loved it and read it from cover to cover."
"It's rich with content, behind the scenes photos, exclusive illustrations, and excellent interviews with Wes Anderson."
"This is absolutely essential for anyone who enjoys the films of Wes Anderson and also for anyone who is interested in film as an art form."
Find Best Price at Amazon
Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey
Harry Potter: Page to Screen , the follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Harry Potter: Film Wizardry , is a lavish and personal look at the entire filmmaking process that transformed J. K. Rowling’s fantasy series into a blockbuster movie franchise. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive stories from the cast and crew, hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and concept illustrations sourced from the closed film sets, and rare memorabilia.
Reviews
"This book gives you exactly what it said it would, harry potter page to screen in its entirety."
"It looks like a magickal volume and in a way it is, for it captures all of the magic of the Harry Potter movies, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all the way to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two. The first color photograph one comes across as one flips the book open is a full size portrait of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts (Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in HP films 3-8). So, the contents...the book (531 pages) is divided into three parts: Part I: The Making of Harry Potter. Introduction. Setting the Scene. HP and the Sorcerer's Stone. HP and the Chamber of Secrets. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. HP and the Goblet of Fire. HP and the Order of the Phoenix. HP and the Half-Blood Prince. HP and the Deathly Hallows. Part II: The Art of Harry Potter. Introduction. Characters: Costuming. Locations: Set Design. Creatures: Special Makeup and Digital Effects. Artifacts: Prop Making. Part III: Epilogue. The Golden Boards. Acknowledgements and Colophon. The book goes in-depth into the many aspects of the film-making process, including valuable insights from and about the directors, actors, and all the other significant people who have worked on the movies, not forgetting the author of course. These details are enhanced by the hundreds of photographs that are found throughout the book, and what makes these pictures all the more extraordinary and valuable to the discerning reader is the fact that many of them were taken on set, during the making of the films, and apart from the photographs there are also full-color paintings in glorious detail. Btw, for those who are wondering about how this compares to Harry Potter Film Wizardry, I'd say they are both complementary (I own a copy of HP Film Wizardry) to each other. For example, in HP Film Wizardry, readers will get a chance to peruse a copy of the Marauder's Map, Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a catalogue from Borgin and Burke's, stickers in the Advanced Potion-Making pamphlet, two boxes of treats (sans the treats) from Honeydukes of Hogsmeade (you can tear them out and fold them into actual treat boxes, not that I would! This is a beautiful volume of substance for any fan of the HP books and movies."
"It is definitely a must for every Harry Potter fan."
"An excellent compendium which deserves a place on every Harry Potter fan's book shelf, detailing problems and solutions in interpreting the story."
"The second part of the book is dedicated to the art of the movies as represented in the costume designs, set design, make up and special effects, and prop making. Curiously, the live animals that "played" Hedwig, Crookshanks and Scabbers were left out of the book, which I thought was a strange oversight since a section or a few paragraphs on their role and that of the animal trainers would have really not been out of place in this book. Except for a picture in the "Locations: Set Design" section of the second half of the book, I couldn't find a reference of her and her character in the sections devoted to the making of "The Chamber of Secrets" or "The Goblet of Fire.""
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Best TV Direction & Production

Firefly: A Celebration (Anniversary Edition)
This huge, 544 page full colour volume is simply one of the most lavish books ever produced for a TV show, and is presented in a foil-stamped leather-effect binding. " Firefly: A Celebration is a 550-page book dedicated to one of the best sci-fi shows ever developed. "If you’re a hardcore fan this book is Firefly porn."
Reviews
"Despite lasting only thirteen episodes and one movie, the name Firefly has become synonymous with beautiful things struck down before their time, with an enduring love, and most of all, with a want to live life simply, unfettered by unjust authority. This book is proof that we have done the impossible, and continue to do so, even almost a decade after the airwaves have forgotten Serenity and her crew, and the pitter pater of tiny feet in huge combat boots has since faded into the black; After all, you can never stop the signal."
"In conclusion, this is a must for any Firefly fan who doesn't already own the three titles that this book packs into one very huge binding."
"Collection of all the old stuff in a great package."
"The network execs sure screwed up on this one - they had a gold mine with Firefly and, for whatever reason, didn't have the intelligence or foresight to keep it going."
"If you hate Firefly: buy this now...and take it to a thrift store to show your contempt."
"Great book on a great show."
"Also, for the price of two softcover books you get all three in a bound hardcover that looks great on any bookshelf or coffee table."
"I expected big things, but this book is stunning."
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Best Entertainment Industry

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"This book has radically altered all of my pre-existing views about what it means to be creative, to strive for quality, to lead a team, and to be passionate and persevere in the face of obstacles."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It tells of how the company was formed and the various challenges and changes along the way as well as how the people in charge are constantly attempting to maintain Pixar as a separate entity from Disney after being purchased by the latter while fixing Disney's animation studios and making Disney a world class entity itself."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Movie Direction & Production

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey
Harry Potter: Page to Screen , the follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Harry Potter: Film Wizardry , is a lavish and personal look at the entire filmmaking process that transformed J. K. Rowling’s fantasy series into a blockbuster movie franchise. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive stories from the cast and crew, hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and concept illustrations sourced from the closed film sets, and rare memorabilia.
Reviews
"This book gives you exactly what it said it would, harry potter page to screen in its entirety."
"It looks like a magickal volume and in a way it is, for it captures all of the magic of the Harry Potter movies, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all the way to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two. The first color photograph one comes across as one flips the book open is a full size portrait of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts (Michael Gambon, who played Dumbledore in HP films 3-8). So, the contents...the book (531 pages) is divided into three parts: Part I: The Making of Harry Potter. Introduction. Setting the Scene. HP and the Sorcerer's Stone. HP and the Chamber of Secrets. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. HP and the Goblet of Fire. HP and the Order of the Phoenix. HP and the Half-Blood Prince. HP and the Deathly Hallows. Part II: The Art of Harry Potter. Introduction. Characters: Costuming. Locations: Set Design. Creatures: Special Makeup and Digital Effects. Artifacts: Prop Making. Part III: Epilogue. The Golden Boards. Acknowledgements and Colophon. The book goes in-depth into the many aspects of the film-making process, including valuable insights from and about the directors, actors, and all the other significant people who have worked on the movies, not forgetting the author of course. These details are enhanced by the hundreds of photographs that are found throughout the book, and what makes these pictures all the more extraordinary and valuable to the discerning reader is the fact that many of them were taken on set, during the making of the films, and apart from the photographs there are also full-color paintings in glorious detail. Btw, for those who are wondering about how this compares to Harry Potter Film Wizardry, I'd say they are both complementary (I own a copy of HP Film Wizardry) to each other. For example, in HP Film Wizardry, readers will get a chance to peruse a copy of the Marauder's Map, Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a catalogue from Borgin and Burke's, stickers in the Advanced Potion-Making pamphlet, two boxes of treats (sans the treats) from Honeydukes of Hogsmeade (you can tear them out and fold them into actual treat boxes, not that I would! This is a beautiful volume of substance for any fan of the HP books and movies."
"It is definitely a must for every Harry Potter fan."
"An excellent compendium which deserves a place on every Harry Potter fan's book shelf, detailing problems and solutions in interpreting the story."
"The second part of the book is dedicated to the art of the movies as represented in the costume designs, set design, make up and special effects, and prop making. Curiously, the live animals that "played" Hedwig, Crookshanks and Scabbers were left out of the book, which I thought was a strange oversight since a section or a few paragraphs on their role and that of the animal trainers would have really not been out of place in this book. Except for a picture in the "Locations: Set Design" section of the second half of the book, I couldn't find a reference of her and her character in the sections devoted to the making of "The Chamber of Secrets" or "The Goblet of Fire.""
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Amateur Movie Production

I Liked It, Didn't Love It: Screenplay Development From the Inside Out
A required textbook at universities worldwide for writing, producing, and development courses, the book sheds light on the inner workings of the feature film and TV development process, who all the players are, and how they fit together as content creators at film studios, TV networks, agencies, and production companies. What does "in development" really mean? Monika Skerbelis and Rona Edwards have lived the life of a studio and development executive, having developed and sold screenplays for the past 15 years.
Reviews
"The bookshelves and internet are overflowing with "How-To's" instructing the aspiring writer on how to conceive, write, and perfect their screenplay, but not many tell you what will happen to it once it is submitted and considered."
"I could be wrong, but I think this may be one of the only books that focuses on development."
"As a writer who has yet to sell a script, I've been told snippets of the information in this book by my agent and manager, but I never had the whole picture of what happens when my script leaves my hands."
"Perfect in this issue (I believe the only one about it)."
"For anyone interested in story development and story analysis -- this is a good book with valuable info."
"This book is marvelous in that it clearly shows new writers what will happen to their material once it is ready for Hollywood."
"In Hollywood, tourists buy maps to the homes of the stars."
"kind of fun, behind the scenes view of the biz."
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Best Video

The Wes Anderson Collection
Also available from Matt Zoller Seitz: The Oliver Stone Experience , The Wes Anderson Collection: Bad Dads , The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. , and Mad Men Carousel . “In The Wes Anderson Collection , Seitz expands a series of video essays on Anderson’s influences, illuminating as much of Anderson’s process as possible in a massive, beautifully rendered volume. Although it looks (and sometimes reads) like a coffee table book, The Wes Anderson Collection brings together style and substance to provide a loving homage to Anderson’s films and moviemaking in general.”. ( FILTER ). “ The Wes Anderson Collection comes as close as a book can to reading like a Wes Anderson film.
Reviews
"It's a cool book to page through in moments of time or fully immerse yourself in if you're interesting in making films."
"Anderson doesn't release many films....this book shows you why."
"Essays and interviews by Mark Zoller Seitz, amazing illustrations by Max Dalton and endless fascinating stills from the films plus a potpourri of relevant items from old films, books, magazines, catalogs and advertisements that will have you intrigued and wanting to keep returning again and again to marvel at all this content."
"When I first got the book it was damaged on the corners of the spine (like it had been dropped) but Amazon was great about exchanging it and I had a new book in perfect condition in just two days."
"Bought as a gift for a Wes Anderson fan."
"This was purchased for my son a 21 year old burgeoning film director/producer and he really loved it and read it from cover to cover."
"It's rich with content, behind the scenes photos, exclusive illustrations, and excellent interviews with Wes Anderson."
"This is absolutely essential for anyone who enjoys the films of Wes Anderson and also for anyone who is interested in film as an art form."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Art

The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts
T he Legend of Zelda™: Art and Artifacts contains over four hundred pages of fully realized illustrations from the entire thirty-year history of The Legend of Zelda™ including artwork from the upcoming The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild ! A few years later, the Gameboy and the Super Nintendo cemented Nintendo as one of the premier gaming companies in the world.
Reviews
"First of all, if you're a die hard Zelda fan, nothing in this book is new as this book is essentially a collection of promotional and concept art for the series. You do get art from the entire series from the original Legend of Zelda to Zelda Twilight Princess HD or Zelda Tri Force Heroes."
"This is a must own to learn the history of one of the greatest franchises is video game history."
"The only unique part to the book is the final 40 pages or so that are full of interview Q&A's which are pretty interesting."
"Gorgeous to look at, came safely packaged, no wear and tear, protective plastic sleeve fits perfectly with the cover illustration."
"I bought this book as a gift and it is beautiful!"
"That said, I am an obsessive Zelda image hunter and have sought out most of this art in the past."
"I'm pretty obsessed with everything Zelda, so when I saw this book I had to get it."
"It is surprisingly thick, has tons of artwork from all the games, Breath of the Wild has like a page or 2 dedicated to it but I did not see anything spoilers (BotW only) so that's good, unless I haven't looked through the book enough."
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Best Movie Director Biographies

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It tells of how the company was formed and the various challenges and changes along the way as well as how the people in charge are constantly attempting to maintain Pixar as a separate entity from Disney after being purchased by the latter while fixing Disney's animation studios and making Disney a world class entity itself."
"The book is definitely about creativity and the creative process, but it's equally about business and management."
Find Best Price at Amazon

Best Movie Industry

The Art of Big Hero 6
Walt Disney Animation Studios' Big Hero 6 is the story of Hiro Hamada, a brilliant robotics prodigy who must foil a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. Jessica Julius is a creative executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where she has worked on such films as Frozen , Tangled , Wreck-It Ralph , The Princess and the Frog , and Bolt . For many years, Hall worked within the story department and was the head of story on The Princess and the Frog and Meet the Robinsons .
Reviews
"This is an awesome art book for those into not only digital and traditional art mediums but for designers and graphic artists/designers and architects also! This book surpasses the art of the guardians of the Galaxy ( a book that I loved btw) and is almost on par with the first art of iron man movie book (which to me is top 5 in art of movie books due to the depth of information and photos and most important production art the makers included in their book)."
"Cited by art director Scott Watanabe, there are also influences from anime films such as Tekkonkinkreet, Ghost in the Shell and Akira. Looking at the city's environment concept art, you'll be able to spot Japanese elements such as the tapered rooftops, Koinobori (carp-shaped wind socks), a Golden Gate Bridge lookalike with Torii design elements, signboards with Japanese typography, wooden curved bridges, cherry-blossom trees, etc. There are also major characteristic San Francisco elements such as the roads with very recognisable cable cars, sloping hills, Victorian-style houses, etc. Finally the last part of the book talks briefly about the cinematography used, such as lighting, the new Disney Hyperion renderer and colour script. There's a good amount of text included in the form of introductions for each environment and character, and quotes from the staff talking about the designs."
"The art is absolutely stunning, and the format is like a comic book."
"It is a great book for anyone interested in the movie or just as a reference to gain insight and inspiration for your own concept art."
"I enjoy collecting art books for inspiration on my own artwork & the good people at Disney & Pixar have made that possible."
"It focuses quite a bit on the landscape and the creation of san fransokyo, which i loves to flip through, while giving brief descriptions of some of the scrapped ideas and methods used to create effects, such as cgi art."
"This book has a lot of pages about the settings of the futuristic Sanfransokyo (however you spell it haha), characters and armor."
"If you don't absolutely love Big Hero you must somehow have misplaced your inner child... get this book and rekindle your love for the child you lost."
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Best Stage Lighting

Sketching Light: An Illustrated Tour of the Possibilities of Flash (Voices That Matter)
Following up on the great success of The Moment It Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes, legendary magazine photographer Joe McNally takes us on another memorable ride with Sketching Light, another trip into the land of light--but this time running the gamut from small flash to big flash, and everywhere in between. JOE McNALLY is an internationally acclaimed American photographer and longtime photojournalist.
Reviews
"The conversation will wander, stories will be spun, jokes will be told, detailed insights will be shared, advice will be given, and you'll walk away grateful for the opportunity. > 'Sketching Light' is a book about the possibilities of flash and it covers the full spectrum. You'll also find Joe's signature lighting diagrams--drawn by hand on napkins and sketch pads--for nearly every shoot in the book. I recommend keeping a highlighter and a black marker on hand so that you can annotate your "aha!" You've likely grown accustomed to flipping through photo books, pausing at a pic, and having the caption give you the basics so that you can move on. I guarantee you, however, that as you read Joe's narratives and decode his photos, you'll be a stronger photographer for your efforts. > This is not a beginner's book that lays a foundation of basic concepts and then layers new ideas on top. If you've read Joe's blog, watched his videos on Kelby Training, or attended one of his seminars/workshops, then you've likely seen some of these pix and heard some of these stories before."
"Many times things could be explained in simple straightforward terms, but instead you might need to break out a thesaurus to get some of his points (it makes me glad I have the Kindle edition with built in dictionary). For example, many times he puts reflectors on the ground and bounces small flashes into them on low power, just to fill in shadows slightly... or how he uses multiple TTL cords sometimes to stretch his wireless master signal to a place where his other flashes can "see" the master, even if they happen to be outside the house he's shooting in."
"If you're interested in portraiture, photojournalism, or using TTL flash off-camera, and you haven't familiarized yourself with McNally, you're missing an important reference."
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Best Performing Arts Reference

The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
Using his unprecedented access to the Lucasfilm Archives and its trove of never-before-published “lost” interviews, photos, production notes, factoids, and anecdotes, Star Wars scholar J. W. Rinzler hurtles readers back in time for a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the nearly decade-long quest of George Lucas and his key collaborators to make the “little” movie that became a phenomenon. • the evolution of the now-classic story and characters–including “Annikin Starkiller” and “a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and large gills” named Han Solo. • excerpts from George Lucas’s numerous, ever-morphing script drafts. • the birth of Industrial Light & Magic, the special-effects company that revolutionized Hollywood filmmaking. • the studio-hopping and budget battles that nearly scuttled the entire project. • the director’s early casting saga, which might have led to a film spoken mostly in Japanese–including the intensive auditions that won the cast members their roles and made them legends. • the grueling, nearly catastrophic location shoot in Tunisia and the subsequent breakneck dash at Elstree Studios in London. • the who’s who of young film rebels who pitched in to help–including Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and Brian DePalma. J. W. Rinzler, former executive editor at Lucasfilm Ltd., is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Making of Star Wars and London Times bestseller The Complete Making of Indiana Jones , as well as the #1 NY Times Bestselling graphic novel, adapted from George Lucas's original rough draft, "The Star Wars."
Reviews
"So with all that in mind, I come across this book which had even more production photos I've never seen before, along with countless stories from all the key production people, plus details down to what order the scenes were shot, etc."
"The images, including artist sketches/paintings, storyboards, and actual production photographs are comprehensive and I was amazed that it was all able to fit into the 100 MB it is taking up in my kindle's memory. I know that this enhanced edition is supposed to include audio and video that I cannot view on my monochrome kindle, but at least they are not occupying my memory space."
"Devices read on: * iPad (retina). * Nexus 7 (2013). * iPhone 5. Con: *The pictures*. Still pretty, and many are illuminating, but by default they're never full page -- always a ton of white space around 1-3 zoomable pictures -- so you lose the ease of flipping through pages and just landing on something pretty. *Audio and Video only playable on some devices*. If you have an iPad or Kindle Fire, you're golden. Nothing plays, which is too bad considering the Nexus 7 was my favorite device for actually reading the book."
"Rinzler's book on the original "Star Wars" film (a.k.a."
"The Enhanced Edition eBook is much more approachable to read. Having owned the original hard cover edition, I questioned whether the enhanced edition content would be worth the additional buy."
"I have loved Star Wars my entire life. I loved reading this book."
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Best Stagecraft

Wicked: The Grimmerie, a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical
Wicked is not just a musical, it is a phenomenon. "The book takes you down the yellow brick road and behind the curtains of the great wizard."
Reviews
"If you are or have a Wicked fan in your circle, this is fabulous!"
"Daughter loved it."
"I gave this to a friend for Christmas and he loved it."
"Daughter loved this gift."
"It has marvelous interviews with the actors; behind-the-scenes explanations of how various components, including Elphaba's makeup was done; interesting background on the lyrics and music; gorgeous photographs of the cast and the spectacular stage sets; etc."
"It has behind the scene photos, information, interviews, etc from the original Broadway cast."
"This is a beautiful collectors item!"
"Everyone loved reading the script and learning about the stage costume and the history of Wicked."
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Best Theater

The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information
The third edition updates this popular reference book with new terminology and materials, and adds dozens of new illustrations of grip hardware, film lighting equipment and painting tools.
Reviews
"It is easily the most useful book that I have ever encountered in the world of technical theatre."
"If you run a school drama program or a church christmas play every year you need this book."
"This book contains reference material, formulas & descriptions."
"I currently work in theater and television and this book is great as a reference guide."
"Some small omissions, other than that, a good book to have around."
"Bought it for my sister for her theater class and it helped her a lot!"
"It manages to meet the needs of users of various levels of experience, no easy feat."
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Best Screenplays

Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
“Save the Cat” is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying, including: The four elements of every winning logline The seven immutable laws of screenplay physics The 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by ― and why they’re important to your script Why your Hero must serve your Idea Mastering the 15 Beats Creating the “Perfect Beast” by using The Board to map 40 scenes with conflict and emotional change How to get back on track with proven rules for script repair This ultimate insider’s guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a showbiz veteran who’s proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat. Blake Snyder has written an insider's book that's informative ― and funny, too.” – David Hoberman, Producer, Muppets Most Wanted (2014), The Muppets, The Shaggy Dog , Raising Helen, Walking Tall, Monk (TV).
Reviews
"A little different take on the perspective of writing in general. and screen writing specifically ."
"I guess I should have expected it to be well written."
"Very helpful for screenwriters."
"This was recommended from a YouTube filmmaker video .. glad I took the plunge."
"I am learning about screenwriting and this book came highly recommended."
"Great book on screenwriting (or writing in general)."
"The writing style is easy to read and not preachy."
"It stretched my thinking in regards to the typical genres taught, and I find that refreshing and creatively stimulating."
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