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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. “Just might be the best business book ever written.” — Forbes “Achieving enormous success while holding fast to the highest artistic standards is a nice trick—and Pixar, with its creative leadership and persistent commitment to innovation, has pulled it off. 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. Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
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."
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Making Movies
Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day’s Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict —and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino—Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic. It's well known that a vast number of people work on any given movie in roles as varied as writing scripts, choosing locations, dressing sets, costuming the players, lighting scenes, manipulating the camera, directing actors, editing film, working on sound, advertising the finished product, and screening it to an audience. His enthusiasm for his life's work, particularly his love of actors, is evident on every page of this book.
Reviews
"Outstanding book on describing how movies are made from a great director."
"A great go-to book to understand what goes inti being a director."
"Sidney Lumet made great films and was known by actors as a great director."
"I figured this would be a dry step-by-step manual on who does what in the crew, but Lumet pumps the chapters full of attitude, to the point even with all the pain and angst that goes into making movies, you want to pick up a camera and start shooting."
"A friend recommended this book saying, "I'm not sure you want to learn about making movies, but this is a great project management book." But if you're going to buy this book, buy it because you're interested in how movies get made, starting right from how a script is chosen, through to the preview. Roger Ebert's cover blurb states "I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them."
"Was expecting it to be a bit dry, but I wound up reading the whole book in the first reading."
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The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age: 2013 Edition
Widely acknowledged as the “bible” of video and film production, and used in courses around the world, The Filmmaker’s Handbook is now updated with the latest advances in HD and new digital formats. Billed as the authoritative guide to filmmaking from fundraising to distribution, the book achieves this in clear, accessible language using current up-to-date information. A gilt-edged investment for aspiring and beginning filmmakers and it would not be out of place in the libraries of experienced professionals either.”—James MacGregor, Netribution.co.uk. No matter what corner of the subject I poked into, looking for cogent explanations, the Handbook passed with flying colors. So please accept my admiration, appreciation and thanks.”—Pat Jackson, Associate Professor, San Francisco State University; Emmy-winning Supervising Sound Editor. Edward Pincus was a director of many films, including The Axe in the Attic and One Cut, One Life.
Reviews
"I feel like film school won't be worth the money by the time I'm done reading this cover to cover."
"This is a great book."
"Great book, best one yet have gotten on amazon, great price too."
"I have been making videos for friends, families, and clients for years without any type of formal training."
"The only criticism I have is with the quality of the paper and text formatting of the book."
"This book is perfect for film students and anyone looking to go into film."
"Don't expect deep dive step by step guide how to be a filmmaker, but great for start!"
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Best Video Guides & Reviews

The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems
Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to: •Understand what makes great stories work. •Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models. •Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight. •Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does. •Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever. Whatever your problem, screenwriting guru Syd Field can help; he's written four previous books on screenwriting, teaches worldwide, and is "involved in the reading and writing of about a thousand screenplays a year." His fixes generally involve getting to know your characters or story better, through the use of automatic writing, biographical sketches, and the like. For examples of spectacular screenwriting, he offers excerpts from the screenplays for Thelma and Louise , The Shawshank Redemption , Pulp Fiction , Apollo 13 , and Silence of the Lambs . And you'll thank him for persuading you that, yes, "a problem is an opportunity, a challenge that will allow you to ultimately improve your craft."
Reviews
"An excellent guide, but you should read his book Screenplay – The Foundations of Screenwriting first in order to better understand his terminology."
"Fully appreciate the clear guidance through the maze of hidden screenwriting problems."
"This is helping me so much to get past the hiccups in my screenwriting."
"This is one of the best books I've read on the art of diagnosing and editing screenplay problems."
"everything that i had hoped for."
"I run into problems with scenes that don't fit and the book easily explains what to do."
"Bought it new and it arrived in great condition!"
"Good information."
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Best Video Reference

The Hollywood Book Of Scandals: The Shocking, Often Disgraceful Deeds and Affairs of More than 100 American Movie and TV Idols (Encore Film Book Classics 10)
You’ll get the deep dish on: * The William Desmond Taylor murder case. * Wallace Reid’s drug-filled finale. * Jean Harlow and Paul Bern’s deadly marriage. * Errol Flynn’s statutory rape trial. * Loretta Young and Clark Gable’s secret love child. * Liz Taylor’s seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher. * Judy Garland’s pathetic public meltdown. * Marilyn Monroe’s sad fate. * Bob Crane’s baffling ghastly murder. * The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video. * The sensational fallout of Woody Allen’s union with Mia Farrow. * The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. `* O.J. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk! Silent film star Wallace Reid's tragic death from drug addiction Errol Flynn's statutory rape trial Loretta Young and Clark Gable's secret love child Liz Taylor's seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher Judy Garland's pathetic public meltdown Bob Crane's baffling death The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur Winona Ryder's infamous shoplifting spree and trial The Robert Blake murder trial. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk!
Reviews
"My mother loves these Hollywood scandal type books and she read this one in an afternoon."
"Good behind the scenes stories... lots of information regarding each story."
"Another great addition to my collection of Hollywood stories about the rich and snotty folks who never can get enough of anything, especially their own egos."
"If you love gossip, scandals, Hollywood, or history this is a must read."
"I love to learn anything I can about celebrities and this is one of those books that I learn quite a bit about old Hollywood; I can't wait to buy all the other books this author has!"
"Really a great add to my collection."
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Best Technical Video

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. “I can’t think of a more prophetic, more thoughtful, more necessary – and yes, more entertaining – book about media culture.” –Victor Navasky, National Book Award-winning author of The Art of Controversy “All I can say about Neil Postman’s brilliant Amusing Ourselves to Death is: Guilty As Charged.” –Matt Groening, Creator of The Simpsons “As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman’s dark picture of our media-saturated future.
Reviews
""Amusing Ourselves to Death" is an amazingly written and well-argued book. Today, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have bite-sized debates where one side speaks for 1 minute and the other side gets a 30-second rebuttal. Clearly, the people then were different from the people now in terms of mainstream intelligence. The reason, Postman argues, is that the people in Dickens' era were children of "The Age of Typography," and the people today (us) are the children of "The Age of Show Business," or "The Age of Television." This book was written in 1985, but don't be fooled; it still wields enormous relevance today -- The chapter titled, "Peek-a-Boo-World" as well as the "Information-to-action-ratio" theory outlined in it are particularly pertinent regarding the modern-day use of the internet, especially with portable laptops, tablets, and cellphones."
"The book comes in 2 parts."
"Postman brought many things to light that I had not even thought about."
"Very informative in content, even for an older book."
"The type of media itself profoundly changes us apart from the content of the media."
"But while they were sci fi dystopias imposed from the top-down to control society, Postman predicted we, the people, are racing toward our own destruction in pursuit of pleasure and leisure."
"The typographic vs telegraphic mind, questioning what is television, continuity/discontinuity, context/decontextualization, hell even acculturation and cultural imperialism are hinted here."
"This book will open your mind to facts about itself and the effects of an entertainment culture that you never even considered."
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