One Hundred Films and a Funeral
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.36 (614 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1854182161 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 258 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-06-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"A must read for anyone interested in the brutally sharp end of the business of film." (Sir Alan Parker)
Rodney Parnther said Excellent Treatise on the Business of Filmmaking. This is one of the better books about professional filmmaking as a business. The perspective is that of a Hollywood outsider (former European music powerhouse Polygram) trying to break into the domain of the major studios in North America and around the globe. It is a cautionary tale of the successes, setbacks and ultimate failure to sustain a European-based major studio. The book is a fun read as Kuhn describes his many encounters with Hollywood celebrities both performers and moguls. Behind all of the tales, however, lies a grea. Europeans Take on Hollywood I caught this 2007 documentary by accident and found it fascinating. I had never heard of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) and didn't know the story. PFE was apparently formed with the intention of developing a European film studio that could produce and distribute films internationally on a scale to match the major Hollywood studios.100 Films and a Funeral focuses on Michael Kuhn and the rise and fall of PFE. Kuhn headed the company from 1991 till 1999, until the company was sold to Seagram, who then stopped film production. P
He describes the beginnings of the company, in London and LA, in the heyday of the '80s and its subsequent meteoric growth throughout the next decade.In the words of Sir Alan Parker, "Michael Kuhn is the visionary who created the most successful global company outside of Hollywood. This book is a brilliant account of the life and death of PolyGram Films seen through the eyes of its British President, Michael Kuhn. He failed, of course, but he very nearly pulled it off. Only one post-war company has come close-- PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. Many Europeans have dreamed of a film studio able to challenge Hollywood on its own ground. Kuhn's candid first-hand account of PolyGram Films' success and demise is a must read for anyone interested in the brutally sharp end of the business of film, or anyone who ever wondered why the films emanating from the Hollywood machine are mostly crap."Combining critical acclaim and popular success with such films as Wild at Heart, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fargo and Notting Hill, PolyGram Films garnered ten Oscars from 1991 until 1998, when its potential was unexpectedly and unaccountably destroyed.This is not only a story of deals won and lost in a ruthless world peopled by titans, sharks, peacocks and all the usual suspects, but a real business adventure that changed the structure of the global film ind
Michael Kuhn studied Law at Cambridge University before becoming an intellectual property specialist. . He joined PolyGram in 1972 and rose to become General Counsel, PolyGram Worldwide. He set up PolyGram Television, producing several successful dramas and series, and also founded PolyGram Specialist Video, which bec