Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with Hollywood

Men's Hollywood Fashion

Astro Zombie — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:05:44 -0800

Name some iconic men's outfits from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I'm speaking of outfits from movies made in and set in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s. (Contemporary films set in that era are also allowable, to a lesser extent.) I'm looking for clothes that are instantly identifiable with the role and the male actor, such as Bogie's white evening coat from Casabanca, Brando's biker uniform from The Wild One, and James Dean's red windbreaker from Rebel Without a Cause. It can be from a supporting character in a film, if the outfit is distinctive and recognizable enough. Focus on, but not limited to, dress clothes. Television shows from the era are also acceptable.

Looking for coverage work

Bookhouse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:34:47 -0800

How does one find work as a script reader in Hollywood? What are other bottom-rung industry jobs for writers? I've just moved to L.A., and am interested in finding work as a script-reader while I work on my own writing. However, I'm not sure how to get started. Does one query agencies? Write spec coverage? All tips and advice welcome.

Also, information on other industry jobs that are a good fit for professional writers is welcome.

Follow my dreams or follow the money?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:38:40 -0800

I'm 33 years old, make a low six figure income, married, no kids. Up for big promotion. Is it time to give up my dreams of being a writer? LOTS more inside... Since I was 7 I have had one dream--be a writer. Other kids wanted to be firemen, astronauts, etc. I wanted to be a writer...and very very rich. The type of writing changed, it started off as I wanted to write novels, and then it became comic books, and then movies. Now, as an adult, it's a big combination of those.

While I consider myself talented, I am currently unpublished and truly not a very disciplined writer. I go through spurts where I write lots, including some early this year where I really flexed that creative muscle and gave my all in a "write your own comic book" writing contest a comic book company had. I also have written a self-help book that is about 70% done, and I have lots of ideas for short stories, comic books, etc. My wife is very supportive of my dreams of writing.

My undergraduate degree is in media production with a focus on television and radio work. When I graduated college my dream was to work in television, and I wrote a screenplay while I was in college and my friends and I almost filmed the movie, but we did not.

After college though I found myself in need of non-minimum wage earning work, and I got a job designing web pages. I have always been good with computers and worked professionally in computers for several years.

When full motion video games were en vogue (Under a Killing Moon, Wing Commander 3, etc) I thought I would like to write video games as some back then had a great story. I decided to "break into" video games as a programmer as I was working in IT and I went back and got my Master's degree in Computer Science.

Fast forward 8 years...I never got into games (interviewed in person with some big names but I didn't have enough experience). And I met a woman, fell in love, and got married. We have no plans to have kids. Since I was not getting a games job I looked for professional programming jobs in my area and ended up getting one.

I never gave 100% to my day job, I never have even given 50% to my day job. Mostly I have sleepwalked through my jobs while in my off time working on pursuing fame and fortune. I've even acquired a bit of internet "fame" with a podcast that gets about 1.2 million downloads per year... Through this internet "fame" I have actually made some B and C level contacts who work in Television, etc. some of whom I can truly call "friends". It's very nice.

But in this time I've met a lot of working professionals...writers...and I've come to realize my life is far more comfortable then theirs. I make (very) low six figures and live in a very low cost of living area. Most of my income is from my day job, NOT from my podcast...while I approach my podcast as a business it is truly at this point a time-consuming hobby and if it went away tomorrow my lifestyle would not change.

So I see these professional writers, directors, actors, etc. and they're all scraping by. They can't afford extra cash to travel, something I really like, and they work their behinds off to make less than I do in areas that have higher cost of living than I do.

To be honest, I want a life where I live at the style of living I have now or better but my career is something I enjoy, which is being creative, working with creative people, and creating things. Be that in writing, producing, etc. This is "my dream". But now I have very good friends who are trying to "live the dream" and it seems to me that these friends are also useful contacts and I could pretty easily jump the fence and become a struggling artist like they are.

But my wife and I like material things. We like our creature comforts. We enjoy our style of living (combined salary is over 150k) and we don't want to give that up.

So here is my question: is it time to stop pursuing foolish dreams of working creatively, writing comics, writing novels, producing television, and actually give my all to my day job where I am quite successful and live a life where I enjoy the 16 hours per day I'm not working and ignore the 8 hours per day I am? Or should I continue to spend time and some money to harvest contacts, and either self-publish a comic book or some other creative venture?

I just don't want to be the 40 year old businessman who is constantly writing the "great American novel" in his spare time...

Hollywood Sign Trademarked?

Ragma — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:29:58 -0800

I just got a cease and desist letter from a company that claims the Hollywood sign is one of it's clients. They are demanding monetary damages for a tourist photo of the sign I have on my website. Help. WTF? Etc. So I was at first assuming this was an April fools joke, but they do indeed claim the sign as a client. And they do send out cease and desists and demand damage payments for using the photo. And the Hollywood Chamber website does say you need permission to use images of the sign. This is news to me.

Their claim is that the photo on my website "may represent an unlawful attempt to associate [my website] with the Property and improperly indicates the Chamber's endorsement and / or approval of [my website] and their services."

They want money. I'm suppose to give them all documents necessary for them to determine how much I owe them.

Now....... It's just a tourist photo. And I explicitly make no copyright claims about the photo. And it's not used in any way that even the most determined lawyer could argue constitutes or suggests any association or endorsement. I have Google ads, but I'm not selling anything, and the site has nothing to do with Hollywood, movies, Los Angeles, or movie stars.

I don't think I'm doing anything even remotely wrong here, and I don't want to take the photo off my website. But there is the threat to obtain monetary damages to deal with as well. My initial reaction is to hire a lawyer and counter sue them, but I have no idea where to go with that.

My question - What are my options here, and my best course of action? I'm not rich, so fighting this in court isn't something I can bankroll. But if they are indeed going to try and squeeze $5000 from me I'd rather use that money for a lawyer than just hand it over.

Knife sharpening

TigerCrane — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:59:43 -0800

Where can I get knives sharpened in the Hollywood (CA) area?

Hollywood's finest?

messylissa — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:55:27 -0800

Famous examples of personality disorders? I'm working on presentation of personality disorders for a graduate class, and I want it to be slightly more interesting than the book reports I've spent the last 4 weeks listening to. I remember my undergraduate professor having some awesome pop culture examples of the different personality disorders, but I'm coming up short on several of the disorders (and yes, I know I could email him, and yes, I've tried Google).

So far, I've got examples for Schizoid, Antisocial, and Histrionic Personality Disorders. So....what are your awesome/entertaining examples of:

-Paranoid Personality Disorder
-Schizotypal Personality D/o
-Borderline Personality D/o
-Narcissistic Personality D/o
-Avoidant Personality D/o
-Dependent Personality D/o
-Obsessive Compulsive Personality D/o

Actual famous people, movie/tv characters, whatever, are all great.

How do I find a star-for-hire in London?

Elle Vator — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:52:52 -0800

How do I find a list of publicists for stars of the theatrical stage or screen? Basically, I can be a hero if I can find celebrities currently in London, England recognizable to a Canadian audience. We need to hire them for a charming bit on our show... but the ones on our short list have not turned out. Therefore, I am now looking to get in touch with an appropriate publicist who has LOTS of clients and who can make suggestions as to who we should use, and then give them to us. ...or directly in touch with a celebrity or agent or manager, or a website or a magic genie who can get me the perfect happen-to-be-in-London celebs (we actually need three) within two weeks.

Yes, this is my third question alone these lines - the good news is you guys are giving me GREAT advice. What would you do if you were me and in this situation? Where would you go? Who would you call?

Thanks so much... ElleVator

Residuals for the working man

zerobyproxy — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:09:58 -0800

If Steve Guttenburg never, ever worked again, how much money would he earn yearly? This is not a dis of Steve Guttenburg. Flipping past HBO and I saw that they were showing Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment. I realized that I had not seen anything with him in it for a while. So I took a look at IMDB. There, I found that he has many film acting credits, some of which were very successful (Three Men and a Baby, Diner). I have absolutely no idea how much an actor of his experience earns in residuals so, any of you MeFites who know, give me a clue? Are we talking $1,000 or $100,000 a month? Can you explain how it is determined (structured)? I always have wondered which actors, who I would never guess, are set for life because of well negotiated contracts coupled with high grossing films (or well received television shows).

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

What "can't miss" movies actually missed?

unceman — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:10:23 -0800

What "can't miss" movies actually missed? I need help coming up with a list of movies that have been "Hollywood-ized". A promising film with a great story gets transformed into something worse during the film making process. Such as the ending gets changed, an obvious mis-cast of key characters, poor editing, whatever. I would like to keep the list of movies contemporary (within the last 25 years or so) Explanations for each movie listed is encouraged.

Does Hollywood Want Us To Be Scabs?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:50:57 -0800

Is my comedy group being asked to scab? So, long story short. My comedy group gets a call last month to submit some material for an industry showcase in Los Angeles.

Now, we're from what is essentially a hick town. The industry person saw us perform at a festival about a year and a half ago. Collectively, we know next to nothing about the TV/Film industry - and never imagined that we would need to.

They are asking to see some material from us, including sketch scripts. There has been no discussion of doing anything but taking a look at our group if they like our work.

Is this business as usual for Hollywood or are we being asked to cross the picket lines? We don't want to be in a situation where we get to do a showcase and then, once the strike is over, never get another opportunity again.

For the record, we all support the WGA and want to do the right thing here. We just don't know what the right thing is.

Blogs of Hollywood -- the place, not the industry

Astro Zombie — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:06:19 -0800

Help me find blogs about Hollywood -- BUT (and this is important) about the place, not the industry. I am looking for blogs by and for residents of downtown Hollywood, East Hollywood, Griffith Park, the Melrose district, etc. The blogs can be on any subject -- even the entertainment industry -- as long as they are written from the perspective of people who actually live in the neighborhood.

Tinseltowner? Boulebard of Broken Dreamsite?

Astro Zombie — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:23:51 -0800

What do you call someone who hails from Hollywood. Hollywoodan? Hollywoodite? Nothing sounds right, and I can't seem to find any reference online.

If they don't already have a name, help me make one up. Hollywoodlander? Hollywoodski?

Who was Les Cripe?

seeka — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:23:11 -0800

Who was Les Cripe? Saw this name on a tombstone in Westwood Memorial. The name stuck with me because I thought it was a French phrase - which I tried to look up when I got home later in that day - no dice.

A month later, I checked out a book from the Los Angeles Public library. The front piece of the book said it was dedicated to the memory of Les Cripe.

I tried an imdb search for Les Cripe, and found the movie "Gods and Monsters" was dedicated to him (her?). Alas, the information trail has grown cold...

Anyway, is anyone familiar this person and what his/her impact on Hollywood (or other places) might have been?

I'm simply curious - the name and the potential mystery stirs my historical imagination. Thanks in advance for any information!

A list of films to make someone Hollywood literate?

Bookhouse — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:50:36 -0800

Help me find a list of films to give someone a Hollywood education. My girlfriend is preparing to move from theater design to production design in Hollywood. While this is going to lead to a slew of questions over the next year, first thing first: my beloved really hasn't seen very many movies (she's never seen Star Wars, for God's sake). I'm looking for a list of films that will allow her to be conversant when dealing with the Hollywood crowd. I'm not looking for a list of "important" or "great" films, but instead an overview of the big films from Hollywood over the last 30 years or so, or maybe one that focuses on the big directors of the past few decades. I'm not looking for individual film suggestions (I have plenty of those), but something with a larger framework to give the list some structure.

What are the pillars of Hollywood Babylon?

Bookhouse — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:06:30 -0800

Please point me to resources on the sordid underbelly of Hollywood. I'm very interested in the inner workings of the Hollywood lifestyle -- the people and industries that prop up the stars and buffer them from scandal. I'm talking about the paparazzi, publicists, bodyguards, entourages, lawyers, club owners, assistants, gossip-mongers, dealers, drivers, thugs, rehabbers and fixers that rotate around celebrities. Are there any good books about the mechanics of the industrial-fame complex? Other resources about all the people that go into making a juicy blind item? (Websites, documentaries -- I hear that the star of Entourage is making a documentary on the paparazzi, which got me thinking about this in the first place).

I'm also a guilty fan of tell-alls of the Hollywood Babylon variety, and would welcome modern books of the same ilk, but I'm more interested in the people who prevent such books from being published until the stars are dead.

Can I legally use celebrity's names in a browser-based game?

slater — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:54:46 -0800

In a browser-based game, am I allowed to use the real names of actors and actresses, or do I need to use similar sounding names so as not to get into legal trouble? The game would be a kind of "hollywood simulator", you start with a coupla million in play money and make movies. You select the actors/actresses from a list of names, then select the director, and so forth

Server location would be @ dreamhost (I believe they're in LA? Or San Francisco. Either way, in the US), but could be moved to Switzerland if necessary.

Is East Hollywood Right for Us?

crabintheocean — Sun, 27 May 2007 01:51:02 -0800

What can you tell me about East Hollywood/South Los Feliz/North Koreatown? (Los Angeles) So following up on this, nearly two years later, we're going to do it!

We'll be moving in the fall, but I'm trying to get super prepared; apologies in advance as I become one of those people that ask a string of related, narrative questions! I've narrowed our housing search down to a fairly small area I think, and I'd love some feedback on whether it's a good choice, and some LA resident perspective and info on it.

We're looking at the area clustered around the 101, a little way north of Downtown. That means the northern part of Koreatown, down to about Wilshire, and the area above the 101 to the west of Silverlake that I've seen called East Hollywood (and Little Armenia and Thai Town) - up to about Franklin Ave. I'm especially interested in the area around Barnsdall Park and Los Feliz Elementary School. This is what we need, and why I think this area sounds good:

- One of us will be working at Wilshire and Normandie, and would love to stay sane by metroing there (the other will be working from home or driving just about anywhere, so we also need easy freeway access.

- We need room to park two cars, not being able to do that will make our lives hell, I have the impression that further East in Silverlake or Echo Park parking is much worse and apartments tend to be more cramped.

- We want to be able to walk to a coffee shop and grocery store. We live in unwalkable suburban hell right now, no more thanks!

- We want kids in the next couple of years, so we want to be near an ok elementary school (Los Feliz Elementary?) and we're not comfortable with a slightly higher level of crime (Westlake?) that would probably be ok for just us.

- We're lesbians in our mid twenties and want to live somewhere that will be ok. We want easy access to things like a lesbian parent's group that we've heard we might find in Echo Park. However, the gay scene is not all that interesting to us, and we'd rather be near cool, sleazy dive bar type stuff.

- We can afford $1300 - $1800 a month for rent fairly comfortably, and need a 2 bedroom (realistic?). We'd love a decent amount of space, and an attractive building.

So, ok choice? anywhere else I should be thinking about? what's it really like around there, and what else should I know? Bonus point, what do you call that area north of the 101?

You liked the movie? Now buy the shoelaces

rileyray3000 — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:44:55 -0800

What is the best way to search for Celebrity owned or worn items on Ebay? As part of an assignment for work I'm trying to see what Celebrities I can buy things from for less than 20 bucks. And by that I mean actual items or clothing that used to be theirs. Like for shirts worn by Tom Hanks. Or a book that was in Agatha Christie's library

So aside from searching each celeb one at a time what's the best way to go about it? Should I be going to a specific section or are there specific search terms I should use?

Filming explosions and informing the neighborhood?

slater — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 09:55:31 -0800

What do film crews and/or movie companies do to warn residents of their pyrotastic filmings in the neighborhood? i recently watched Die Hard with a vengeance. Early in the movie, they blow up an area in (what seems to be) downtown New York. Got me thinking that in these days, they probably wouldn't be allowed to film that for fear of the police & fbi being flooded with "omg terrrrrrists!!!" calls.

So how DO the movie people make sure that truly, really, everyone in the vicinity is informed that they're only filming a movie?

Bird is the word.

donguanella — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:28:38 -0800

Los Angeles Residents: Can anyone identify what the heck these birds are, hanging from power lines all over Hollywood and the West Side? I've seen at least a dozen of them all over town. They're hanging off of power lines from what appears to be a string and a combination lock. The one in the image below is from 3rd and Robertson.

Any idea who put them there and what they represent?

Shaving Ryan's Privates

dead_ — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:25:15 -0800

I'm looking for a list of adult film's that borrow part of their title from big name Hollywood movies. (Answers will probably be NSFW) You know the kind, the porno titles that are a play off of a Hollywood blockbuster. As many as you can give me.

Termites in Hollywood

dentata — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 00:01:50 -0800

Who's responsible for a termite infestation? Tenant or landlord? I just moved into a four-plex a month ago. We found out yesterday that there's a termite infestation in the attic and basement, and they need to tent the apartment, meaning that we tenants need to move out for a couple days (with our pets).

The landlords have offered to take 2 days off our rent. Shouldn't they be paying to put us up? Do insect infestations constitute negligence or are they an act of god? We know that the landlords haven't treated the house for termites in 25 years.

Any opinions? I live in Hollywood, if that helps. Anyone know where I can research the legality of this?

Evidence of un-American activities

stammer — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:04:38 -0800

Is there a site where I can read ALL the transcripts of the evidence given by "friendly witnesses" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities? I've found a couple with transcripts of the really prominent ones, like Ayn Rand and Ronald Reagan, but I'm looking for the whole lot. I'm specifically interested in Josh White.

Action!

andrewyakovlev — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 16:51:51 -0800

[filmfilter] What are some of your favorite chase sequences and/or man with a bomb sequences? doing some reasearch :]

How to get out of wrongful late fees?

jenovus — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:22:38 -0800

My brother has received notice of a rather large DVD rental late fee. The trouble is, we know he returned the DVD. Is there an optimal strategy for getting the store to remove the charge? My younger (and more responsible) brother just received notice in the mail of an accumulating late fee for an unreturned DVD. Apparently, the fee is now $50 (!) and will be referred to a collection agency within ten days. This is the first he's heard of it—it's not a store our family frequents—but I remember going with him to return the DVD in the late-night drop slot.

All this being said, is there any way to get the fee remitted with a minimum of hassle? Perhaps any Mefites who once worked at a video rental store could advise. Thanks in advance!