Hidden Talent
The Emergence of Hollywood Agents
1st Edition
Published on 3. November 2009
312 pages
978-0-520-94474-9 (ISBN)
Description
Katharine Hepburn, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall-behind each of these stars was a hidden force: the talent agent. In this first-ever history of Hollywood agents, Tom Kemper mines agency archives to present an insider's view on their tooth-and-claw rise to power during the studio era. It's a tale of ambitious characters, savvy calculation, muckraking, financial ruin, and ultimate triumph, and establishes the agent's vital role in the Hollywood business world. Existing studies characterize agents as a product of the 1950s, but Kemper revises the record to show how agents emerged from the primordial film industry during the late 1920s and carved themselves a permanent niche. Through case studies of key figures like Myron Selznick and Charles Feldman, we see that the agent's character and social relationships functioned within a business structure-a good reputation and powerful connections were his most precious assets. With wit and precision, Kemper locates Hollywood agents at the crossroads of talent and profit, and captures their central and enduring role in the burgeoning film industry.
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11/2009
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University of California Press
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11/2009
1st Edition
University of California Press
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Person
Tom Kemper is Visiting Lecturer at the University of Southern California, and a teacher at the Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
Content
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. City of Agents: The Power of Place
2. Revenge of the Agent: Myron Selznick
3. A Percentage of Power: Small Agents
4. Charisma and Contracts: Charles Feldman
5. Numbers and Niches: Boutique Agencies
6. Sealing the Deal: The Contract Industry
7. My Man Myron: Power and Persuasion
8. What Made Myron Run?: The Whole Equation
9. Tall in the Saddle: Agents in the Producer's Chair
10. The Deal Factory: New Fortunes in the Forties
Epilogue. The Corporate Era: Changing Channels
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. City of Agents: The Power of Place
2. Revenge of the Agent: Myron Selznick
3. A Percentage of Power: Small Agents
4. Charisma and Contracts: Charles Feldman
5. Numbers and Niches: Boutique Agencies
6. Sealing the Deal: The Contract Industry
7. My Man Myron: Power and Persuasion
8. What Made Myron Run?: The Whole Equation
9. Tall in the Saddle: Agents in the Producer's Chair
10. The Deal Factory: New Fortunes in the Forties
Epilogue. The Corporate Era: Changing Channels
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
