Shoot out - Peter Bart

Hollywood thrives on shoot outs - that series of stand-offs, skirmishes and power struggles that mark every stage of the film-making process - be it a director insisting on final cut, a star demanding a bigger trailer, or a grip with a gripe.

Shoot Out is about how movies are made - from the first pitch to the final cut. For film buffs, aspiring film-makers, students and anyone else intrigued by the inner workings of Hollywood, this is the quintessential take on the how, who, what and why of the film business.

'Packed with insider gossip and some astonishing revelations about the incompetence and self-indulgence that goes on, this is a truly engrossing read. Yet to the authors' credit, none of their stories smack of vindictiveness, whilst the snappy prose ensures that the pages skip by in an entertaining blur. In fact it could be said that this Shoot Out scores a bulls-eye!' Film Review (Book of the Month)