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Wannabe: A Would-Be Player's Misadventures In Hollywood
Everett Weinberger has an Ivy League education and an MBA, but what he really wants to do is produce.
He's willing to start at the bottom-even if it means being Alec Baldwin's personal assistant-but after tapping all his L.A. connections, he still can't land a job. He even blows one interview by forgetting to compliment a studio exec on his car.
When Everett gets work as a "power temp," life gets even weirder. He becomes second assistant to everyone from Frank Wells to Leonard Nimoy, trying to cope with the incessant phone calls and invisible protocols that keep getting him fired.
Wannabe is a scathing and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of a world where even the assistants are political barracudas, by a guy with no bridges left to burn. A real-life Swimming With Sharks, it should be required reading on the Hollywood syllabus.
He's willing to start at the bottom-even if it means being Alec Baldwin's personal assistant-but after tapping all his L.A. connections, he still can't land a job. He even blows one interview by forgetting to compliment a studio exec on his car.
When Everett gets work as a "power temp," life gets even weirder. He becomes second assistant to everyone from Frank Wells to Leonard Nimoy, trying to cope with the incessant phone calls and invisible protocols that keep getting him fired.
Wannabe is a scathing and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of a world where even the assistants are political barracudas, by a guy with no bridges left to burn. A real-life Swimming With Sharks, it should be required reading on the Hollywood syllabus.
- GenresFilmMemoirNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
Published August 15, 1997
19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 16, 2008
Weinberger tells of his experience trying to break into the movie business after graduating from B-school at Stamford. It is an entertaining and informative look behind the scenes at the horror that is tinsel town, where who you know, one’s word is never one’s bond, and where intelligence and knowledge always take second place to connections and style.
February 6, 2013
I really enjoyed this book! This poor kid came fresh out of Columbia with an MBA & thought that this would lead to a lucrative career in Hollywood. What it led to was fetching coffee & being heaped with abuse by some of the town's finest. Ultimately, he goes back to NYC, certainly the wiser for his L.A. experience. I enjoyed his lack of ego as he recounted his mishaps.
April 20, 2021
I read this book years ago because I did the same thing -- work as a Hollywood studio temp. He had some luck that I missed, but we both had our misadventures. If you've ever thought about chucking your career and signing up to be an assistant in a film studio, read this book first. If anything, life for these wannabes has only grown worse.
July 24, 2018
Entertaining read of an MBA that wants to make it in the Media and Entertainment industry.
April 22, 2022
Mildly enjoyable, easy to read, sometimes fun account of the lower rungs of Hollywood.
December 18, 2007
Fun read and true story about a guy who decided to give up his high paying career in finance to try a career in the entertainment field. I actually randomly met the author at an intimate party that a friend had about 2 weeks after I finished the book. It was very exciting for me. I also just added Everett to my Facebook friends.
February 11, 2012
A fun biography about an assistant who has an adventurous few years working his way up the Hollywood assistant ladder before finally coming to his senses.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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