David Rensin

Bernie Brillstein

David Sipress

A noted Hollywood manager and producer draws on his own fifty-year career to provide fifty important lessons, insights, words of wisdom, and rules that can be applied to the business world, including such memorable tips as "Don't pet the snakes," "Have an opinion, even if it's wrong," "It's all lies, and that's the truth," and "Know the difference between hot and good." 50,000 first printing

50 Rules from 50 Years of Trying to Make a Living

The Little Stuff Matters Most

Legendary Hollywood supermanager and producer Bernie Brillstein reveals his collection of wisdom gleaned from his fifty years of insight, instinct, and experience in both business and life. An uncommon collection of common sense, The Little Stuff Matters Most delivers the hard and fast lessons of Brillstein’s unparalleled business experience in fifty pithy, wise, and completely entertaining essays. Brillstein, whose name is synonymous with some of the highest-profile Hollywood careers, shares these invaluable lessons in the clever, unfailingly honest, and inimitable tone for which he is known and loved. Memorable tips include: Know the difference between "hot" and "good" Only doctors and hookers need pagers Don’t pet the snakes Have an opinion, even it it’s wrong It’s all lies, and that’s the truth When your time has come, success will find you The stomachache—and other gastrointestinal warnings Each of the book’s fifty "Bernie-isms" is followed by refreshing commentary, peppered with colorful tales from Bernie’s career and clever drawings by acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist David Sipress. This book is the next best thing to having your own personal manager on call 24/7—without having to fork over 15 percent of your paycheck.

and 49 More Rules from 50 Years of Trying to Make a Living in Hollywood

It's All Lies and That's the Truth

Beginning in the William Morris mail room in 1955, Bernie Brillstein wanted only three things: “to walk into a restaurant and have people know who I am…to be the guy who gets the phone calls and doesn’t have to make them…to represent the one performer people must have.” Throughout his long career at the top of the entertainment industry––as TV and movie producer, agent and brilliant personal manager––Brillstein has accomplished it all. Where Did I Go Right? is Brillstein’s street-smart, funny, and thoroughly human story of a life in show business. With his trademark wit and candor, he speaks out for the first time about his feud with Mike Ovitz, and how it felt to pass the leadership of his company to his partner, Brad Grey, and “no longer be the king.” He describes his close relationship with John Belushi and what it was like being alone with Belushi’s body as it lay “stretched out across two cramped seats in a tiny jet, wrapped up in a body bag” on the way to his funeral. He shares stories about Jim Hensen and Gilda Radner, about Lorne Michaels and the early days of Saturday Night Live. He takes us behind the scenes at such hits as The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, and The Muppet Show. Brillstein also reveals his secrets about how to survive and prosper in Hollywood, the real meaning of “the art of the deal,” the difference between “hot” and “good,” and why instinct is so crucial to the future of the entertainment industry. “Becoming successful is the most fun of all. I’m not talking about being successful or staying successful. I mean the getting there, the instant you arrive, and for the first time you think, ‘Where did I go right?’” After eight years, Phoenix Books is re-releasing this bestseller, with an updated epilogue from Bernie Brillstein entitled, “Still going right.”

Bernie Brillstein

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