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BLOCKBUSTED! Exclusive discount for WriteMovies subscribers!

BLOCKBUSTED! Exclusive discount for WriteMovies subscribers!

30% off for all WriteMovies newsletter subscribers!

This ground-breaking new book shows how Hollywood developed its ‘calculated blockbuster’ and created a replicable model for success which all industry professionals can use to their advantage. Packed with insights and unheard stories from the massive films of the past and today through an industry insider’s perspective, it’s a must-read for screenwriters, producers and anyone with a passion for the movies over recent decades.

The book is published here in hardback ($110) and eBook ($45) formats:

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666911084/The-Evolution-of-Hollywood’s-Calculated-Blockbuster-Films-Blockbusted

An exclusive 30% discount is available to all WriteMovies subscribers. It’s easy to get the discount – just directly email info@writemovies.com to request the promo code!

To subscribe check the menus at the bottom of the page.

Cover Image

About Alexander Ross and BLOCKBUSTED…

Dr. Alexander Ross launched his journey into filmmaking, as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, by watching a lot more films at the Arts Cinema than attending lectures. On graduating, he was hired by Ismail Merchant (Merchant/Ivory Productions) to work on a film as assistant director.

Ross later went to Los Angeles, working for MGM Studios as a story analyst. With a keen eye for spotting scripts with great winning potential, he was hired by a literary agency based in Beverly Hills. Sifting through the pile of rejections, he noticed a script by a then unknown Quentin Tarantino, as well as one by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show). The discoveries gave his career a major boost.

Several years later, Ross created his own management company, helped to finance a number of films, produced a romcom (which he sold to Warner Bros.), founded www.writemovies.com, ran more than 5,000 pitch meetings at the studios, (mainly with the heads of production), became an expert consultant to the European Union: Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), as well as to several hedge funds and family offices looking to invest in motion pictures. With his deep reservoir of knowledge about Hollywood’s inner sanctum, he decided to write about his experiences and so headed back to the UK to do a PhD. His first major publication came in the 2019 anthology on the film Grease: “Grease is the Word”.

Now, “The Evolution of Hollywood’s Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted” is his most extensive probe into Hollywood’s most dynamic era. It is the first contemporary book to delve deep into the studio process behind the making of some of the defining modern blockbusters of the 1970s and 1980s, by engaging directly with many of the leading executives who run Hollywood.

The book investigates William Goldman’s “Nobody knows anything” contention which suggests that every film the studios make is a colossal gamble. Over eight years of research, which included dozens of interviews with leading filmmakers and leading film academics, revealed that not only do the studios know exactly what they are doing, but by using replicable key markers of success, they have radically reduced the risk in film investment and significantly increased their multi-platform revenue streams.blockbusted by dr alex ross

This book is intended not just for scholars, undergraduates and post-graduates, but also for the fans of The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T., Back to the Future etc. who want to find out what really made those films work. It also provides budding screenwriters, directors, producers, agents and studio executives with the keys to the kingdom.

The book shows specific, detailed instructions on how to make highly successful movies, repeatedly.

 

Email info@writemovies.com to get your 30% discount today!

BLOCKBUSTED! Exclusive discount for WriteMovies subscribers!

‘Blockbusted’ book cover revealed!

Exclusive reveal from Dr Alex Ross’s groundbreaking new book.

Due out in May, this fascinating new volume will open up unique insights into how Hollywood invented and evolved its ‘calculated blockbuster’, and its future in the age of streaming. Check out the book’s newly-unveiled cover, including inspiring quotes and testimonials we’ll share below! Just another example of the value we at WriteMovies bring to the industry and to your projects: all our consultancy services can be delivered by Dr Alex Ross directly. Get in touch today!

Consultancy Services by Alex Ross at WriteMovies.com

Here’s the cover to BLOCKBUSTED…

Blockbusted book cover revealed

 

And here’s what it has to say…

“This book outlines in extensive and unique detail how studios make money not just on blockbusters, but also eventually from all movies, as Alexander Ross uses his vast experience, inside knowledge, and scholarly expertise to lay out both the successes and the mistakes of the ‘blockbuster era.’ I highly recommend it to scholars in film studies and business, film school students working toward a career in the film industry, and budding film producers and studio executives.”
– Hal Lieberman, Former Head of Production at Universal Pictures

“This book provides an original and welcome contribution to the literature about Hollywood. Building on his ears of experience in the film industry, insights from prominent industry actors, and rigorous research, Alexander Ross offers a compelling account of the risk of the modern blockbuster business model through details case studies of seminal movies, and of its viability in the streaming video-on-demand age. A valuable read for cinema students, scholars, and professionals.”
– Allègre Hadida, Universty of Cambridge

“In these case studies, Ross debunks many myths built up about them. His case studies demonstrate the relentless attention of studio executives to the possibilities of generating revenue. This book captures this practice and, in so doing, provides a valuable contribution to the hard-nosed worldview of Hollywood.”
– John Sedgwick, Oxford Brookes University

In this book, Alexander Ross highlights how creative entrepreneurs saved the Hollywood studios in the 1970s by establishing the calculated blockbuster, consisting of key replicable markers of success, as Hollywood’s preeminent business model. Ross demonstrates how visionary individuals such as Coppola, Spielberg, Lucas, and Zemeckis helped create the modern, calculated blockbuster business model (BBM). However, with the rise of streaming giants and the studios struggling to compete, many consumers of entertainment now elect to partake from the comfort of their homes, making the difference between “cinema” and “television” anachronistic. Revisiting the history of those 1970s blockbusters and their ongoing impact on contemporary filmmaking, Ross offers distinct analysis on whether the calculated blockbuster can continue to lead, or if the streamers will continue to generate their own content and, eventually, fully control the dissemination process. For scholars and students in film, pop culture, and business along with aspiring filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, and executives, the book will be a valued resource.

Alexander Ross is a researcher in history at New College, University of Oxford.

 

Click here for Mentoring services by Alex Ross at WriteMovies.com

BLOCKBUSTED! Exclusive discount for WriteMovies subscribers!

New video: No one reads a rewrite.

Value your time – consult with a Hollywood professional.

Dr. Alex Ross says: “Value your time, always run a new script idea by an industry pro first. I have 20+ years of experience in the film industry. I work with all the studios and major agencies. Several of my clients have received Academy Nominations.

At whatever stage of writing you are, just let me know what you need. No one reads a rewrite. My feedback will optimize your script…”

 

Contact Dr. Alex Ross today!
dr alex ross mentor

Introducing our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner: DISTANT STARS by Illimani Ferreira!

Introducing our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner: DISTANT STARS by Illimani Ferreira!

distant starsOver the coming weeks and months, we’ll be showcasing our many award winners from 2022 as we pitch them to successful producers and studios.

First is our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner, a vivid portrait of a future family finding peace and happiness together in a deep-space setting, only to be torn apart by wars and social conflict as they try to reunite.

When a sentimental miner moves to a safer planet ahead of his studious husband and their daughter, an interplanetary class war threatens to divide the family forever.

To express an interest in producing or optioning this script, contact talent@atalentscout.com now!

About the writer:

Illimani Ferreira

Illimani Ferreira is a Brazilian writer currently living in the United States, more precisely in Coastal Oregon, where he is trying to figure out if, as a person who grew up in Brazil’s central savannas, he is a beach person or not.
Before moving to the United States, Illimani Ferreira had the chance to live in different countries such as Brazil, France, and Canada, and work in different fields, from Social Housing policy consulting to scrubbing toilet bowls at 3 am in a shelter for homeless persons living with the HIV. As an immigrant himself, Illimani cares deeply for matters related to immigrant rights.
Illimani’s writing is focused on a broad range of Science Fiction that can go from a grimdark noir to the zaniest of comedies. He likes to think that there is a bittersweet signature in everything he writes and, although his Latinx identity doesn’t steer his writing, it does illuminate his perspective. The same applies to the fact that he is a gay man.

Industry Diary, January 2023: latest industry interviews, plus how scripts foreshadow news stories!

Industry Diary, January 2023: latest industry interviews, plus how scripts foreshadow news stories!

A glimpse under the hood at how we’re developing our winners, forging industry links and pitching.

Developing scripts with our winners, and readying them for the right time to pitch, is a unique pleasure of our position in the industry. We’ve been working intensively with many of our recent winners in January and we’re looking forward to introducing you to them and their work over the coming months – always looking for that perfect moment when their script is best placed to capitalize on its potential, or even on renewed topical interest in its themes and subject matter. We’ve got a fascinating slate right now and we can’t wait to share it with you.

It takes a lot of long-term relationship-building behind the scenes to make this kind of thing possible. Not just with our writers, but of course with producers and industry talents as well. Those relationships and connections take many forms. Our founder Alex Ross has completed his groundbreaking book BLOCKBUSTED on the evolution of Hollywood’s calculated blockbuster, packed with interviews and industry insights. And he’s already completed lots of interviews with the team behind one iconic cult movie, for his next book, which will be all about that film. We’ll reveal all about it soon and tell you the fascinating people he’s been meeting to gain never-before revelations about some of its most famous questions!

So often, writers are thinkers. They tell stories by engaging with the issues and dilemmas of their times, and playing those issues and conflicts out through characters and their choices and challenges. It gets strangely prescient sometimes watching news stories unfold when you know that one of your writer clients or friends already wrote a script about that very issue, and totally nailed why these things happen in the world. It comes from working with talented writers over many years, that often, major news stories don’t come as a surprise at all. Sometimes writers serve as the conscience of their times, and as the early warning of the dangers and mistakes ahead of us if we don’t make the right choices now. Sometimes it’s all these things at once. That’s what I’ve been thinking in response to a major news story this week. As it unfolded, I was remembering how much of it exactly mirrored a different true story that was adapted years ago by one industry professional we speak to regularly. That story foreshadowed – sadly almost fully – many of the exact same situations and issues which have now happened again and have once again become a massive news story. Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same!
 

2023 is shaping up to be an exciting and fascinating year for us, and we’ll continue to blog about it whenever we can.

Sign up to our newsletter BELOW to come along for the ride!

BLOCKBUSTED! Exclusive discount for WriteMovies subscribers!

GREASE is the word…

Chapter by Alex Ross in a book exploring a cultural phenomenon!

His upcoming book BLOCKBUSTED isn’t the first time our founder Alex Ross has published his in-depth research in a book about iconic movies and cultural milestones. Alex is already the proud author of a chapter in a book with insights into the smash hit musical which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in cinemas. The book was edited by Oliver Gruner & Peter Krämer and released by Anthem Press, who describes the book as “Bringing together a group of international scholars, ‘Grease Is the Word’ offers fresh insight into the impact and legacy of the cultural phenomenon that is Grease.”

GREASE is the word

Chapter by Alex Ross in a book exploring a cultural phenomenon!

Alex’s chapter explores the production of GREASE. You can buy the book from booksellers, or direct from the publisher here:

Just another taste of the fascinating insights Alex will be unveiling this year when BLOCKBUSTED is released! We can confirm that the release date will be in May! Watch this space…

Click here to read more about Alex Ross’s books

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