Hollywood Samizdat

by Rambo Van Halen

Hollywood. Tinseltown. Land of big screens, bigger egos, and easy money. A paradise built on booze, bombshells, and bullshit. But behind the golden glow and polished smiles lurks a surreal sideshow you’ll never glimpse from your living room couch. Hollywood Samizdat drags you by the collar into this hidden universe of fixers, floozies, and fuck-ups, guided by battle-hardened industry veteran Rambo Van Halen. Part memoir, part confession, part field guide to Hollywood’s carnival of freaks, Van Halen spills the beans—and sometimes the blood—on what really goes down inside the dream factory. If you’ve ever wondered how movies truly get made—or why half the people making them seem insane—Hollywood Samizdat is your backstage pass.

240 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2025

Reviews

[Alec Piergiorgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: 3.5/5

This was a fun little read. I had never heard of Rambo before purchasing this book, but the information Passage Publishing provided on their website was enough for me to pick it up. Rambo provides a unique, emotionally open, behind-the-camera report of what it's like working in Hollywood, from working with ego-driven directors, coked-out actors, and the stress of the entire industry.

While the book is longer than 200 pages, in reality, it's much shorter than this, as the writer is kind of structured in a tweet format, so there's a lot of white space that pads out the length. Rambo's prose is also clear and entertaining, so I really had no problem driving through 60 or so pages in a relatively short amount of time. The back of the book reads "park memoir, part confession," and this is a pretty good tagline as Rambo admits part of the reasoning for writing this book was an attempt for him to understand The Business itself.

There are some crazy stories in here, and I think it's definitely a sobering account of how The Business actually works when compared to the glitzed-up version a lot of people think of. There isn't a ton of politics in here, which was surprising, but maybe this was a deliberate choice by Rambo? I would've preferred some more commentary about the politics of the industry and its shifting tastes than what was here.

[Jacob Swartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was simultaneously reading this, and Lord of the Rings Return of the King. One of them I rated 5 stars. One of them I didn’t. You might be surprised which is which. I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its candid conversation style narrative filled with ambiguous yet strangely specific stories really kept me going.

I have to say that the last chapter was worth the price of admission. An honest, difficult to read, beautiful summary of life in The Business.

Working industry adjacent, in advertising, so much resonated and confirmed my deep seated suspicions regarding The Business. It’s worth a read for anyone closely affiliated with LA and Hollywood, and even those not.

As we say in The Business: 10/10. No notes.

[Mirjam Celie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice insights and crazy stories about the weird production side of Hollywood ‘glamour’. Which isn’t glamorous - at all.

Thnx Rambo! Top of the morning to ya!

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a nice read. RVH is a retired Hollywood "behind the scenes" professional. He tells us stories behind the curtain and also very personal ones. Very enjoyable book.

[Luuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off good with great insights in the Film industry, but then in the middle goes everywhere and nowhere.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining and easy read. I sat down with the book and read it through entirely in one sitting. The book is a series of stories and anecdotes about the author's life, particularly during his time working in the background in Hollywood. A potentially risky book to publish, considering it's somewhat meandering without a clear through line, but the book soars on the author's particular charm and unique storytelling ability.

It's not a subject matter I have any knowledge of or would otherwise be interested in reading about; I picked up the book as a way to support the publisher. I'm very glad I did and will likely be gifting this one to a few people this Christmas.