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Power to Burn: Michael Ovitz and the New Business of Show Business
Describes the rise of the media mogul, from his departure from the William Morris Agency in 1975 to form a rival agency--CAA, to his position as the head of Disney in 1995
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1996
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121 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Singular
27 books40 followersStephen Singular is the author or co-author of 22 non-fiction books, many of them about high-profile criminal cases. He’s also written sports and business biographies and social commentary. Two of the books have been “New York Times” bestsellers.
His first book, Talked to Death, set the tone for his journalistic career. Published in 1987, it chronicled the assassination of a Denver Jewish talk show host, Alan Berg, by a group of neo-Nazis known as The Order. The book was nominated for a national award — the Edgar for true crime — and became the basis for the 1989 Oliver Stone film, “Talk Radio.” Talked to Death was translated into several languages and explored the timeless American themes of racism, class, violence, and religious intolerance.
His first book, Talked to Death, set the tone for his journalistic career. Published in 1987, it chronicled the assassination of a Denver Jewish talk show host, Alan Berg, by a group of neo-Nazis known as The Order. The book was nominated for a national award — the Edgar for true crime — and became the basis for the 1989 Oliver Stone film, “Talk Radio.” Talked to Death was translated into several languages and explored the timeless American themes of racism, class, violence, and religious intolerance.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 15, 2016
Five stars if you like hollywood and ari gold (the fictional character from the series entourage that was built after ari emanuel)
Four if you just like hollywood.
Some of these stories read like parts of an entourage scripr, but with a strong focus on agency.
Ari emanuel (the most powerful man in hollywood) said that he always looked up to three people in the business: lew wasserman, mark mccormack and michael ovitz (this book essentially), after reading this and mark mccormack's book you'll know why.
Four if you just like hollywood.
Some of these stories read like parts of an entourage scripr, but with a strong focus on agency.
Ari emanuel (the most powerful man in hollywood) said that he always looked up to three people in the business: lew wasserman, mark mccormack and michael ovitz (this book essentially), after reading this and mark mccormack's book you'll know why.
September 29, 2024
Decided to read this book as it was mentioned in an entrepreneurship/strategy book I enjoyed.
Unfortunately, it does not provide much useful insight into either of those topics, despite all the allusions to the "Art of War" and many of the sources' infatuation with Ovitz's "strategic genius".
The most valuable part of the book to me is the first part which describes the birth of CAA and gives a picture of what "the biz" (Hollywood) looked like from the inside in the 1970s and early 80s. For outsiders not familiar with the structure of the entertainment industry, this is a great little primer (although it could be done in half the space).
The second half of the book does not provide any insight whatsoever. The closer it gets to times and events we are more familiar with, the more banal it becomes. There is less story telling and more wordy reminiscing. It is in this part that you get to see the downsides of writing a bibliography of someone without having any access whatsoever to that person. The core parts of the story are a black box to the author who simply tries to spin a good yarn based on interviews of people twice removed from the action and whatever is in the popular press. Overall, there are way too many secondary characters/personalities/storylines mentioned (it just becomes a blur of names) and no real meat.
Most importantly, it finishes when Ovitz leaves CAA and has almost nothing to say about his time at Disney and does not get to his falling out with Eisner and being outmaneuvered by Iger; the juicy stuff.
Unfortunately, it does not provide much useful insight into either of those topics, despite all the allusions to the "Art of War" and many of the sources' infatuation with Ovitz's "strategic genius".
The most valuable part of the book to me is the first part which describes the birth of CAA and gives a picture of what "the biz" (Hollywood) looked like from the inside in the 1970s and early 80s. For outsiders not familiar with the structure of the entertainment industry, this is a great little primer (although it could be done in half the space).
The second half of the book does not provide any insight whatsoever. The closer it gets to times and events we are more familiar with, the more banal it becomes. There is less story telling and more wordy reminiscing. It is in this part that you get to see the downsides of writing a bibliography of someone without having any access whatsoever to that person. The core parts of the story are a black box to the author who simply tries to spin a good yarn based on interviews of people twice removed from the action and whatever is in the popular press. Overall, there are way too many secondary characters/personalities/storylines mentioned (it just becomes a blur of names) and no real meat.
Most importantly, it finishes when Ovitz leaves CAA and has almost nothing to say about his time at Disney and does not get to his falling out with Eisner and being outmaneuvered by Iger; the juicy stuff.
February 5, 2013
A stellar history of CAA, which struck fear into Hollywood during the 80's - 90's. Tracks Ovitz & his partners' defection from Wm Morris to found the agency that would take packaging to a high art. The sheer power of these people was astounding!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews