Joe Eszterhas (BSS #73)

Joe Eszterhas is most recently the author of The Devil’s Guide to Hollywood.

Author: Joe Eszterhas

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Groping for borrowed salacious content.

Subjects Discussed: Ambrose Bierce, the screenwriter as god, exclamation points, Robert McKee, the “twisted little man” inside Eszterhas, cynics in Hollywood, William Goldman, the reasons for writing Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge, on pinpointing commercial hits, bringing wives to studio meetings, greed, stealing props from films, the ethics of Hollywood business, fighting studio executives, crotch shots, Paul Verhoeven, blaming Bush for everything, responding to Joe Queenan’s review, bedding stars, Charlie Simpson’s Apocaylpse, Bill Clinton, studio movies vs. independent movies, Children of Glory, and writing novels.

EXCERPT FROM SHOW:

Eszterhas: In terms of agents, lying and cheating on your behalf to bump the price up in an auction or in some situation like that. Well, that’s what agents do. If an agent really cares about you, you know I quote my old agent of many years, Guy McElwaine, as saying, “There’s no heart as black as the black heart of an agent.” Well, if an agent really cares about you, he will do anything and everything to help you. And the sign of a true commitment, I think, on an agent’s part to you is whether he is, in fact, willing to lie and cheat and do whatever he can to get you a better price and get you a better deal.

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