Another Rotten Day In Paradise

By

Jim Newport

A Hollywood novel by an author who has been there – done that. Jim Newport is an Emmy-nominated production designer of both film and television. His credits include Bangkok Dangerous, Brokedown Palace, The Shield, and LOST. His experiences in the early years of this career served as the inspiration for TINSEL TOWN.

TINSEL TOWN doesn’t gloss over the cracks in the scenery, the grit, the stench, the plain old fashioned blood and sweat that making movies is really about. It gives the reader a glimpse into what it was like to enter this privileged arena in, arguably, its most exciting time. – the wild & woolly EASY RIDER days of independent filmmaking. A non-stop party.

“Newport’s novels succeed in their purpose … they entertain.”

The Nation

“Tinsel Town is the best introduction to Hollywood novel I’ve ever read.”

David Giler, Producer/Writer  Alien, Undisputed,

Myra Breckinridge and many more.

“It moves like a runaway asteroid.”

Tim Hallinan, Best–selling author of the Poke Rafferty series.(set in Bangkok.)

Jim Newport is the author of CHASING JIMI (Willat Publishing) – a novel about Jimi Hendrix and the VAMPIRE OF SIAM trilogy (Asia Books) – an epic tale that spans half the globe and a course of 150 years.

TINSEL TOWN IS AVAILABLE IN THAILAND AT ALL
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USA: willatpublishing.com
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Memoirs from those in the film trade are nothing new. The bookshelves are crowded with star biographies, directors reflecting on their careers, writers and producers offering to show us how difficult and arduous it is to either write or produce a movie. But there are relatively few accounts of the lives of those who labor in the trenches and on the front line. Costume designers and cinematographers have been celebrated in print. Even a few art directors and production designers (“Henry Bumstead and the World Of Hollywood Art Direction” by Andrew Norton, “What! And Give Up Show Business?” by Peter Wooley, are two of the best.) So why did I not simply write a straight forward auto-biography of my own adventures in the film-trade?

Why indeed? I think I’ve had a respectable career. Though only a few were box-office blockbusters, I’ve been proud of each film I’ve done. Some of them, I feel, are as good as  any film or TV show ever made. I don’t know that all of us can say that. Having one “Heart Like A Wheel” in your career is usually considered pure luck, but to be blessed with a resume that includes “Over The Edge,” “The Stepfather,” “The Piano Lesson,” China Beach,” “The Shield” and “LOST” – well, that’s a legacy to be proud of.

But that is not what I feel is unique about my life in film. Most of that work was done when I was relatively secure in my craft. The most exciting days were the beginning. When I had no idea what I was doing (those of you who’ve worked with me lately – bite your tongue.) When I wound up in Hollywood and realized that the wild and wooly world of independent film-making was open to me, it was everything a young New Yorker could possibly hope to find – sex, drugs, gorgeous women, back stage passes, access to movie stars, rock ‘n’ roll … and more sex and drugs.

This is what I think the reader wants to read about. But how to do this without needlessly hurting or ridiculing or exposing or even glorifying those who I took this wild ride with?

Fortunately, I’ve also been blessed with a second career as a writer. I have written a half-dozen novels. My latest “Chasing Jimi” is a work of ‘faction’ – combining fact and fiction. It proved to be a great way (thank you James Ellroy) to enhance a true tale, and to open doors previously closed and imagine conversations and encounters between public figures familiar to us all. Therefore, this is what I decided to do with my own tale of life behind the scenes. I decided not to gloss over the cracks in the scenery, the plastic plants that fill the jungle lagoon, the grit, the stench, the plain old fashioned blood and sweat that making movies is really about.

Once this decision was made, I was free to take my tale to another level. To not just give a glimpse into what it was like to enter this privileged profession in its, arguably, most exciting time (I think all us who were there then would agree that making movies that played out in the camera – therefore in front of our own star-struck eyes,, was much more exciting than today’s more often-than-not series of elements being photographed against a green screen to be digitally composited later,) but to spin a tale – unravel a mystery, – take the reader on an adventure.

I trust that I’ve succeeded in doing both. If I have, then I will have entertained the reader – and that’s what show business is really all about – entertainment.

To purchase books, go to:

USA: willatpublishing.com
ASIA: asiabooks.com