The $11 Billion Year: From Sundance to the Oscars, an Inside Look at the Changing Hollywood System

Veteran film reporter Thompson provides insight into the movie industry through the prism of one year, by chronicling the Hollywood successes and failures as they occur in the year 2012. She chats with director Benh Zeitlin on the collaborative nature the Sundance favorite Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Bradley Cooper on working with the "demanding" director David O. Russell on Silver Linings Playbook. At Cannes, Thompson speaks to Wes Anderson about Moonrise Kingdom and Michael Haneke on casting Amour. Thompson notes Hollywood's extreme risk aversion that results in a clinging to tent-poles and franchises while comparing the Disney marketing disaster John Carter to Lionsgate's wildly successful Hunger Games. Other subjects include the arduous production process of Life of Pi, Tony Kushner's struggles with the Lincoln screenplay, and Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for Django Unchained. Thompson also explains the newest models of acquisition and distribution including video-on-demand, independent self-releasing and technological switches to digital and 3-D. Finally, she takes readers to the Oscars and reviews the night's winners and losers. Thompson's insider perspective makes this a shrewd study of Hollywood's mechanics and challenges, as well as a nice celebration of the industry's best. (Mar.)