cover image Breakfast with Sharks: A Screenwriter's Guide to Getting the Meeting, Nailing the Pitch, Signing the Deal, and Navigating the Murky Waters of

Breakfast with Sharks: A Screenwriter's Guide to Getting the Meeting, Nailing the Pitch, Signing the Deal, and Navigating the Murky Waters of

Michael Lent. Three Rivers Press (CA), $15.99 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-609-81043-9

""Writing a script, or making a short film, or taking a dozen film theory courses in no way prepares you for what Hollywood is really like,"" declares Lent, a columnist for Creative Screenwriting Magazine who has worked on nine feature film projects. In this book of""loosely organized""""academic courses,"" he purports to give novices the skinny on doing business in Tinseltown. Beginning, logically, with""Your Decision to Go Pro,"" Lent then moves on to""The Script-to-Screen Process"" and""The Hollywood Game and Its Players."" Lent's guide is above all realistic, and his straight-shooting, no-nonsense tone is often leavened with humor. He's thorough as well, discussing everything from relocating to L.A. and dealing with rejection to making pitches and negotiating contracts. He even tells would-be screenwriters where to rub elbows with their colleagues, listing Tinseltown bookstores, cafes and diners frequented by film folk. Though Lent's book contains little direction on actually writing a screenplay, it's an impressive, useful guide to the larger world of movie-making.