The mailroom: Hollywood history from the bottom up

A journey inside a talent agency mailroom traces sixty-five years of Hollywood history to recount how careers have been made or destroyed, offering anecdotes about Barry Diller, David Geffen, and other Hollywood insiders.

"It's like a plot from a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. But for many, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment--including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz--started their dazzling careers in the lowly mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, David Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution--in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you'll go where the trainees go, learn what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. A vibrant tapestry of dreams, desire, and exploitation, The Mailroom is not only an engrossing read but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed in Hollywood."--Back cover.

Kids at work -- The thrill of it all -- Ambition -- Ties that bind -- Pressure, pressure, pressure -- As the mailroom turns -- In your face! ... with love -- The second hundred years.

Introduction: Everyone has to start somewhere -- KIDS AT WORK. Kids at work : William Morris Agency, New York, 1937-1951 ; A charmed life, or, A thirty-six short makes it big : Norman Brokaw, William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1943 -- THE THRILL OF IT ALL. Traffic : Music Corporation of America, Los Angeles, 1942-1958 ; The thrill of it all : William Morris Agency, New York, 1955-1958 ; The mentor : William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1957-1959 ; The man who loved show business : Sandy Gallin, General Artists Corporation, New York, 1962 ; Sons of the triple cross : William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1961-1963 ; Everybody loves Ronnie : Ron Meyer, Paul Kohner Agency, Los Angeles, 1963 ; Ambition : William Morris Agency, New York, 1961-1967 ; The good Mike : Michael Peretzian: William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1969 -- TIES THAT BIND. Ties that bind : William Morris Agency, Los Angeles, 1974-1977 ; The guinea pig ; Michael Menchel, Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, 1976 ; The Wild East : Intern…