The executive producer of The White Lotus shares how he got his big break in film and television production on “the greatest TV show of all time” ( Rolling Stone ) An inside look at the film industry for fans, students, and aspiring professionals — featuring a foreword by Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning creator of The White Lotus, Mike White This page-turning account of starting at the lowest rung on the production ladder among enormously famous & outrageously demanding people will be devoured for its insights, gossip, humor, & storytelling. Married and with a child, the author takes unpaid gigs to get a foot in the door, and eventually ends up working on all seasons of The Sopranos , often named the best TV show ever. The show's setting and its creator's insistence on accuracy placed the native New Jersey author in the right place at the right time to become part of television history, and to witness the effects of sudden fame and acclaim on the show's principal players. Includes many stories about guest stars like Steve Buscemi, Peter Bogdanovich, and Lauren Bacall, as well as the beloved cast, including new tales of James Gandolfini, who Kamine first meets after David Chase casts him as the Dean of Admissions in the classic first season "College" episode. Later, after he’s been promoted, Kamine gets the calls from Gandolfini when he's hungover, or still drunk, and might or might not make it to the shoot that day. One night, Kamine tries to prevent Gandolfini from taking a swim in the ocean after they've been drinking all night, telling him it could be dangerous but Jim doesn't listen. Woven in is a personal story of home life and strife, achievement and frustration, anxiety and accomplishment. The book's epilogue brings readers up to the moment as the author, after many more years as an anonymous everyman, eventually enjoys outsize professional success as executive producer of the HBO hit series created by Mike White, The White Lotus . “One finishes his book with a greater appreciation for the hard work that goes into making art on the screen.” — The Wall Street Journal "The story of a starry career .... [and] the texture of a young working life as a cog in a vast machine." — The Times Literary Supplement An "absolutely wonderful memoir ... Although this book will definitely appeal to Sopranos fans, it should also interest readers who enjoy a well-written, entertaining book about how movies and television shows get made. In an increasingly crowded genre, this is one of the best." — Booklist (starred review) “An engrossing, unique look at one man’s journey through the production of film and TV.” — Kirkus Reviews “This tale will grab readers from the first to the last page. It’s an interesting take on what went into making The Sopranos , the Rolls Royce of cable TV.” — Library Journal “The material is eye opening, sometimes humorous, and always interesting.” — Popcultureguy.com "A delightfully wry, frank, funny and generous account of the hard labor that goes into film and TV production, it not only takes us behind the scenes but into the alert, cultivated, observant mind of Mark Kamine. It's so well-written I found it stimulating and a pleasure to read." — Phillip Lopate  “Location managers are the diplomats, finaglers and flak-catchers of the film and TV business, dealing with public officials, star-struck fans and the often unreasonable expectations of their employers- think Henry Kissinger with a bolt-cutter in the trunk of his Nissan.  Mark Kamine has shared an honest and very personal report from the trenches.” — John Sayles Mark Kamine is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning executive producer of The White Lotus . His numerous prior film credits include American Hustle , Silver Linings Playbook , 42 and Ted . While working on all seasons of The Sopranos , chiefly as the show's location manager, he also contributed frequent book reviews to the Times Literary Supplement , The New York Times , The Believer and The Wall Street Journal . Born and raised in New Jersey, he lives in New York City. Foreword Throughout my career, I’ve had bad experiences with line producers. It’s not always their fault. They must play the role of the in-house heavy and their job is to tell me when I’ve asked for too much. I can handle a “NO” (mostly) but sometimes I find the manner in which the ‘NO’ is delivered to be unforgivable. If she defends her ‘NO’ with only mumbo-jumbo about budgets and studio mandates, I lose all trust. Does this philistine care only about the bottom line? What about art and my vision? For this sequence to work, I need 200 extras and the yacht to explode — don’t you get it, you traitorous myopic weasel? Mark Kamine came into my life, I don’t exactly remember when. It was a job interview and he seemed affable enough — he said all the right things about my script, and how his job is to support the director, yadda yadda — but I