The Role Players

We speak of “The Industry” as a single organism, but it’s more a collection of parts, of roles, high and low. Vivendi Universal’s Barry Diller is in The Industry, and so is Lawrence Bridges, the 52-year-old Santa Monica ad exec who spent $300,000 to write, direct, produce and finance a movie he now shows for free on the sides of Los Angeles buildings.

Environmental whistleblower-turned-multimedia star Erin Brockovich is in The Industry, and so is Ted Newsom, who wrote a screenplay for “Spider-Man” 17 years ago and is fighting to have his name included in the film’s credits when it finally opens in May.

You’ll meet these people--the mogul, the renegade filmmaker, the newly minted celebrity and the frustrated screenwriter--on these pages. You’ll encounter a novelist who is waiting--and waiting and waiting--for his star to rise, and an actor who is about to break into the ranks of the “un-stars.” And we’ll fill you in on a few Industry strategies--the quest to pick the perfect date to release a film and the philosophy behind sequels, prequels and remakes.

These are the stories that won’t make it to the screen, but they’re stories that often determine what flickers to life as you settle into a darkened theater with a soda and tub of popcorn. And as any writer will tell you, the backstory usually is what gives it all meaning.