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EXCLUSIVE: Motion Picture marketing seasoned Gerry Rich whose agelong profession from nan 90’s to existent time astatine various studios including Miramax, MGM, Paramount, Columbia Pictures and Amazon MGM, has written a book each astir it. Titled “Chasing Hollywood: A Marketing Chief’s Lessons On Breaking Through”, it blends memoir, movie history, juicy down nan scenes stories, and applicable trading insights to analyse immoderate of nan astir iconic – and not-so iconic – films of nan 90’s and 2000s from Iron Man, James Bond, nan Weinsteins machine, and everything successful between.
Rich is 1 of those executives who has seen it each and lived to show astir it, and that is what he is doing pinch this book coming October 13, 2026 from HarperCollins Leadership. Even arsenic he is still doing this job, correct now arsenic a consultant, it hasn’t stopped him from telling nan truth astir what he has seen, really he sewage from St. Louis to Hollywood, survived nan flops, celebrated nan successes, worked pinch immoderate very colorful personalities, and each nan while providing what he tells maine are “teachable” moments of usage to anyone successful aliases retired of nan biz. “Chasing Hollywood” besides speaks straight to today’s trading scenery wherever cutting done each nan noise, astir notably societal media, tin beryllium a, uh, challenge. He says audiences don’t ever cognize what they want until they spot “something new”, and that often comes from nan movies astir consenting to return risks, to situation conventions. In truth nan book is truthful up to day he has conscionable rewritten his last section to see nan You Tube detonation connected nan container agency of nan past fewer weeks pinch Backrooms and Obsession, and what that intends for nan manufacture arsenic good arsenic nan creation of trading movies.
He has been successful rooms pinch Steven Spielberg, Pedro Almodovar, Barbara Broccoli, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Dawn Steel, and countless others successful nan business of making movies complete nan past fewer decades, each of them pinch definite ideas astir trading their wares to nan public. I had first manus acquisition pinch him each nan measurement backmost to nan early 90’s erstwhile I was still nan movie conception shaper for Entertainment Tonight, and we met conscionable arsenic he started moving pinch Miramax and was tasked successful his first week pinch a mini 1991 Irish movie called Hear My Song that Harvey Weinstein was wished to spot Jaws-style sum connected shows for illustration mine. That task is described hilariously successful this book, arsenic are galore different moments for illustration it that Rich has been an eyewitness to, nan bully nan bad and nan ugly, arsenic good arsenic being a cardinal mover and shaker successful bringing movies to nan world. Because of this relation I americium pleased Deadline is nan first extremity for him successful talking astir why this book, and why now. It is truthful chalk afloat of anecdotes and conversations I had to wonderment if he has judiciously been taking notes successful each those meetings complete nan years.
DEADLINE: How did you retrieve each of this truthful vividly arsenic you do successful this book? Did you transportation astir a notebook? It really took maine backmost to that clip I first met you.
GERRY RICH: No, Pete, not a azygous note. I deliberation memories are made from those indelible moments that you conscionable don’t forget. And really I was a spot amazed because I knew I was leaving Amazon. I didn’t cognize erstwhile I was going to leave, but I kept putting it off, but I knew I wanted to time off and do thing different and I thought nan book was a awesome opportunity. And successful going down nan rabbit spread of each nan past experiences, it was really cathartic to spot really easy those moments came backmost and created this story. And they were caller memories because they were truthful poignant. They were truthful indelible successful my mind and they were truthful meaningful that they came back, and galore much that were much secondary and tertiary, but it was specified a memorable travel and it has been, and will proceed to be, that I thought it was a bully clip to put pen to insubstantial and do thing for illustration this because if not now, when?
DEADLINE: Are you worried you will ne'er eat luncheon again successful this municipality erstwhile this comes out?
RICH: I’m moving arsenic a advisor and I’m looking for caller opportunities and I consciousness that immoderate of these past experiences really thief pass caller strategies successful this caller marketplace. So I consciousness for illustration it’s each applicable and I judge that nan book wasn’t written to scorch nan Earth. It was really to entertain and animate and really I deliberation Call to Life. Most of nan group I talk astir successful nan book are group that really, moreover difficult people, inspired maine and I learned truthful overmuch from. As you know, location were truthful galore of these larger than life personalities that ran this business and I consciousness truthful fortunate to person been exposed to them, to person been successful rooms pinch them, to beryllium capable to collaborate pinch them. I deliberation immoderate of that showmanship is valuable moving into this caller aliases evolving world of entertainment.
DEADLINE: Some of what you picture is scary. It makes maine wonderment why anyone would want to taxable themselves to this, specified arsenic immoderate of nan anecdotes astir moving pinch nan Weinsteins.
RICH: I sewage to opportunity this though, I person nan small blurb astatine nan extremity of that chapter. Sometimes those astir difficult rooms, nan astir hellish of circumstances possibly you want to get retired of it arsenic soon arsenic possible, but it conscionable whitethorn beryllium that infinitesimal that you’re precisely successful nan correct spot doing precisely what you request to do for that infinitesimal successful time. And I wouldn’t waste and acquisition it for nan world moreover though I wanted out. I wanted retired connected nan 2nd day. And arsenic destiny would person it, it was precisely wherever I needed to be. It gave maine nan crushed game. And you know, Pete, you cognize nan quality of disciplines and methodologies betwixt nan scrappy independents and nan studios. And those lessons are for illustration going done Navy SEALs. If you enactment excessively long, you go impervious to it, you go numb to it, you go it. But if you could return those learnings and past parlay that into your adjacent section and not enactment excessively agelong wherever you’re damaged, past that mightiness beryllium nan cleanable balance.
DEADLINE: Any group you decided to time off out? I cognize you. You person stories.
RICH: Yeah, I person a batch of stories. I didn’t want this to beryllium a cynical story. I didn’t want it to beryllium a cynical book. I wanted to attraction much connected nan group that moved me, informed me, inspired me, knowledgeable me. There are a batch of unsavory group you brushwood successful these journeys arsenic you know, but unless location was a benignant of teachable infinitesimal from those moments, I near those out. The studios thin to lead to a batch of governmental backfire. The activity is difficult enough, but erstwhile you adhd authorities into it, it takes it to different level. So I really wanted to attraction connected nan moments that really moved me, inspired me, and made maine amended astatine what I did. Even difficult filmmakers. I worked a batch pinch Scott Rudin and had a batch of uncomfortable meetings pinch him, but I respect his activity ethic. I deliberation he’s sewage exquisite sensation and he kept maine astatine nan apical of my game. So that’s why I was comfortable talking astir those moments. There’s immoderate adversity successful it, but it was adversity that had a teachable infinitesimal that I included, and different things that conscionable were not necessary.
DEADLINE: This is coming retired astatine a clip wherever nan business is changing truthful quickly and nan challenges of trading are acold different that erstwhile you started.
RICH: I deliberation it is challenging because I deliberation successful nan measurement we pass pinch moviegoers, chiefly digitally, you get a fraction of a 2nd to prosecute them astatine nan beginning. And if you don’t get them astatine nan beginning, their digit is connected nan scroll button. So I deliberation it’s harder and harder to really make those impressions. I deliberation it was infinitely easier erstwhile you person somewhat captivated audiences either successful theaters seeing trailers, but we had different means, different media that I deliberation really held captivated audiences and held their attention. We spot that very seldom pinch tv these days, but there’s definite arena type programming that I deliberation still works, peculiarly unrecorded sports for nan correct movie and reaching nan correct movie goer. I still deliberation linear tv is an basal mean for reaching those action fans and those antheral moviegoers.
But it’s a fractured marketplace. It’s a fractured landscape. I deliberation there’s a batch of disorder successful nan marketplace. Is thing a movie that you spot successful theaters aliases a streaming movie? Or I deliberation there’s conscionable a batch of disorder erstwhile you spot intermezo content. So it’s much difficult than ever to really get that connection across.
DEADLINE: Right now each of Hollywood seems to beryllium chasing nan You Tube arena which seems to beryllium targeting and really bringing young group backmost to theatres.
RICH: And I sewage to opportunity too, I deliberation that, and I rewrote nan past section because of nan arena of this May, because erstwhile group talk astir nan summertime of 2026, they’re going to talk astir these 2 movies that were connected nobody’s radar a twelvemonth ago. That’s Backrooms and Obsession. And Obsession successful peculiar was this movie that defied gravity and each week it went up alternatively than immoderate attrition. And I deliberation group are craving originality but sometimes consciousness safer pinch movies that they know. But I deliberation a movie for illustration Obsession really deed nan zeitgeist and brought successful aft its first weekend, group who whitethorn aliases whitethorn not spot scary movies and that it conscionable took connected a life of its ain and played and played and played. And I thought it was perfectly brilliant. I thought it’s nan benignant of movie you want to spot pinch 300 strangers and your friends. It is simply a existent theatrical experience. It’s original, it’s fun, it’s funny, there’s awesome jump scares. And I ideate that astatine nan extremity of that play aliases consequent weekends, location are a batch of workplace heads scratching their heads saying, ‘Where’s my Obsession? Where’s my YouTube creator? Where’s my Curry Barker?’And nan workplace strategy doesn’t needfully lend itself to uncovering that talent because they’re making movies for large world audiences. But man, it’s exciting. And Pete, it reminds maine a small spot of what we knowledgeable successful nan ’90s erstwhile we were nan first to return retired immoderate of nan independent movies that expanded beyond arthouses and became taste moments.
DEADLINE: And yes successful that respect you talk successful nan book astir nan sensation of The Crying Game astatine Miramax.
RICH: The Crying Game and immoderate of those that followed. Tarantino’s first movie, Resovoir Dogs or Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom. , I deliberation a batch of studios were looking astatine that business saying, ‘How do we get successful connected that?’ for illustration they are coming pinch nan films that we saw this past month. And that’s erstwhile Disney first handed complete a cheque and bought Miramax to get into that business. And I deliberation nan Miramax arena led to nan Searchlight arena and group for illustration Peter Rice took nan torch, built up nan independent broadside of nan business astatine Fox and that led to A24, which led to a Neon. But I do deliberation that there’s similarities to those films that were phenomenons past to what’s happening now.
DEADLINE: You person surely worked connected a batch of indie hits, but besides immense workplace juggernauts. Bond. James Bond comes to mind.
RICH: Yeah, it is simply a large portion because it’s somewhat of a bookend. My first civilized workplace lead occupation was astatine MGM aft I near Miramax and I came successful arsenic nan caller president of Worldwide Marketing nether Frank Mancuso. And Mancuso was brought successful to revive nan workplace because Peretti had put it into bankruptcy and location had been 7 years since nan past James Bond movie. Credit Lyonnais had taken ownership of nan workplace and brought Mancuso successful arsenic nan elder statesman to rebuild it truthful it could beryllium sold. But nan first point that we had to do was not reboot, but revive nan Bond franchise because nan 1 earlier it hadn’t done well. And GoldenEye was going to beryllium Pierce’s first move arsenic James Bond. And it was an important 1 because Cubby (Broccoli) was not good astatine nan time. So it was nan first enslaved installment that Barbara and Michael oversaw entirely.
So I was their caller caput of trading and we spent a batch of clip because we had to get it right. I deliberation nan property of nan Bond instrumentality we had discovered was overmuch older because it had been immoderate clip since location had been a Bond movie and it was ngo captious that we aged down nan entreaty of nan James Bond movie to scope a younger demographic who perceived nan Bond movie to beryllium their father’s franchise. And truthful it was an important portion of clip and it brought backmost nan Bond franchise and it poised it and positioned it for nan early really well. But they made a hellhole of a movie. Martin Campbell was nan head and again, that was their maiden voyage unsocial without Cubby’s involvement. And it was important because nan early of nan workplace depended connected nan vitality of that franchise. And if that opening wasn’t successful globally, I deliberation it really would’ve deed nan wide worth of nan workplace that would beryllium put up for waste respective years later.
DEADLINE: Iron Man was a beautiful large woody too. It brought Marvel to nan array successful a large way.
RICH: That was a really absorbing time, Pete, because erstwhile I first joined Paramount, Sherry Lansing was nan caput of nan workplace and (Tom) Freston past took nan lead of Viacom and Brad Grey came in. And I’ve sewage a batch of Brad Grey stories you’ll see. It was a beautiful tumultuous clip astatine Paramount because location were a batch of dense hitters aliases a batch of large … I’ll fig retired a amended measurement to opportunity it. But 1 of nan first things that Freston did was he bought Dreamworks. That was 1 of his first large acquisitions. He bought Dreamworks and what came on pinch Dreamworks was nan institution that David Geffen and Steven Spielberg ran, nan unrecorded action Dreamworks company, but it besides brought nan distribution authorities for Jeffrey’s (Katzenberg) animation company. And astatine nan aforesaid time, we did a woody pinch Marvel. So we had Marvel nether our roof. We had Dreamworks Live Action, Dreamworks Animation, Paramount, each nether 1 roof. And this was nan maiden voyage of Iron Man. This was nan first movie that was self-financed by Marvel and to return benignant of power of their ain destiny. And truthful it was important to get that 1 right. Kevin Feige was nan wide who taught everybody each things Marvel and brought everybody into nan Marvel beingness and knowledgeable america and we worked truthful good together to motorboat that franchise and good beyond. That was nan kickoff of nan Marvel universe.
DEADLINE: This book is besides a memoir. It is very overmuch astir you. Why did you determine to get individual alternatively than conscionable do a consecutive business book?
RICH: Ever since I sewage to a elder position successful nan business, I’m inundated pinch kids coming to maine and saying, ‘How do I do it? ‘ Taking courtesy meetings and interviews pinch friends, kids aliases a friend of a friend aliases what person you who are graduating and they travel successful and they say, ‘I want to get into nan intermezo business.’ And I will past inquire a bid of questions. ‘Well, what is it you want to do?’ And they don’t know. And successful a way, they’re expecting nan interviewer to do nan dense lifting for them and fig it retired for them.
And successful a way, I wanted this to besides beryllium an inspirational communicative that if a kid from St. Louis who dreamed of thing beyond their scope could do it, anybody tin do it. I dream that resonates pinch definite audiences and that inspirational story, I really astatine a young property knew that I wanted a life that whitethorn not beryllium obtainable and surely 1 that wasn’t offered fixed wherever I grew up, and really I grew up, and really I really had to fig it out. And truthful I dream that that doesn’t disrupt from nan storytelling of being wrong Hollywood, but I deliberation that travel I dream will resonate pinch definite group and show them that thing is imaginable if you put your mind to it, and this procreation put your telephone down and really perpetrate to uncovering a way of thing that will excite you, and activity doesn’t person to beryllium a antagonistic adjective. It could beryllium thing nosy and breathtaking and return you places you ne'er could ideate going. So portion of nan communicative is really maine ending up successful these places, successful these rooms, successful these situations pinch these larger than life group that I tin ne'er imagine. And hopefully that comes crossed done my wide eyes because they still stay wide. I still get excited erstwhile I meet caller filmmakers that I haven’t worked pinch earlier and spot nan process activity aliases beryllium adjacent to Steven Spielberg successful a director’s chair. I still americium curious. I still want to study and I still want to beryllium excited by caller opportunities.
“Chasing Hollywood” tin beryllium pre-ordered here: https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/books/chasing-hollywood
