Product Description

Hit and Run tells the improbable and often hilarious story of how two Hollywood film packagers went on a campaign to reinvent themselves as studio executives -- at Sony's expense. Veteran reporters Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters chronicle the rise of Jon Peters, a former hairdresser, seventh-grade dropout, and juvenile delinquent, and his soulless soul mate, Peter Guber -- and all the sex, drugs, and fistfights along the way. It is the story of the ultimate Hollywood con job and the standard by which every subsequent business blunder has been measured. Hit and Run delivers rock-solid business reporting liberally laced with inside gossip and outrageous scandal -- plus a new afterword bringing us up to date on the latest fallout from the Guber-Peters legacy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #252004 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Amazon.com Review
If there is a more archetypical tale of Hollywood in the '80s than the buccaneers' adventures of Jon Peters, Barbra Streisand's former hairdresser, and his business partner Peter Guber, it hasn't been written yet. This thorough, stylish book recounts the rise of Peters and Guber, who together earned fortunes by schmoozing their way to the top, seducing gullible investors, and shoving aside the filmmakers who actually turned out successful films like "Rain Man" and "Batman." The Japanese executives at Sony, in this delightful insider account, were just the most recent and most hoodwinked in a long line of Peters' and Gubers' dupes.

From Publishers Weekly
This is basically the story of two boys who never grew up, but ended up running Sony-owned Columbia Pictures into the ground. Peters, whom the Los Angeles Times described as a "seventh-grade dropout and reform school graduate who began his show-business career as Barbra Steisand's hairdresser-boyfriend-manager," was a master at self-promotion; only semi-literate but able to count well enough to make it big in Hollywood. Bostonian Guber earned several academic degrees before "going Hollywood," somehow managing to indifferently run several studios and make high profits and only a few good films. This book will leave film fans drooling at charges that Peters hired Heidi Fleiss's prostitutes as gifts and that he either bedded or assaulted his numerous conquests (Jacqueline Bisset and Lesley Ann Warren, among others). Guber, the quintessential New Age yuppie, is seen heading off his divorce because it would cost him too much, and participating in hand-holding group-therapy sessions with business-partner Peters. The business side of this book is also intriguing, recounting internecine financial twists and turns that finally have a top Sony executive exclaiming: "Huh! You bankrupt Sony!" Griffin, the West Coast editor of Premiere magazine, and Masters, a reporter for the Washington Post, present a shocking read that will have readers gasping at the obscene overindulgence of Hollywood. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This unauthorized account of Tinseltown madness features the disastrous duo of corporate executives from Columbia Pictures and their alleged bilking of Sony. With the skill of a slick salesman, narrator Ron McLarty partially succeeds in palming off the hearsay testimony about Sony's ill-advised Hollywood venture. McLarty's off-the-cuff manner enhances the tantalizing, juicy gossip served up by authors Griffin and Masters. The convincing descriptions of the grotesque displays of wealth by the chairmen pitted against the staggering $3 million loss that Sony swallows will undoubtedly titillate some. However, the shock value this program packs can't make up for the lack of good journalism. Most libraries can pass on this one.?Mark P. Tierney, The World Bank, Washington,
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The funniest non-fiction book you will ever read
I read this book three years ago and I'm still laughing.

Griffin & Masters have created THE required reading book on everything that is wrong with Hollywood. They were able to tell the inside stories of multi-million dollar deals and make them understandable. Jon Peters, a barely literate hairdresser who happened to be friends with Barbara Streisand, and his business partner Peter Guber schmoozed their way through the 80s and were picked by Sony to run their newly acquired Columbia/Tri-Star pictures. Billions of dollars in losses later (Last Action Hero, I'll Do Anything) they got kicked out.

It is really an incredible story. If it was fiction, you'd think it completly impossible to believe, but it is all true.

Fun, Fast, Educational
"Hit and Run" is a fun, breezy, eye-opening book. There's never a boring page. It is packed with information and concisely written. You never get the sense that the author is dragging things out just to fill a few hundred pages. Even though Guber and Peters were crooks, I think there's still plenty of things you can learn from them and they are still inspiring in a way. I thought robber barons went out with the 19th century, but now I see there are still people with the same swindler's mentality. "Hit and Run" is an eye-opening book, just like Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle." One thing I wonder very much is why all these big corporations did business with Guber and Peters without thoroughly investigating their backgrounds? Seems like there are some very stupid people running large corporations. Hollywood sure is full of sharks, whores, and criminals and always was. Innocent newcomers don't have a chance.

Book is not really business like, but a GREAT read
The myth of film production will be shattered once you read this book. Guber and Peters, people who would not survive in any other business other than the entertainment business, are given a free pass to create medicre films and become some of the most powerful players. This is coming from one of the guys who was once a hairdresser (showing that connections really is king in Hollywood). Candidly reveals those involved in Hollywood as unstable, unsure of themselves while being major egoists! One begins to wonder how movies can be made at all given the pull that comes from all sides. However, the role of the producer is still underplayed. I still don't know why one is required, but if they make all this money to yell and scream, maybe I should go to Hollywood, I can do that with the best of em! So if you ever wonder why most movies in Hollywood suck, don't blame the director or the actors, it's rarely their fault. it's more likely the "I think I know it all" producer took out all of the story to add in another 10 million dollars worth of special effects! Guys, at least go to film school.......