Often tipped as “the greatest movie man you’ve never heard of”, Rob Harris has grappled with the blessings and curses of Hollywood his entire professional life. In his raw and engrossing new book, Harris tells of a life behind the camera – rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s biggest A-Listers – and how Tinseltown’s relationship with love is a far cry from how it appears on the silver screen. Marriage and family meet the alternate universe of glitz and glamour in America’s most famous industry.
United Kingdom – Rob Harris’ publicity credits have played in every movie house around the world. With nearly a hundred film credits, from blockbusters like Gladiator and World War Z to critical hits like Black Swan and Frost/Nixon, Harris has become a stalwart in the industry.
An industry that, according to Harris is both “a wrecking ball for family life and a lightning rod for romance”. In his new book, ‘The Trouble with Love in the Movies’, he tells the story of his career from the perspective of how love plays out on and off camera, after “The End” is splashed on the screen.
Synopsis:
The Trouble with Love in the Movies is a painfully honest account of labouring in the fields of film production, of loving and losing, living and learning. Through six movies, across three continents, in clashes on and off the set: It’s a romance.
From the fraught filming of Troy with Brad Pitt, to the prescient politics of Syriana with George Clooney, to the complexity of marketing the genocide film Hotel Rwanda and the Leonardo DiCaprio epic Blood Diamond, Hollywood publicist Rob Harris chronicles the drama and comedy behind the scenes that eclipse those in front of the camera. It’s the story of a failing marriage, two teenage boys, and a pinball affair with a free-spirited journalist. Tales of the famous, Meryl Streep, Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, overlap with behind-the-scenes stars whose names don’t appear until the end credits.
The Trouble with Love in the Movies is the same as the trouble with love the world over: can two people running in different directions find a common path? How do you connect with a moving target? Is there such a thing as happy ever after The End?
“This book covers the reality and illusion of love in Hollywood,” explains the author. “It’s something that has been both a blessing and a curse in my personal life. I’m hoping that by telling my story, people in many different walks of life will see themselves, trying to hold on to two conflicting passions: what they love and who they love. Hollywood isn’t an easy place to ride off blissfully into the sunset.”
He continues, “It’s also a story about families – film families and nuclear families – and how they each become lifelines when you’re away from home for months at a time. It’s a world that can demand body and soul commitment. But if you’re lucky, a film on which you’re working can shine a light on the human condition or on world in which we live, making the job more than a job – and making the sacrifices all worthwhile.”
‘The Trouble with Love in the Movies’, from Zuleika London, is available now: https://amzn.to/37reSOu.
About the Author:
Rob Harris began his professional career as a freelance television writer for such shows as Laverne & Shirley. He moved to a staff position as head publicity writer for 20th Century Fox and, later, a brief stint as vice president of publicity in the New York office of Gramercy Pictures. He’s been a unit publicist on over a hundred movies, including Gremlins, The Goonies, The Sandlot, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Air Force One, Men in Black II, Hannibal, The Perfect Storm, Gladiator, Frost/Nixon, Black Swan, The Bucket List, American Gangster, Revolutionary Road, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, World War Z, and Maleficent.
A member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), he is the author of Unexposed Film: A Year on Location and The Hannibal Journal.
‘He lives in England with his wife, Nicola Graydon Harris. Their sons, Casey and Sam, live in Los Angeles – when their band, X Ambassadors, are not touring – and in Ithaca, New York, where Casey and his family spend summers in his old family home.
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