Hollywood: The Oral History

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Though he blew his top in his first appearance, affable French chef Hubert Keller (left of Katie Lee and Tom Colicchio) became a Top Chef fixture. David Moir/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images LIPSITZ That night, after a production meeting, I walked into my parents’ apartment and asked, “Did we lose yet?” From left: Carla Hall, Jamie Lauren and Leah Cohen cooking a Thanksgiving meal for members of the Foo Fighters in season five. Giovanni Rufino/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

PADMA LAKSHMI (HOST, 2006- PRESENT) I had taken a meeting with Lauren, but Bravo didn’t want to do the show that I pitched. ( Laughs.) As the movies got more lavish, so did the venues to show them. The system was born seven major studios created the majority of movies. The major studios controlled everything from the creation of the scripts, through the production (with their contract players), the final editing and they were then played in the studios own theater systems. a fat, showbiz-nerd-satisfying tome with something for every showbiz-nerd taste . . . . a trove of direct, un-self-conscious observations about the times and ways in which these pros worked . . . .” — New York Times MINOPRIO The contestants were almost harder to cast because of the hideousness of the release forms. I’m fairly sure that it contained language like, “We can shoot you with hidden cameras.” This is, of course, protecting the production against things we had no intention of doing. It’s all the NBCU lawyers. But it’s scary. Having Tom reassured the chefs.

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LIPSITZ We just used “Top Chef” over and over again, like, “Something great is going to come right at the end!” That never happened. Now it’s hard to imagine any other title for it. “HOW IS THIS GOING OFF THE RAILS ON DAY ONE?” As close to a comprehensive Who’s Who of American film as we’re likely to see, and as close to a definitive history of American cinema as we’ve seen so far. An absolute must-read for industry pros and fans alike." — Booklist (starred review)

LAKSHMI They’re already sleep-deprived. They don’t have phones or access to the internet. It is still a very intense and controlled existence. I don’t know that I would put myself through it or even recommend it to friends. LAKSHMI By the time they decided to film the show, I had signed on to act in a miniseries for British television. her "real" voice--totally different from the little girl coo she affected both on and off screen--in COLICCHIO Once I realized this show wasn’t about me, I called a friend of mine at the time — [CAA co-chair] Bryan Lourd. I said, “Can you help me out with this?” So, after saying no a couple times, I finally agreed to do the show. In fact, when CAA moved into their Century City building [in 2007], Bryan introduced me to the developer. That’s how Craft [Colicchio’s celebrated New York restaurant] opened in Los Angeles. Then I decamped CAA for William Morris, and they stopped talking to me. ( Laughs.) LEE Listen, it wasn’t a secret that I wasn’t well received by the audience. I knew that it wasn’t working.

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TOM COLICCHIO (HEAD JUDGE) My response was, “Not interested.” There were other reality shows at the time. One about a restaurant really didn’t seem to go too well for that chef. Overall, though, this is a well-organized look at the Hollywood system from every angle, told through the eyes, ears and mouths of those who experienced it firsthand.

The book is fun, informative, and should appeal to pop culture enthusiasts, historians, and movie lovers of all ages and stripes. Well I think Hollywood likes to talk about itself, the way we all like to talk about what we're our lives. We're all people. I mean, it's like saying how does Wall Street like to talk about itself? If you're good and proud, you speak about something that you love with pride. I think that would be a generalization to say Hollywood likes to talk about itself in a way that anyone else likes to talk about itself. KRILEY It used to be about almost psychologically breaking someone down. How much can they endure in terms of also living in the environment? When Jo [Sharon] and I took the helm [of Magical Elves] in 2019, it was important for us to give them separate bedrooms.Many of the people involved at the start of Hollywood were only names to me, but this history helped to explain their significance and their contribution to the film industry. ANDY COHEN (FORMER SENIOR VP PROGRAMMING, BRAVO) We didn’t want it to be a rip-off, but we wanted to do for food what we had done for fashion with Project Runway. “An elevated food competition,” that was my mandate. Beyond that, it was pretty open as to what the show could look like — though it was obvious we’d do it with Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz at Magical Elves [the production company] because of their work on Runway.