Audience-ology: How Moviegoers Shape the Films We Love by Kevin Goetz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Kevin Goetz’s book has to be described as a “professional memoir,” for it illustrates and illuminates one of the oft-neglected areas of the filmmaking process that influences movies deeply: audience testing. Through detailed anecdotes of Hollywood classics, quotes from industry movers and shakers, and personal commentary, Goetz manages to deliver a compelling narrative that should satisfy movie fans and industry professionals alike (I, as a passionate member of both groups, can attest to that fact). Overall, AUDIENCE-OLOGY proves further the true (and possibly highest) level of collaboration needed in the movie-making process for a film to succeed not only commercially but also as a storytelling artifact (even if plenty of filmmakers may complain about this truth)–to paraphrase a Hollywood adage, the audience has to be in on it as well.



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