60 Stories About 30 Seconds

How I Got Away with Becoming a Pretty Big Commercial Director Without Losing My Soul (or Maybe Just Part of It)

By: Bruce Van Dusen

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

New York City, 1977. Cool and crime-ridden, cheap and wild. Bruce Van Dusen shows up in town with a film degree and $150 to his name. He wants to make movies. So he does. The only ones anyone will pay him to make? Little ones. Thirty seconds long. Commercials. He has no idea what he's doing, and the money sucks. But he's a director.

He quickly learns he has the two things he needs to succeed in the fickle world of commercial-making: a talent for telling short, emotional stories, and the hustle to fight for every job no matter how small. He still has no idea what he's doing - not that anyone needs to know that. He just keeps making it up as he goes along.

He gets hired by a client on life support in the most depressing hospital in New York. Gets peed on by a lion. Abused by Charles Bronson. Explains peristalsis to a Tony winner. Makes a movie and goes to Sundance. Goes back to little movies when it bombs. Keeps hustling, shooting anything. Gets married, has kids. Pushes, shoves, survives. Gets divorced. Survives some more. Is an asshole, pays the price, finally learns when and how to be an asshole and becomes one of the industry's stars.

©2020 Bruce Van Dusen (P)2020 Tantor

Great Stories.

If you want a look inside the world of TV commercials , OR HOW IT USED TO BE.
This is the book to read or listen too.
How I heard about this book?
I was on a spot recently & I heard a seasoned camera crew guy say to a young director, if you want to read a good book? Read
Bruce Van Dusen’s book. Having been on a few of Bruce’s sets over the year’s, it peaked my interest.
From what I saw, Bruce Always respected the actors.👍