BOOKS & EBOOKS
Books written by Australian producers.
Some books that give an insight into producing on a domestic and global scale. Not only educational, but great reads!
PRODUCING FOR THE SCREEN: A HANDBOOK
Andrena Finlay & Sue Milliken
Legendary producers Andrena Finlay and Sue Milliken have collaborated on a handbook about producing for the screen, encompassing all the stages of feature film production.
Titled Producing for the Screen: The Handbook, it covers the entire process from the initial idea, development and financing through to production, distribution, marketing and launch.
“Most producing handbooks are cures for insomnia. This one is lively, local and clear as it shares key information between generations.” – David Tiley, editor of Screen Hub
“Andrena Finlay was my film school, so I am thrilled that she and Sue Milliken have written this book to share their immense knowledge.” – Jodi Matterson, producer
“An invaluable guide for all Australian producers, peppered with a wonderful sense of humour.” – Leonie Marsh, producer
TIME FLIES TOO
Al Clark
Time Flies Too is the sequel to 2021’s beguiling and absorbing memoir Time Flies by Al Clark, who in its last paragraph married and settled in Australia.
These new recollections playfully explore his adjustment to life in a new country, the labyrinth involved in making films, the gifted collaborators he encountered along the way, and the work itself — notably one of Australia’s most enduringly successful movies (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). It completes the journey of a solitary boy who fell in love with cinema, and of the man who strove to bring it to life.
“A brilliant sequel to his marvellous memoir Time Flies. Readers might be surprised by its tenderness and its sane, balanced reflections on a crazy business. This often very funny book is more candid and self-deprecating than self-congratulatory – and its love for all things cinema is deeply felt.”
Peter Galvin, FilmInk.
TIME FLIES
Al Clark
Time Flies is an idiosyncratic memoir with a distinctive voice and a sense of the absurd: a wistful, reflective, sometimes comic view of childhood in a remote mining village in Southern Spain, the dislocating shock of a Scottish boarding school education, and a remarkable introduction to working life in London at Time Out then at Virgin, both at the peak of their maverick self-confidence. A tireless spokesperson for the company, and an improbable mouthpiece for the Sex Pistols at the time of their greatest fame and vilification, he later went on to produce numerous notable films, several classics among them.
“A significant Australian filmmaker, Al Clark is also a superb writer and humorist, as this first volume of memoirs attests. A joyful experience.” Phillip Adams
RAYMOND CHANDLER IN HOLLYWOOD 
Al Clark
Four years after writing his first novel, The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler found himself sitting in an office at Paramount earning a weekly salary that amounted to almost half of what he had received for the film rights to his second novel, Farewell My Lovely. Despite the considerable rewards, he was always uncertain, often disgruntled, never at ease.
Raymond Chandler in Hollywood is an entertaining and comprehensive assessment of Chandler’s turbulent association with Hollywood, both as a screenwriter whose credits included Double Indemnity, The Blue Dahlia and Strangers on a Train and as the provider of source material — his six filmed novels, which have so far yielded ten movies. Illustrated with over 100 rare stills, this book provides a special insight into the work of the world’s most acclaimed writer of detective fiction.
THERE’S A FAX FROM BRUCE
Bruce Beresford & Sue Milliken
Buy now at Currency Press
Reading like a survival manual for aspiring filmmakers, There’s a Fax from Bruce is a fascinating insight into filmmaking in the 1990s from two of Australia’s most successful film practitioners.
‘I devoured this correspondence between Sue and Bruce. It has all the humour and metaphors you could wish for in an intimate exchange about the angst of ever getting a film made, anywhere, anytime.‘ Margaret Pomeranz
‘In touch with each other by fax while they flew all over the world, two brilliant Australians left a sparkling record of how they lived and worked as the film business turned into the international country we know today.‘ Clive James
SELECTIVE MEMORY: A LIFE IN FILM
Sue Milliken
Buy now at Hybrid Publishers
Always insightful and often hilarious, Selective Memory reveals some unforgettable ‘behind the scenes’ moments, from dealing with drunken leading men to finding her director and crew stranded in Morocco, ready to shoot but with no money to pay for it.
Sue Milliken has met and worked with some unforgettable characters, including Sidney Nolan, George Johnston and Charmian Clift, Frank Thring, John Meillon, Graham Kennedy, John Hargreaves, Bryan Brown, Graeme Blundell and Barry Humphries, and the legendary Hollywood producer Dino de Laurentiis. She’s had more than the occasional brush with Hollywood, endured freezing nights with supermodels in the Blue Mountains and launched the career of many an internationally renowned actor, including Cate Blanchett.
The book includes a number of photos and a foreword by director Bruce Beresford.