Now available in paperback No movie has ever been made, or made well, without the character who toils just outside the spotlight. He arranged for the spotlight, hired the spotlight operator, and even made sure that it was trained correctly on the stars. At the end of the day, there would be no blinking movie screens, no blinking Oscar winners, no finished films, good or bad, without the Assistant Director. Jerry Ziesmer was an assistant director for over thirty years, working on countless films before his retirement in the middle-nineties. He has worked with some of Hollywood's biggest directors, and its biggest stars. In this memoir, he recounts his time in Hollywood including his work on the sets of Apocalypse Now, Close Encounters, and Jerry Maguire. Written with the craft and humor that made Jerry Ziesmer one of the most sought-after assistant directors in Hollywood, this book will be a treasure for students and fans of twentieth-century Hollywood. Cloth edition previously published in 2000.

Cult 1980s comedy directed by Amy Heckerling and starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Judge Reinhold.

Based on the real events recounted in Cameron Crowe's novel, the film follows a group of high school students in southern California who are looking for love and fun in their teenage years. 15-year-old Stacy Hamilton (Leigh) is desperate for boys to see her as a woman but when she lies about her age to date an older man, she is left feeling hurt and used when she learns he is only after one thing.

When Mark (Brian Backer), a friend of Stacy's friend Mike (Robert Romanus), declares his love for sweet, innocent Stacy, Mike agrees to school him in the science of women.