Philadelphia Event Alert: APOCALYPSE ON THE SET

Philadelphia native Ben Taylor turned his lifelong interest for film into his first book APOCALYPSE ON THE SET: Nine Disastrous Film Productions. In this compendium of legendary catastrophic productions, Taylor demonstrates that when disaster strikes the movie set, the resulting consequences—sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic—will rival even the most sensational storyline of the film itself.

A kidnapped South Korean director, a staged shooting-turned-fatal, a studio held hostage—these are only a few of the outlandishly real circumstances under which these nine featured movies were produced. Whether through financial obligation, bravery, or determination alone, each film was completed and released, despite the traumatic conditions that plagued them and threatened their success.

If you live in the Philadelphia area, you can you can hear from Ben Taylor himself at two upcoming events as he discusses the fascinating films and their disaster stories that compelled him to write his book.

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3/29: Barnes and Noble, Rittenhouse; 7:00 PM—FREE

Ben Taylor will be on hand discussing numerous anecdotes from the book and will be available to answer questions and sign books purchased during the event.

4/3: Bryn Mawr Film Institute, Bryn Mawr, PA 7:30 PM—ticketed event

General Admission: $10 | Student: $7 | BMFI Member: $5

Ben Taylor will be discussing his book, highlighting the film Fitzcarraldo and its director Werner Herzog. A screening of Fitzcarraldo will follow at 8:30 PM.

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Ben Taylor is a frequent writer for DamnInteresting.com, a weekly online publication with over 400,000 visitors a month, and contributed to their volume, Alien Hand Syndrome. He is a graduate of LaSalle University and currently lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Visit: www.apocalypseontheset.com

Watch: Book Trailer

Listen: Radio Interview with Ben Taylor

Read: ScreenRant Interview with Ben Taylor

Peruse: Hollywood Reporter Slideshow

Stephen Fry Visits NYC

British comedian, actor, playwright, and author Stephen Fry graced New York City and the Overlook Press office with his warm and magnetic presence last Tuesday, January 24. We invited Fry to the States to promote his newest autobiography, THE FRY CHRONICLES, a witty and brutally honest stunner that we’ve praised here before. Yet the novelty of having the real life Jeeves from the comic series Jeeves and Wooster was not lost on this P. G. Wodehouse-loving lot. (Did we mention our office is on Wooster Street? Fry was destined to become an Overlooker!).

Despite a morning and afternoon of back-to-back radio and TV interviews, Fry took great delight in spending the evening with a packed house at Barnes and Noble, TriBeCa. The applause of three hundred people filled the normally hushed bookstore as the audience greeted him with cheers and a standing ovation.

Prior to a two-hour meet and greet in which Fry signed books, photos, an iPad, and graciously posed for a portrait, he charmed the audience by recalling numerous childhood anecdotes, gushing over his literary idol, Oscar Wilde, and offering more sage wisdom and uproarious laughs than could be contained to this limited space.

Fry revealed that his love of language and literature began at the tender age of 10. While watching a black and white rendition of The Importance of Being Earnest, he became enamored by the way in which language could be manipulated into something graceful and moving. So passionate was he to discover this playwright that he biked 12 miles each way to the nearest library. It was at that library that Fry encountered his idol whom he later portrayed in the acclaimed Wilde--and so began his destiny as a linguistic master.

To say that Fry writes the way he speaks and speaks the way he writes is a compliment of the highest order. With jaunty prose, striking intellect, and an endearing verbosity, he reveals himself through his speech and written word to be the most genuine of gentleman, holding nothing—not even his insecurities—from the public eye.

During the evening, we were able to capture a few choice moments representative of the contagious laughter, sincerity, and brilliance that permeated the room. In these clips, Stephen Fry speaks about his transition from theater to comedy during his time at Cambridge, his discovery of Oscar Wilde and passion for writing, and the importance of intelligence and moral qualities. We hope you enjoy as much as we did. Cheers!