The Emmy Award-winning producer of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! reveals the secrets to Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and its other hit programs For more than twenty-five years and counting, Rebecca Eaton has presided over PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, the longest running weekly prime time drama series in American history. From the runaway hits Upstairs, Downstairs and The Buccaneers, to the hugely popular Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect, and Poirot, Masterpiece Theatre and its sibling series Mystery! have been required viewing for fans of quality drama. Eaton interviews many of the writers, directors, producers, and other contributors and shares personal anecdotes—including photos taken with her own camera—about her decades-spanning career. She reveals what went on behind the scenes during such triumphs as Cranford and the multiple, highly-rated programs made from Jane Austen’s novels, as well as her aggressive campaign to attract younger viewers via social media and online streaming. Along the way she shares stories about actors and other luminaries such as Alistair Cooke, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Radcliffe, whose first TV role was as the title character in David Copperfield. Readers will also get to know Eaton on a personal level. With a childhood steeped in theater, an affinity for nineteenth century novels and culture, and an “accidental apprenticeship” with the BBC, Eaton was practically born to lead the Masterpiece and Mystery! franchises. Making Masterpiece marks the first time the driving force behind the enduring flagship show reveals all.

Masterpiece In the Making In a world that loves imitation, strive to be the original you were created to be. Our culture says blend in, imitate me and follow the status quo. Being original can be challenging. YouTube stars and Insta-celebrities dictate everything from fashion, food, and cool logic. It's important to know that you are not alone. You are God's best work. He designed you to be a stunning work of art that represents the very image of God. If you long to be the masterpiece God created you to be and don't understand how to unveil your unique beauty, this is your book. Based on Ephesians 2:10, Hillsong Pastor Ruth Mitchell, incorporates practical wisdom and personal experience, to guide you on your personal exploration to help you uncover who God created you to be. Mitchell will challenge you with thought provoking personal questions, as she shares stories from her life and the lives of others. The teachings will help you understand you are His masterpiece- created to be a world changer.

There is no movie musical more fun than Singin' in the Rain, and few that remain as fresh over the years. . . . It is a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it.—Roger Ebert America's most popular film critic is hardly alone in singing the praises of Singin' in the Rain. This quintessential American film-made in Hollywood's Golden Age, showcasing the genius of Gene Kelly, and featuring what Ebert calls "the most joyous musical sequence ever filmed"-has inspired love and admiration from fellow critics, film scholars, and movie buffs worldwide for more than half a century. Indeed, its reputation continues to grow: the American Film Institute now ranks it number 1 on its list of the Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time and number 5 on its list of the Greatest American Films of All Time. Echoing the enthusiasm of the film's most devoted fans, Earl Hess and Pratibha Dabholkar embrace and illuminate both the film and its reputation. Combining lucid prose with meticulous scholarship, they provide for the first time the complete inside story of how this classic movie was made, marketed, and received. They re-create the actual movie-making experience, on the set and behind the scenes, and chronicle every step in production from original concept through casting, scripting, rehearsals, filming, scoring, and editing. They then trace its distribution, critical reception, and enduring reputation. The book is brimming with human interest, bursting with anecdotes and quotes by and about the film's stars and makers. Here are Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor at the top of their form, along with Debbie Reynolds and Cyd Charisse in their breakthrough roles. Here, too, are fascinating tidbits-about censorship troubles, continuity flaws, stunt doubles for Kelly, voice doubles for cast members, the dubbing of taps, and genealogy of all the songs. Hess and Dabholkar also provide in-depth analyses of each of the major song-and-dance performances, including details of everything from the dynamics of "Gotta Dance!" to the physical challenges of the remarkable title number. Based on exhaustive research in oral histories, studio production records, letters, memoirs, and interviews, their book is factually impeccable, compulsively readable, and indispensable for anyone who loves movies at their absolute best.

"The Making of a Masterpiece" is a fresh, exciting and unique look at one of the world's most popular books. Based on several years of investigation and over 70 interviews, including material from a recently discovered scrapbook of one of Margaret Mitchell's relatives, Author Sally Rains reveals for the first time that Mitchell certainly based scenes from her book, and characters in her book, on real events and real people.

The definitive story of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, acclaimed today as one of the greatest films ever made, and of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke—“a tremendous explication of a tremendous film….Breathtaking” (TheWashington Post). Fifty years ago a strikingly original film had its premiere. Still acclaimed as one of the most remarkable and important motion pictures ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted the first contacts between humanity and extraterrestrial intelligence. The movie was the product of a singular collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and science fiction visionary Arthur C. Clarke. Fresh off the success of his cold war satire Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick wanted to make the first truly first-rate science fiction film. Drawing from Clarke’s ideas and with one of the author’s short stories as the initial inspiration, their bold vision benefited from pioneering special effects that still look extraordinary today, even in an age of computer-generated images. In Space Odyssey, author, artist, and award-winning filmmaker Michael Benson “delivers expert inside stuff” (San Francisco Chronicle) from his extensive research of Kubrick’s and Clarke’s archives. He has had the cooperation of Kubrick’s widow, Christiane, and interviewed most of the key people still alive who worked on the film. Drawing also from other previously unpublished interviews, Space Odyssey provides a 360-degree view of the film from its genesis to its legacy, including many previously untold stories. And it features dozens of photos from the making of the film, most never previously published. “At last! The dense, intense, detailed, and authoritative saga of the making of the greatest motion picture I’ve ever seen…Michael Benson has done the Cosmos a great service” (Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks).

Ron Smith. Husband, friend, teacher, philosopher, artist, Master Engraver and author of the much acclaimed book, Advanced Drawing of Scrolls.Ron brings all of these elements together in his final book The Making of a Masterpiece as he describes how his life's work and experiences culminates in his masterpiece, a fully restored and embellished 1873 Winchester.We often think of art as a painting hanging in a gallery. But art has many canvases and in the engraving world, firearms are seen as the pinnacle of surfaces to work on.To the engraving artist, firearms offer many challenges. They are a collection of highly complex shapes and parts to work on that come together to make a complete unit. The steel is hard and requires special skills, techniques and tools to cut and finish. Then, once it is reassembled, the firearm still has to function and do its intended job.It's easy, as a viewer, to look at an artist's work and see the final product without giving much thought to the hundreds of hours of thinking, planning, skill, technique, frustration and sometimes tears, that go into creating a work of art.The Making of a Masterpiece details the process from start to finish in 88 pages of text and gives the reader an over the shoulder view in more than 130 detailed photographs of how Ron Smith accomplishes his masterpiece. More importantly, it gives you a very intimate insight of how he became one of the most highly skilled and respected Master Engravers in America.In this day and age of computers and digital technology, it is a refreshing step into the past and be reminded of the "old school" techniques that Ron still employs in his work. They may be quaint to the younger novice engraver, but make no mistake, although the techniques and tools may be slightly different, the process is exactly the same.The Making of a Masterpiece is a book that every engraver and collector should have on their bookshelves.