NNELS Upgrade

Women have been writing, producing and directing movies since filmmaking began in the early 1900s. From taming wild dogs to filming from the open door of a plane to being nominated for an academy award, women directors have done amazing things in the world of film. Fantastic Female Filmmakers tells the stories of ten women who are some of the most creative and respected directors in the world.

This book will change the way you think about success. Producer of television’s iconic Degrassi franchise Stephen Stohn tells stories from behind the scenes and of making it in the music and television world in this star-studded, rock ’n’ roll trip through a Canadian show business explosion. Stohn, who has been at the heart of the entertainment industry for over forty years, shares a lifetime of experience and unique insights into how dreams are turned into reality. “Whatever It Takes” — both a mantra and Degrassi’s theme song — has been heard millions of times all over the world.

Veteran radio and television personality John Gallagher’s salacious, voracious, and dangerously delicious memoirs of a life lived on the edge in the midst of some of the world’s biggest celebrities. Long-time sportscaster John Gallagher has had close to four decades of hosting some of the top-rated radio and TV shows in Canada and, while he was at it, doing enough drugs to wipe out a small village. Along the way there was plenty of drinking, cavorting, and gallivanting with some of the coolest, biggest, and baddest sports stars and Hollywood celebs around.

The true story of a legend of Canadian pop culture broadcasting and the way he got his start in the 1970s: working as a fur trader for the Hudson’s Bay Company in the Northwest Territories and then moving on to DJing in disco-era Vancouver. A true story of an adventurous pop-loving teenager who, in the early 1970s, went from London’s discotheques to the Canadian sub-arctic to work for the Hudson’s Bay Company. His job? Buying furs and helping run the trading post in the settlement of Arviat (then known as Eskimo Point), Northwest Territories (population: 750).

Revisit Hollywood’s Golden Age with insider Charles Foster, who befriended the many Canadian stars that peppered the film sets. Foster reveals the stories of the amazing influence Canadians had in the early days of the film biz. Includes: Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood A Hollywood insider brings together the stories of eighteen Canadians who were celebrities during Hollywood’s formative years.

This special bundle contains seven books that detail Canada’s long and storied history in the performing arts. We learn about Canada’s early Hollywood celebrity movie stars; Canadians’ vast contributions to successful international stage musicals; the story of The Grand, a famous theatre in London, Ontario; reminiscences from the early days of radio; the history of the renowned Stratford Festival; and a lavish history of the famous National Ballet of Canada. Canada’s performing artists blossomed in the twentieth century, and you can learn all about it here.

The colourful story of Don Harron’s 77-year career in the entertainment business. After 15 books about somebody else (mostly alter ego Charlie Farquharson) plus one book by his drag-queen character, Charlie’s rich city cousin Valerie Rosedale, Don Harron now presents the story of his 77-year stint in the entertainment business.

"A fascinating history of a wonderful old theatre." - Hume Cronyn In September of 1901 London's New Grand Opera House flung open its doors. Boasting a beautiful interior design, and with the most modern stage equipment available, the theatre was large enough to accommodate over 1,700 patrons and the largest touring shows of the time. With impresario Ambrose J. Small at the helm, a new era in theatrical entertainment began.

"You’ll like Louis Mayer," Mary Pickford told Charles Foster in 1943. "He is from Canada, too." As Foster was soon to discover, Mayer was not alone: a great many of those who helped shape Hollywood into the movie capital of the world were Canadian. Stardust and Shadows brings together the stories of 18 Canadians who were celebrities during Hollywood’s formative years.

Romancing the Bard offers a look at the Stratford Festival in its first fifty years as it developed from a bold venture driven by vision of a handful of eager enthusiasts to its present status as a multi-million dollar cultural and commercial enterprise. With profiles of Stratford personalities from founder Tyrone Guthrie to current artistic director Richard Monette, it provides glimpses of intrigue and conflict both offstage and on.