Julian Schlossberg - Try Not to Hold It Against Me

A LOVE LETTER TO SHOW BUSINESS! Try Not to Hold It Against Me is a must-read written by one of the best & funniest in the industry. Truly a fascinating memoir that will captivate & delight any reader!

susan stroman, five-time tony award-winning director & choreographer

If I had only had the chance to read Julian Schlossbergs Try Not To Hold It Against Me when I started to launch my own career as an actor I would have been introduced to the world of show business it took me decades to discover. Such a wealth of insight into how things get done, i.e. films, plays, and worthy endeavors. The memoir is a joy to read and a trip down memory lane during perhaps its most creative era.

tony roberts, actor (annie hall, serpico,) two-time tony nominee

Mike Nichols was doing a play in London and afterwards invited me to join him and Jeremy Irons for a bite, where he introduced me to Julian Schlossberg. When Julian left to catch a plane Mike said, There goes the nicest producer in show business. Like a fool, I believed him. I still do.

f murray abraham, academy award winning actor

Try Not To Hold It Against Me is a blockbuster! Julian writes of stars like Al Pacino, Orson Welles, The Beatles, Shirley MacLaine, George C. Scott, Burt Reynolds (and so many others). It was like I was standing on his shoulders seeing VIP doors suddenly open. Youll love this book. I promise.

steve guttenberg, actor (3 men and a baby, cocoon, police academy films)

A brilliant tale of show business, Try Not to Hold It Against Me will have readers laughing out loud and giving a standing ovation.

twiggy, actress/model

Now, whats most amazing about this book: Try Not to Hold It Against Me is a true story. Julian Schlossbergs show-business page-turner is a bold adventure, told as a crackling good tale. Inspires as well as excites. Highly recommend.

walter anderson, formerly editor-in-chief, parade magazine

If you have ever found yourself interested, even minutely, in the inner workings of Hollywood directors, Try Not to Hold It Against Me is a fantastic starting point. It will hold your interest as you are regaled with stories of Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Mike Nichols and many more.

renee taylor, emmy-award winner actress/writer

Julian Schlossbergs memoir is as original and entertaining as is his amazing body of work. It is packed with unique glimpses of the dazzling array of stars he has worked with. This renowned producer has a jewelers eye for the foibles and brilliance of artists and a jaundiced eye for the petty and tawdry. He knows show business, and I have to say: Hes one helluva writer.

danny goldberg, former president of atlantic records, author of serving the servant: remembering kurt cobain

Julian Schlossberg has already proven that hes an A+ Broadway producer, but here he proves that hes a damn good storyteller. From his childhood in the Bronx to his future in film, Schlossberg shines with this gripping account of what it takes to make it big.

marlo thomas, four-time emmy-award winning actress/writer/producer

try not to hold it against me

Copyright 2023 by Julian Schlossberg

FIRST EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in cases of a reviewer quoting brief passages in a review.

This book is a memoir. The information included is based on the authors present recollections of experiences over time. Some dialogue may have been recreated using the authors best recollection.

Hardcover: 9780825310256

Ebook: 9780825309007

For inquiries about volume orders, please contact:

Beaufort Books, 27 West 20th Street, Suite 1103, New York, NY 10011

Published in the United States by Beaufort Books

www.beaufortbooks.com

Distributed by Midpoint Trade Books

a division of Independent Publisher Group

https://www.ipgbook.com/

Photos courtesy of the author

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife Merryn,

Who changed my life and brings me joy on a daily basis.

Julian Schlossberg with the playwrights of Death Defying Acts, Elaine May, David Mamet, and Woody Allen, 1995

The Al Hirschfeld Foundation. www.AlHirschfeldFoundation.org

I first met Julian Schlossberg when he was Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures and screwed my movie.

I really like Mikey and Nicky, he said, and so does everyone at the studioobviously unaware that Paramount had sued me for a year after seeing the dailiesand, he went on, there will be a sneak preview of it tomorrow night in Washington, D.C. The ad will be in the morning paper.

Please dont put my name in it, I said. Its a dark movie, not like anything Ive ever done. If you put my name in the ad, people will think its a comedy, and kill me when it isnt.

Youve got it, he said. No name in the ad.

The next day the ad came out, and it said, Elaine Mays new movie previews tonightThe Dupont Theater at 7 p.m.

I sat in the back row and watched as the audience laughed through hate, fistfights, and gunshots, and finally, when the end came and they realized there was no comic twist, they began to boo. Loud boos. Threatening gestures.

A man in a suit whispered, Im a Vice President with Paramount,and he led me out. He took me to a small office in the theater, crowded with other men in suits who were vice presidents at Paramount. Julian Schlossberg, who was very young at the time, sat perched on a desk. He was very pale. He did not look at me.

Do you know what a liar is? I said.

I told him to do it, another man in a suit cried. Im the vice president in charge of him.

Faint boos echoed from the lobby as the audience filed out. I left the room.

The next morning, Julian Schlossberg appeared at my door.

Im going to all the Walter Reade Theaters to make sure theyre cross-plugging Mikey and Nicky, he said.

We went to six theaters, and he spoke to the manager at each one and asked if there was a trailer on the screen for my movie. There wasnt.

By the end of the day I was exhausted, because we had gone by bus. He explained that he could not afford to take that many taxis, and he felt it would be dishonest to charge Paramount, because Paramount did not know he was doing this.

When the film opened, the reviews were mostly about the lawsuitand on Paramounts side. There was a noticeable absence of crowds. The film closed. And soon afterward, Julian Schlossberg called me and said he was meeting with the Paramount lawyer about the movie, and he thought I should be there.

We met in a restaurant, and he pointed out to the lawyer that according to my contract, there were supposed to be ads and trailers to meet the standards of a Grade A movie release.