Roll the Calls Explains How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Ever Lowering Your Voice

Ari Emanuel’s new memoir, Roll the Calls (Knopf), explains how a dyslexic kid from Chicago rose from the Creative Artists Agency mailroom to become one of Hollywood’s most powerful agents, largely by making telephone calls at a volume normally associated with evacuating buildings.

Emanuel, 65, entertainment executive and co-founder of Endeavor, has represented some of Hollywood’s biggest names and inspired the character Ari Gold on HBO’s Entourage. His book suggests that success requires persistence, loyalty, ambition, and occasionally informing another multimillionaire that he is a stinking idiot. This is encouraging news for young people who had assumed screaming at coworkers would limit their career prospects.

The 432-page memoir follows Emanuel through decades of deals, mergers, grudges, and confrontations. He describes feuds with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Barry Diller, and other Hollywood figures, some of whom apparently made the career mistake of answering their phones.

Emanuel also discusses his dyslexia, childhood struggles,  and legendary temper, which he has attempted to understand through therapy. The temper nevertheless remains an important business asset, roughly equivalent to a corner office or controlling interest in a professional wrestling organization.

Readers seeking practical career advice will find several useful principles in Roll the Calls. Return calls. Defend clients. Work harder than everyone else. Never forget a slight. And when negotiations stall, consider whether the other party has been adequately frightened.

The book does contain moments of reflection. Emanuel acknowledges that rage has complicated his life and relationships, although it also appears to have produced several billion dollars, making the evidence somewhat difficult to evaluate.

Roll the Calls ultimately offers an inspiring message to anyone struggling to get ahead in Hollywood.

You don’t need connections. You need connections who are afraid not to pick up.

Read more life-changing dispatches from a culture officially in decline by clicking here.