When the credits roll at the end of a movie, do you know what a producer, a gaffer, or a computer special-effects creator actually does? How about a key grip or best boy? Who makes the trailers you see before a feature film? Who decides the rating that each movie receives?

Gaffers, Grips, and Best Boys goes way beyond the Hollywood glamour and hype to explain every aspect of who does what in the making of a motion picture - from conception and casting to production, postproduction, advertising, and marketing here and abroad. A veteran film-industry insider, Eric Taub takes readers through the labyrinthine world of today's studio system, sharing candid, revealing interviews he's conducted with some of the most successful actors, directors, producers, film editors, sound mixers, stuntpersons, story analysts, publicists, sound-effects editors, computer visual-effects producers, and marketing executives in the motion picture business today - with each one offering behind-the-scenes accounts of the part he or she plays in making today's top-grossing (and, in some cases, top-flopping) movies.