35 episodes

HOLLYWOOD & MINE — There are millions of stories here in Tinseltown. Let me read you this one about BILLIE and her meteoric rise from babysitter to Hollywood Studio Chief and what happened next...

BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD Susannah Corwin

    • Fiction
    • 5.0 • 8 Ratings

HOLLYWOOD & MINE — There are millions of stories here in Tinseltown. Let me read you this one about BILLIE and her meteoric rise from babysitter to Hollywood Studio Chief and what happened next...

    1 An Introduction to Hollywood & Mine

    1 An Introduction to Hollywood & Mine

    HOLLYWOOD & MINE — There are millions of stories here in Tinseltown. Let me read you this one about BILLIE and her meteoric rise from babysitter to Hollywood Studio Chief and what happened next...

    • 15 min
    2 Chapter 1 Hollywood & Mine

    2 Chapter 1 Hollywood & Mine

    HOLLYWOOD & MINE — There are millions of stories here in Tinseltown. Let me read you this one about BILLIE and her meteoric rise from babysitter to Hollywood Studio Chief and what happened next...

    • 25 min
    3 Chapter 2 Hollywood & Mine

    3 Chapter 2 Hollywood & Mine

    It’s not common knowledge, but most leading men are short. They have big heads in relation to their slight bodies, large symmetrical features, especially eyes, and straight expertly manscaped brows. They photograph well. The camera loves them and in order to make them appear tall in the frame they often emote perched up on a flat wooden platform called an apple box, a leftover term from the silent era when California’s main export was produce and anything on hand — like a shipping crate — was incorporated as a movie tool.

    • 14 min
    4 Chapter 3 Hollywood & Mine

    4 Chapter 3 Hollywood & Mine

    It’s amazing in L.A., how often the very early morning brings clarity. It’s true. The low angle of the sun, the freshly brewed coffee, the smell of moist earth and eucalyptus after the sprinklers had gone off. In my gullible twenties — after the birth of my son — it came to my attention that my husband was in the midst of inviting a succession of long legged lady-girls out to restaurants while I let my ends split and my waist expand. I assumed, no, let’s say I trusted, that my husband was engaged in an innocent round of PR and that the parade of beauties would recede when I was able to get back to the gym. Actors? Attention sucking vacuums? Now, really…

    • 20 min
    5 Chapter 4 Hollywood & Mine

    5 Chapter 4 Hollywood & Mine

    I called my mom. Mother Lydia was the antithesis of everyone I knew in Hollywood. If I couldn’t get absolution I knew calling her would result in a strong dose of disapproval, an advised course correction, and a grudging glimmer of hope. First of all, as a school superintendent, she didn’t approve of me dropping out of college, she didn’t approve of my lifestyle; and she certainly didn’t approve of my soon to be ex-husband who she called a dissolute charmer. She often mentioned he had bad blood and that if it weren’t for his good looks he probably would have ended up a goodfella.

    • 11 min
    6 Chapter 5 Hollywood & Mine

    6 Chapter 5 Hollywood & Mine

    I scanned the editing room to see if there was a physical tell for an epiphany moment. Two young men in their early twenties, my classmates, were hunched down in a darkened cubicle, stubble across their chins, staring at the projection screen. The only thing on their horizon was their unfolding masterpiece. It must have been around five o’clock. The editing room was nearly silent. The population of campus was thinning out in anticipation of altered states and misadventures. At a maternal 29 I felt those days had departed, but something key had suddenly taken their place: I liked control and I liked the inkling of muscularity, the real labor it took to make even the smallest film. Call it an epiphany, call it a benediction, call it a curse. For me it was a – no, it was the turning point.

    • 26 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
8 Ratings

8 Ratings

Best app ever so yah ,

Pure Delight

Oh, Susannah! How I miss my segments of your story! I so looked forward to every episode, and was dashed each time I heard the narrator soothingly sign off, until next time. And when it was all over, for real, I wanted to wring the author’s neck for not writing more!
The story is a fairytale, of the modern variety, full of heroes and villains and enchanting twists and magical good fortune and heartbreaking misfortune. The perfect pitch of narration adds a layer of reality, especially when she goes off script to comment on politics and pandemics. The perfectly chosen quotes that begin each episode bring a lovely reminder of Hollywood’s long reaching allure.
The author’s talent is in the weaving of humor and mirth into an insiders view of Tinseltown. It was a story that should not end, because there is always more to say. I beg of you, Susannah Corwin, take me down another rabbit hole filled with the wonders of your Hollywood!

Bill Kuhn ,

An Insider’s Guide to Hollywood

If anyone knows Hollywood from an insider’s perspective, Susannah Corwin does. She’s been in the business. Her husband’s been in the business. She’s been *around* the business most of her working life.

So do you think it’s unlikely that a babysitter would land a job as studio exec? Believe me, follow this story one step at a time and it’ll seem completely natural.

I first read this book when it was print only. I turned the pages entranced. I cried at the end. But in a good way. To hear the author’s voice takes it to a whole new level. I felt I was being enchanted and my troubles were being soothed away by the sound of Susannah Corwin telling her story.

KnittyBiddy ,

Oh, Susannah!

I've been a fan of Susnnah Corwin's writing for years, loving her early screenplays' quirky characters & unusual plots. Here, her already-great writing style just keeps getting better.

These Hollywood characters *are* beguiling, pulling you into the bizzare world of L.A. in the most delightful way. The narrator's voice softly leads you on a walk through Hollywood "locations" - a walk with *just* the right amount of wander. Corwin's observational eye catches all & her take on what she sees will keep you chuckling.

A five star listen!

Top Podcasts In Fiction

The Adventure Zone
The McElroys
Table Read
Manifest Media / Realm
The Last City
Wondery
The NoSleep Podcast
Creative Reason Media Inc.
The Sleepy Bookshelf
Slumber Studios
Welcome to Night Vale
Night Vale Presents