Readers will experience internal thoughts when studio executives are involved and when crew members irritate each other — real life issues that prove, even in Hollywood, things aren’t always as they seem and people see only what they want to see. Readers can easily insert examples of individual go-getters in business management, sports and more who have everything resting on their shoulders. Shyamalan’s life philosophies, also exemplified by his previous Philly neighbor Allen Iverson, permeate through the detailed activity accounts. Shyamalan realizes the time he must invest to succeed and even declares he could compete against any NBA player with unlimited time to practice after two years. It’s not egotistical, he believes in himself and his abilities, which we all struggle to do. Bamberger himself even gets into the act in a parallel golfing story he wrote that matches Shyamalan’s suffering under criticism so well it couldn’t be omitted from these proceedings.

Shyamalan continues to tinker with the film until the July 21, 2006 opening date (he adds introductory information about the “blue world” through narration), but by then it’s too late to save the film from box office doom — an $18 million plus opening only materializes into an approximate total of 42 million domestically). The most impacted number here though is the film‘s budget and marketing campaign ponied up by Warner Brothers. Still, the box office numbers game (what about the international box office receipts?) takes a back seat where Shyamalan “loses” this film venture.

The screenings at Shyamalan’s farm ended up testing better than The Sixth Sense, so why no large public response? Was Bryce Dallas Howard’s role too light on background to make the audience care about her in the end? Many people in the book who “just don’t get it,” include Nina Jacobson, an important executive at Disney who brought Shyamalan to the Mouse House, which Shyamalan then left. She’s a constant force in Shyamalan’s criticism that he considers often throughout the book, and as he finds solace and some confidence his new studio partner, Warner Brothers.

The Man Who Heard Voices is a detailed look into a detailed filmmaker. How about a follow up on why Shyamalan left Warner Brothers for 20th Century Fox to make The Happening? Was it all about the studio’s money or the amount of faith in a filmmaker‘s visionary abilities to reach audiences in their hearts and, consequently, their pocketbooks?