Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham having the sort of informal conversation that shapes Girls. Martin Scorsese opening up about taking risks. Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar struggling to reinvent the TV industry. Nike founder Phil Knight and his son, Travis, launching a studio to rival Pixar. Fast Company explores ingenuity like no other business publication. Besides chronicling the tales of disruptive entertainment startups, the stories in Hacking Hollywood reveal the industry’s brightest and most daring minds at work on some of the biggest and most influential TV shows and movies: Homeland, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Lost, The Departed, The Producers, and more. A Who’s Who of studio heads, directors, writers, and performers take you deep inside their creative process. This anthology also introduces insiders such as Franklin Leonard, creator of The Black List, a champion of unmade movies—which have grossed a combined $16 billion at the box office.

Hacking Hollywood is for anyone curious to know what it takes to succeed in an insanely competitive industry that has an insatiable hunger for new ideas but is also notoriously resistant to change. These stories are chock-full of strategies, lessons, and inspiration, but you don’t have to be in business (or entertainment) to appreciate the riveting plotlines and compelling characters that inhabit these dramas.