Obviously, Sidney Lumet's "Making Movies" is the gold standard, even if the technical stuff is dated at times. For a basic production primer, why not turn to one of the all-time great directors, who writes like your kindly uncle? Underrated gem: "Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe" by Jerry Ziesmer. He was 1st AD on Apocalypse Now, Close Encounters, Scarface, and Cameron Crowe's first few movies, among many others. His stories and perspective are invaluable. It's all about production and the business, rather than writing. But the 1st AD plays one of the biggest roles in turning the script into something tangible, so it's a rare and important vantage point. Another treat: "Conversations With Wilder" by Cameron Crowe. A very good writer/director talking to arguably the best writer/director. Great stories, humor, and insight.

William Goldman's "Adventures in The Screen Trade" and "Which Lie Did I Tell" are just fantastic reads. I'm a huge Whedon fan so I bought myself "Firefly: A Companion" for Xmas. Nice fake leather bound (no animals were harmed in the making of this book). Contains lush color pictures of the show, production notes, interviews with *everyone* and last but not least, shooting scripts for all the episodes (but not the movie, alas). Also, Joss Whedon, The Complete Companion and Joss Whedon Conversations by Lavery & Burkhead (I'm a fan, what can I say :)) Two Blade Runner related books: Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul Sammon; and Blade Runners, Deer Hunters and Blowing the Bloody Doors Off by Michael Deeley. Finally a book about the making of Duck Soup: Hail, Hail Euphoria by Roy Blount, jr.

Sorry, "Firefly: A Celebration".