Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker by Stephen Galloway tells the story of Sherry Lansing, an actress-turned-studio executive who was the former CEO of Paramount Pictures and the first woman to head a Hollywood movie studio.

Aside from learning about Lansing’s life, readers also get a detailed behind-the-scenes look into various films Lansing produced – such as The Accused, Forrest Gump, and Braveheart – and we learn more about the actors she worked with. Lansing’s rise to success is motivational, and her life and career seem quite fulfilling. But the book also reveals the dark side of moviemaking, and Galloway certainly shows the cutthroat and callous politics of Hollywood.