About This Book
What's an Elephant Door?
It's a twenty-foot-tall, sixteen-inch-thick, two-thousand-pound portal—large enough for an entire movie set, heavy equipment, or even an elephant to pass through. Built to keep the noise of the world out and the secrets of Hollywood in, the elephant door guards the threshold between fantasy and reality.
Behind the Elephant Door
Ron Veto grew up in the heart of Hollywood. His father worked on Fun in Acapulco with Elvis Presley and stood on the bridge of the Enterprise with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. For Ron, the studio backlots were a childhood playground.
Behind the Elephant Door is a collection of autobiographical vignettes that offer a rare, fly-on-the-wall view into the world behind the camera. With the keen eye of an insider and the humility of an everyday man, Veto shares extraordinary stories from a life lived among Hollywood's elite. From delightful surprises to jaw-dropping revelations, his memoir pulls back the curtain on a side of the film industry few ever see.
What's an Elephant Door? The elephant door is twenty feet high, sixteen inches thick, and weighs two thousand pounds. It is a portal large enough for massive movie sets, heavy equipment, or even an elephant to pass through. The elephant door is designed to keep the noise of the world out and the secrets of Hollywood in.
Ron Veto grew up in the movie business with a father who had Fun in Acapulco with Elvis Presley and manned the bridge with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. As a young boy, the studio was his playground.
Behind the Elephant Door is a series of autobiographical vignettes through which Veto shares a fly-on-the-wall perspective from his life behind the scenes in Hollywood. Veto offers refreshing insights through the eyes of an ordinary man who spent most of his life doing extraordinary things among the Hollywood elite. His stories invite readers into Hollywood as he knew it, replete with astute observations, delightful surprises and adventures, and jaw-dropping revelations.
About the Author
As a young boy growing up in Los Angeles, Ron Veto, soc., fell in love with the camera. His interest was the genesis of a career in the motion picture industry that spanned over fifty years. Veto, a fifty-year gold card member of Hollywood's Local #80, worked as a feature key/dolly grip, beginning his career as a background movie extra in television shows such as Room 222 and feature films, including The Godfather. He transitioned to stunt work in films such as Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and The New Centurions before joining the International Cinematographers Guild #600 when he was thirty-nine. Veto was later inducted into the esteemed Society of Camera Operators as a working Steadicam operator.
Veto's skills as a Los Angeles County certified scuba diver and an aerial, vehicle, and rollercoaster camera mount specialist helped open doors for him to make movies around the world on land, in water, and in the air. He's worked alongside Hollywood greats such as Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, and Sly Stallone. He is the co-owner/creator of "The Original Slider™" camera movement system, which changed how films are shot worldwide.
Veto is a published photographer, inventor, travel writer, and author. His photography has been featured in various gallery exhibitions in and around Los Angeles.
He stays busy swimming, traveling the world with his Nikons, and promoting "The Original Slider." (ronvetophotographs.com, theslider.com)
Book Details
- Published
- Apr 29, 2025
- Pages
- 600
- ISBN
- 9781998315307