The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide

Part One Making the Extreme No Budget Film

By Kelley Baker

2009

First Published

3.88

Average Rating

244

Number of Pages

7H27M

Audio Length

The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide Part Making the Extreme No Budget Film “When it comes to independent filmmaking Kelley Baker is the real thing. His experience, observations and practical advice reveals the raw truth about an important art form that has been hijacked, over-romanticized and betrayed by everyone from the mainstream media to its very own champions. This book is about real filmmaking. If you are thinking about making an independent film, you must read this book.” Brian Johnson, author, screenwriter, and director "Angry or not, Kelley Baker knows his stuff, and he tells it all in this book that's part indie film war story, part instructional manual for true independents, and part furious rant. It's always entertaining, and it might just tick you off, but – most important – the advice contained within these pages will help you get your film made. Anyone reading this book can tell Baker truly wants to help passionate wannabe filmmakers realize their creative visions without going bankrupt or making the kinds of mistakes they can't afford to make." Chris Hansen, Writer/Director The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah. & Endings. Kelley Baker is the Angry Filmmaker. But his independent films are not angry, they’re honest. He’s angry at the state of independent film. For Baker, it’s about telling the story, not what actors are starring in it. From making award winning short films to the trials and tribulations of making three independent features with tiny budgets and no financial backing. Kelley lays it all out. Dealing with the “Independent Film World” and the lies they tell. His films have been seen all over the world and no one has ever guessed his budgets or the struggles of making them look as good as they do. This book takes you step by step through making films on very little money, interspersed with tales of how the business really operates and the frustrations of being a Real Independent Filmmaker. Like any good survivalist, Kelley Baker doesn't beat around the bush - he gets right down to the nitty-gritty heart of the matter right way. His 12 chapter Survival Guide is a compact, no-holds-barred 12-step program to creating what Baker calls "The Extreme No-Budget Film." Baker is on fire about making films. You will be too after reading this brutally honest compilation of personal stories and practical advice from the front lines of independent filmmaking. Morrie Warshawski, Consultant and Author (Shaking the Money The Art of Getting Grants and Donations for Film and Video - 3rd Edition) Read this book and you will not only SURVIVE but you will SUCCEED. One of the best books on making your way through the independent filmmaking jungle with justifiably-angry filmmaker Kelley Baker as your top-notch Funny, profane and committed to telling the unblemished truth. Don't make your next movie until you've read this terrific book. John Gaspard, Author, Digital Filmmaking 101, Fast, Cheap and Under Control, and Fast, Cheap and Written That Way. This is a killer book. It tells you what your teachers can’t, because they haven’t done it. It tells you what your friends can’t, for the same reason. Jammed with tons of useful advice, Baker’s book is an invaluable “think before you shoot” guide for beginning filmmakers, as well as people who’ve been around the block, but need a refresher course. William M. Akers, author of Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways To Make It Great Finally, a film resource that tells it like it is! As a film festival director, I watch hundreds (if not thousands) of films a year—some good, many flawed. I wish I could afford to send copies of "Survival Part 1" to every director I encounter, to help them identify and correct potential issues before they roll the camera. Jon Gann, Director, DC Shorts Film Festival Here, with all his attitude, is the wisdom of an Angry Filmmaker, gained the hard way, through experience.

Avg Rating

3.88

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

35%

4 STARS

33%

3 STARS

20%

2 STARS

10%

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Kelley Baker

Author · 2 books

Kelley is a storyteller in both print and film. A native of Portland, Oregon, and graduate of USC’s film school, Kelley has a BA and an MFA in film production. He is an author, (Dennis Barton Is A Bastard and Other Stories, From Arrah Wanna To Muleshoe, Road Dog, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Part One & Part Two) and an Independent Filmmaker. He has written and directed three full length features (Birddog, The Gas Café, & Kicking Bird), eight short films, and quite a few documentaries. His films have aired on PBS, Canadian and Australian television, and have been shown at Film Festivals including London, Sydney, Annecy, Sao Paulo, Sundance, Chicago, Aspen, Mill Valley, and Edinburgh. In addition to his own films he was the sound designer on six of Gus Van Sant's feature films including, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, and Finding Forrester, and Todd Haynes film, Far From Heaven. He also did the sound on Will Vinton’s, The Adventures of Mark Twain, and three Claymation specials for CBS. With no distributor interested in his independent films, Kelley Baker, the Angry Filmmaker, ripped a page out of the punk rock handbook and went looking for his audience in a used minivan with his faithful 120 pound Chocolate Lab, Moses. “When Moses and I hit the road, it was scary, demanding and a shit ton of fun. Fierce storms, terrifying fog, icy roads, uncontrollable laughter, and oftentimes far too much alcohol. Without that big old dog I’m not sure how I would’ve survived.” – Kelley Baker Every fall and spring they traveled the country showing his films at art house theaters, film festivals, colleges, and biker bars. Logging over two hundred thousand miles, they encountered a collection of Fellini-esque characters including two hyper-intellectual pro wrestlers in West Virginia, a lying Chicago hotel desk clerk who cost Kelley his home, civil rights workers knocking back rum at Hank Williams’ grave, and a way overzealous drug sniffing border patrol dog outside El Paso, Texas. Kelley gave an audio workshop for employees of a porn channel, got yelled at in a haunted bar in Memphis, was asked to leave Oral Roberts University, and drove twenty-four hundred miles in three days so he wouldn’t miss his daughter’s choir recital. Moses swam in two oceans, fifteen lakes, and enthusiastically marked thousands of spots from sea to shining sea. To learn more about Kelley and his work we invite you to check out his website, www.angryfilmmaker.com, for more information.