End of the Tour, Blogs & other stuff

November 9, 2009

I am just finishing up the tour and Moses and I are tired. Sorry I have been slow when it comes to blogging it seems like I always get this way at the end of a 10 week tour, and yes, it has been 10 weeks.

I have been to a few new places this time around and made some new friends. Check out the University of Central Florida’s film program blog (http://ucffilm.blogspot.com/) I spent some great time there and met some great students. Thank you Jon Jones and Lisa Mills!

I also was interviewed by John Gaspard, a filmmaker after my own heart when it comes to No-Budget Films. Check out my interview at http://fastcheapmoviethoughts.blogspot.com/. It is a great blog; you all should visit there often.

I am in San Antonio right now consulting on a couple of films for a friend of mine. Moses and I are also trying to relax a bit before we start the long trek home.

Here is a sample of a few things from my book The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film.

1. "What kind of software do you use?" is the most frequently asked question and possibly the stupidest one that I've ever heard! Software doesn't write your story, you do.

2. If you piss off your crew you'll never really know it until you're back in the editing room. That's when you will see things like the boom, or mic shadows, or that the focus is soft.

3. The worst thing that can happen on a set is that someone gets hurt. Safety is a huge concern. You know what your Mom always said, "it's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out.”

4. No one ever thinks about post! Like once you get through production the rest of the film will take care of itself?

5. The studio/distribution people will tell you that you need a star, don't believe them. They're lazy.

The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film. It’s full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

“Your book should be handed to every kid starting film school or every kid that says "Screw film school, I'm going to make a picture. NOW."

Jim LeBrecht
Berkeley Sound Artists (and all around good guy)

I would really appreciate it if the people who have purchased my book could go to Amazon.com and write a review. I could use a lot more. And please tell your friends about the book, but don’t let them buy it on Amazon, send them to my site. I make more money that way.

On to other stuff.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

Tour notes, Blood Curse & other book stuff

October 24, 2009

The tour is finally winding down… I am tired but feeling pretty good. I am in Pittsburgh on Sunday the 25th for a screening of Birddog and a workshop at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont (a suburb of Pittsburgh) this Sunday October 25th at 2:00 Pm (1449 Potomac Avenue). Stop by if you can.

I just finished Nic Brown's book Blood Curse. It was a terrific page turner about a Werewolf for hire. Great job Nic. Check it out at www.werewolfforhire.com. I really liked this book and ordinarily I don’t read these sorts of things.
The road has been good to Moses and I, we’ve done a lot of gigs, met a lot of people and sold a lot of books.

Here is a sample of a few things from my book The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film.

1. Knowing lots of people is sometimes better than money. When you have no money you need a lot of friends to get your movie done.
2. The best way to show respect to the people who supported you, worked with you, and believed in you is to finish the movie and make it the best movie possible.
3. Writing (and filmmaking) should be about passion! You write a script because you need to. You have to! You need to get this stuff out of your system!
4. The studio/distribution people will tell you that you need a star, don't believe them. They're lazy.
5. There seems to be this myth that if you're not actually shooting, then you are not making your movie.



The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film. It’s full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

“You don’t need dear sweet Aunt Bea teaching you how to make movies. It’s a tough business, so you need a tough teacher. Kelley Baker, flamethrower, is what you need.”

William M. Akers
author of Your Screenplay Sucks! 100 Ways To Make It Great
teaches screenwriting and filmmaking at Vanderbilt University
Lifetime Member of the Writers Guild

I would really appreciate it if the people who have purchased my book could go to Amazon.com and write a review. I could use a lot more. And please tell your friends about the book, but don’t let them buy it on Amazon, send them to my site. I make more money that way.

On to other stuff.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

Touring, Hackers & Other Stuff

October 9, 2009

We are still out here! Moses and I are on our way to Dubuque, IA for a weekend of screenings and workshops. I’ll be at the Mind Frame Theaters on October 11th for a screening of Kicking Bird and a workshop, so stop on by.

After Dubuque we’ll be in Toledo, then Bowling Green doing screenings and workshops.

The tour has been going well, but the weather is turning. It has been pouring the last couple of days which is always fun to drive in.

I was on a panel a couple days ago with a filmmaker and the subject of digital downloads came up. This filmmaker had made a low budget zombie movie and had put it up on a well known site for downloading and his film got hacked. Somehow he was able to determine that his film has now been downloaded thousands (and possibly tens of thousands) of times illegally. What does that mean? That means that people are watching his movie for free and he is still trying to pay it off. He self-funded using credit cards (you all know how I feel about this) and so he is working like crazy to pay off what he owes and people are stealing his movie. He did say isn’t it great that so many people are watching my movie, but that isn’t helping me pay my bills.

This is horrible! We are not big famous, wealthy filmmakers here. We are trying to make a living like everyone else through our work and some people are taking advantage of us. Yes, we have all downloaded a song or gotten a copy of software from someone and it is wrong. When I talked to this fellow and really thought about it I see that maybe we think we are sticking it to some big corporation with the copies we make of things, but we are also hurting the little guys, like us.

If there are any hackers reading this do me a favor, I know you are going to do what you do no matter what anyone says, but please take a look at who or what you are hacking and if it is a small independent filmmaker, band, musician or other type of artist, leave us alone. We are just trying to survive here, and truthfully our stuff isn’t that tough to hack. Please pick on someone who can afford it better than we can.

Don’t forget The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film. It’s full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

I would really appreciate it if the people who have purchased my book could go to Amazon.com and write a review. I could use a lot more. And please tell your friends about the book, but don’t let them buy it on Amazon, send them to my site. I make more money that way.

On to other stuff.

Even though Moses and I are on the road, I still have a few open dates on the Fall Tour so if you want us to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner this Fall send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

The Tour, Casting & Other Stuff

September 29, 2009

I had a great time at the B Movie Celebration, thanks to all who attended. Now I am headed to Tulsa for the Script2Screen Film Festival this weekend. I am speaking at the Festival twice (Thursday evening and Friday morning) and then doing a workshop at the Nightingale Theater (416 E 4th Street) on Saturday from 11 – 2 pm.

Then I’m flying home for the annual Father/Daughter Dance at Fiona’s high school. It is her senior year, and I haven’t missed a dance yet. This will be fun. I am home for about 30 hours and then back out on the road and off to Southeast Missouri State University.

Let’s talk about Casting for a moment.

How do you find Actors for your films?

I go to see as much theater in town as I can. I love theater, and I love theater actors. In my experience they work real hard and they love what they do. They must, because most of them are never going to get rich working in the theaters. So how come filmmakers don’t go to the theater? At one of the panels I was on at the B Movie Celebration another filmmaker made the comment, “Most of your friends can’t act so don’t put them in your movie!” I have to agree (unless of course your friends are stage actors…). And that’s the point, nothing looks worse than bad acting in a film. The audience will laugh for awhile, and then when it doesn’t get any better, they will leave.

Find the best actors you can and rehearse the hell out of them. And don’t forget to respect them and their craft.

The studio/distribution people will tell you that you need a name. Don't believe them. They're lazy. They don't want to have to work at their jobs. We work our asses off making the movie, why shouldn't they do the same thing promoting it? And these days, to say you have William H. Macy in a movie isn't enough. How many straight-to-DVD movies have you seen on the shelves that have name stars? If there are lots of titles that you have never heard of, just think how many movies these "stars" have done that never got picked up for the straight-to- DVD route. Probably lots.

It's all bullshit! Good actors are more important than stars any day of the week. Remember, stars have to come from somewhere. Maybe your low-budget film will be the launching point for the next Parker Posey? Doubtful, but possible. I still say, stay away from "stars!"

Excerpted from my book, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film. It’s full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

“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
teaches screenwriting and filmmaking at Vanderbilt University
Lifetime Member of the Writers Guild

On to other stuff.

Even though Moses and I are on the road, I still have open dates on the Fall Tour so if you want us to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner this Fall send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

DC Shorts, Mustard & The B Movie Celebration

September 22, 2009

The tour is going great so far. I had two large crowds for my workshop at the DC Shorts Film Festival, (http://dcshorts.com/) as always Jon Gann throws the best film festival. I met some great filmmakers and saw some old friends. Jon, keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll come back ANYTIME you want me. If you have never been to DC Shorts, you are a fool.

I just finished shooting a 10 minute short with a group of students at the Wisconsin Film School in Madison (http://www.wisconsinfilmschool.org/). It all went really well and the weather cooperated. In fact I am even a bit sunburned. I want to thank all of the students and the professionals involved, you made it al worthwhile project. Now someone else can edit it.

I am on my way to Chicago to see a few friends and then down to Indiana for the B Movie Celebration (http://bmoviecelebration.bside.com/2009/). I’ll be teaching a workshop on Sound Design and hanging out with old friends. If you have never been here before and you love interesting movies, you need to come on down. Bill Dever hosts a great festival.

Don’t forget, my book, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film is full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

"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 Tree: The Art of Getting Grants and Donations for Film and Video - 3rd Edition)

If you already own the book please go to Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Filmmaker-Survival-Guide-Extreme/dp/1439232733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249153618&sr=8-1) and write a review on my page, I would really appreciate it.

On to other stuff.

Even though Moses and I are on the road, I still have open dates on the Fall Tour so if you want us to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner this Fall send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

Micro Filmmaker, Sundance, & Other Stuff

September 4, 2009

Check this out, William Akers has a piece in the new issue of Micro Filmmaker Magazine called, Just 'Cause You Got Financing, Doesn’t Mean You’re Ready To Shoot!
(http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue46/ReadySht.html). It’s a great read, check it out.

It has been interesting these last few months watching all sorts of “Corporate Indie” folks talking about the “New Model” of independent filmmaking, you know the one I have been living for years.

-make lower budget stuff
-make it personal and targeted to a VERY SPECIFIC audience
-create a fan base for the film and yourself
-use a mailing list to market and RAISE MONEY for your production
-use your web tools (website, Facebook, etc.) to increase sales/downloads
-guard your digital rights with your life
-the future is online

Anyway, I just saw that Sundance is adding a new section for low and no budget films at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. I have been writing about this for years. It is good that maybe someone up there is finally seeing the light. Or maybe they realize that they have become irrelevant and they need to go back to their roots. This could be an encouraging step.

You can check out the article in Indiewire (http://www.indiewire.com/article/john_cooper_we_are_looking_for_creativity_born_of_limitations/), but don’t change your plans anytime soon; we’ll see what they really mean by “low & no budget films”.

Don’t forget, my book, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film is full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

“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 Guide: 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

Thanks Jon. I will be at the DC Shorts Film Festival next week; I am doing two workshops on Friday September 11th. It is a great film festival. I hope to see you all there.

On to other stuff.

I am still booking the Fall Tour so if you want Moses and I to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner this Fall send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com

Pre-production, Plan B & other stuff

August 25, 2009

I am going to be at the Rappahannock Independent Film Festival (http://rifilmfestival.com/) in Fredericksburg, VA this weekend. It’s a great festival, come by and say hello.

“Making a movie is going to take time, lots, patience, even more, and the ability to move mountains -- on a good day.”
- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide

Why do people think making a movie is so easy? Is it because they watch the director commentaries on their DVDs? Do they watch the “behind the scenes” extras as well? It sure looks fun and easy, doesn’t it?

Well it’s not! And the fact that they put that shit on the DVDs really pisses me off. Anyone who has ever worked on a movie let a lone made their own will tell you it’s hard fuckin work! You plan and plan, you rehearse, nail down locations and then something goes wrong. Now what? You need to have a plan B. That’s what pre-production is for.

Too many filmmakers think if they aren’t on the set they aren’t making a movie. So many films would be better if they would learn how to plan better, and have back up plans for when things do go wrong! Because they will. The smart filmmakers always have a back up location, a different scene, or different props available for when something goes wrong.

When I was doing “real people” commercials I was invariably told by an ad agency person that one of the people I would be interviewing was great! They had spoken to them previously and they were funny and articulate and I could expect great things from them. It rarely happened…

I was shooting some grocery chain spots and interviewing the people who worked there to put together a group of funny, quirky commercials. We get to the Produce Guy who they had been telling me about for days and the dude freezes up! I would ask him questions and he would say “yes”, “no”, or things that were totally unusable. He was scared to death. The agency people are watching this and they are freaking out. What am I going to do?

One of them said we shouldn’t use this guy, they couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. I was prepared for this. I figured the guy wasn’t everything they told me he was and I had Plan B. I had one of the Grips go get a prop I had put on the grip truck the day before. A Giant Plastic Red Jalapeno Pepper. The thing was about 5 feet tall, I had used it in a Sesame Street Video I had shot once and had it hanging around my studio. I told the guy to hold it (in the middle of the produce section) and say, “A pepper should never be this big.” as seriously as possible. He was nervous but he said the line correctly. The agency folks were laughing and I had the perfect end to one of my commercials. It became an award winning spot.

Always have a back up plan, always be prepared for the worst, and always be ready to change your thinking. In pre-production I always plan for things to go wrong, and I plan a solution. That’s what pre-production is all about.

My book, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film is full of things to help you make your film. So why haven’t you bought it!

Go to my site, (www.angryfilmmaker.com) and buy it for a mere $16.95 + $3 S&H. You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

"Never have there been so may instances of the work "Fuck" in a book worth reading."

Jim LeBrecht
Berkeley Sound Artists

On to other stuff.

I am still booking the Fall Tour so if you want Moses and I to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner this Fall send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com ). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

And I’m welcoming a new Sponsor, Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) but more about them later…

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com