AF’s Tip of the Day

A well fed crew is a happy crew...

- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Tip of the Day

You can run around LA and New York submitting your script to various production companies and/or studios. Or you can just make the damn thing yourself!

- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Rant of the Day

No one said my film looked lousy, the acting was bad, the story sucked. No one! What they did say was that I couldn't make a film as cheaply as I had done. You just can't do that.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Guest Quote of the Day

"Its idea of "production value" is spending a million dollars dressing up a story that any good writer would throw away. Its vision of the rewarding movie is a vehicle for some glamour-puss with two expressions and eighteen changes of costume, or for some male idol of the muddled millions with a permanent hangover, six worn-out acting tricks, the build of a lifeguard, and the mentality of a chicken-strangler."
~ Raymond Chandler (on Hollywood)

AF's Tip of the Day

The re-writing never stops... even in the editing room you have to re-write.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Tip of the Day

Filmmaking is as much a craft as it is an art form and a business.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Rant of the Day

EVERYONE wants to direct...

- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Tip of the Day

Too many people finance their films on credit cards, and they go broke! Their films end up not getting a distributor and they're left paying 30% interest on a film that no one wants. Don't do it!
- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Guest Quote of the Day

The only 'ism' Hollywood believes in is plagiarism.
~ Dorothy Parker

AF’s Quote of the Day

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
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Tip of the Day

Remember, it's that show of respect that's really important. If your cast and crew don't respect you, and like you, but respect is more important, then they are not going to go that extra mile that is going to make your movie better.

- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide

(coming in Fall 2007)

AF's Tip of the Day

You need to learn how to spend your money wisely if you're going to make a movie.

- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF’s Guest Quote of the Day

[Hollywood] is filled with people who make adventure pictures and who have never left this place ... religious pictures and they haven't been in a church or synagogue for years ... pictures about love and they have never been in love - ever.
~ Richard Brooks

AF’s Quote of the Day

I fell in love with the notion of making an independent movie. I didn't pay attention to the part of me that kept saying, "What if this doesn't work out? What if people don't help you?"
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF's Tip of the Day

If you can find someone that you can truly collaborate with, don't fool around, marry them! Forget the film business, just go off and be happy!
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

Father/Daughter Summer Tour #7

Fiona:

General Tips for being on the road with the one and only Angry Filmmaker:

1. No car ride is long to my dad. You mention that an 8 hour drive is a long one? He'll smirk and tell you of all the times he drove 20 hours straight to get to a teaching gig in time.
2. Learn how to entertain yourself with road signs. They're easy to make fun of and incredibly hilarious if you do it right.
3. Don't get weirded out about sleeping in a different place almost every night. Seriously, it's not a big deal.
4. Be polite to all of his students, even if they all ask you the same questions and tend to be obnoxious and think they know more about film than anyone else. You will never see them again. You can deal with "what grade are you in?" and "so do you want to be a filmmaker too?" for 15 minutes. After that, you have every right to go hide in the back.
5. Get used to the smell of dog. Moses is always a good companion, but he can get a little stinky after what feels like a billion hours in the van.
6. Be a trooper. It's not always fun [okay so it is 95% of the time], but be helpful. It's an easy thing.
7. Don't be a tourist. It's just not cool. Hang with the locals. Act like a local.
8. Don't pack a lot. There are a lot of opportunities to do laundry if you stay with the right people. Plus its fewer bags you have to pack. Much easier when you end up leaving places at 6am.
9. Sleep in the car. It makes time go by faster.
10. Enjoy the experience. You do not live the life of my dad. Touring is not business as usual.

Kelley:

I am hot, tired and real sick of this heat! Tomorrow is my last day at the UFVA Conference in Denton and I have to say that the conference has been great! I have seen all sorts of old friends, made some new ones and had a pretty good time.

Here is the problem. Fiona is bored! I had been told by friends that there are usually some kids here at these conferences but apparently not this time! Fiona is stuck in a world of adults and I am feeling really bad. I need to go and meet people and network but there is nothing for her to do. She is bored and not happy and I can't blame her. She has been great for this whole trip and now I feel like all the fun that we have been having up to this point is about to fly away. As a parent this really beats me up. I am torn because I have things I need to do. As a filmmaker I need to meet people so that I can get more bookings. If I would have known that there was nothing for her to do here, I would have flown her home from Dallas a couple days ago. I feel really bad and I am hoping to make it up to her.

It has also been really hot for Moses. He can't really stay in the van so we have been bringing him in to the dorm room. Now I don't know if dogs are allowed in the dorms here, but I figure if I don't know either way then I'll err on the side of making Moses comfortable. He is sound a sleep on the cool linoleum floor. I think I need to crash as well.

Next day...

It is Friday evening and the conference is over for us. I took the afternoon off and Fiona and I cruised around Denton (such as it is) and checked the place out. I found a copy of the Re-make of Psycho at a local pawn shop so I bought it. Fiona checked out a used book and CD store where she picked up some music and then we got home made ice cream at a small store. We laughed about all sorts of stupid stuff. The afternoon was a lot of fun, and if I missed out on meeting a few more people to get some bookings so be it! I had fun with my kid. That will stay with me forever.

We are going to get some dinner and the plan is to head out really early in the morning. We have a day and a half to drive to get to Salt Lake City to see friends. We're both looking forward to that.

Talk later.

AF's Tip of the Day

The actors performance is much more important at this point than an additional light, a different prop on the counter, or anything else.

- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide

(coming Fall 2007)

AF's Rant of the Day

I think Sundance and any other film festival that calls themselves independent shouldn't take films with budgets of more than $100,000. That ought to weed out the phonies.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

Father/Daughter Summer Tour #6

Fiona

Austin. Officially the coolest place in Texas. Sorry other people who live in Texas but not Austin. I love the atmosphere! The weather is not so good right now though. I don't want to leave tomorrow, but I can't take the heat. I'm such a Portland girl. I want it to rain so badly. Now that's just plain weird. I'm listening to a lot of music. It helps my mood toward the heat. Music helps everything!!! I kind of miss home, but this trip is still fun. We're still laughing and commenting on everything we see. My dad is still in a good mood too, which is defiantly a good thing.

Kelley

Austin is done! I did my last work shop for Reel Women last night. I really like Austin but I need to say this about last night... We had five people who signed up for the work shop last night who didn't show up. That's bull shit! We held off starting the work shop for 15 minutes in case those people got stuck in traffic or something. They never showed! That was unfair to the rest of the work shop participants, to Reel Women, and to me! If you are not going to show up then cancel! We were expecting you! I have the names of those five people and as far as I am concerned, they're amateurs! Fuck em! We had a good work shop anyway. The people who did show up got a lot of good information.

I want to thank Sherry Mills and Reel Women for being such good hosts. Carolyn Banks from UPSTART in Bastrop drove up last night with one of the people that works with her, they were both interested in the work shop. Both of these groups are class organizations as far as I am concerned, I'll come back anytime.

Today we head up to Denton and the UFVA Conference. I am looking forward to that, and to meeting a lot of people. I have never been to a conference like this, so I don't know what to expect. I am getting a little tired of the hot weather. It is starting to feel really oppressive. It also is making me really tired during the day. I am looking forward to a little less heat and humidity.

I want to thank the people who are continuing to donate to my book. I am getting really close to my goal. For those of you who haven't donated yet, here is the deal...

The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide seeks to restore order to this once venerable filmmaking arena by providing young, new and even old-hand, jaded and bitter filmmakers with a practical guide to independent filmmaking. In that I qualify as an "expert" by any acceptable or measurable standard, my book offers not only practical, step-by-step, easily accessible information about the craft, but it also offers plenty of attitude about the state of the world of independent film.

I am self-publishing the book, and I need to raise $1500.00. You can go to my web page (www.angryfilmmaker.com) follow the book link, and make a donation there thru PayPal.

If you want something for your money, you can go to my web site and purchase a DVD, or a T- shirt. Between now and August 15th, I will put everything I make off the web site towards the book.

Or we can do this like PBS. Anyone who donates $50 will get a signed copy of one of my movies (your choice), $75 gets you a T-shirt and a signed DVD, and $100 will get a signed copy of the book when it is available. (I wonder if Ken Burns does it this way.)

I am going to add a page to the book with the names of all those responsible for helping me make my book possible.

Only a few more days to go and then Fiona and I head home. Stay tuned…

AF's Quote of the Day

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."
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

AF's Quote of the Day

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.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming Fall 2007)

Father/Daughter Summer Tour 5

Fiona

Today I slept until 11 o clock and that is amazing for me. I have not had that opportunity since we left home. And even at home, the rule is no sleeping past 9:30. We're now in Austin. I haven't seen much of it since we came straight from a small town called Bastrop, but I already know I'll like it. Dad and I haven't killed each other yet, so you don't have to worry. I know that secretly people read the blog just to see if we're both still alive. Well good news or bad, we're still having fun.

Kelley

Bastrop was great. UPSTART was the group that sponsored my work shop there. We had over a dozen people for the work shop and a few of them drove a couple hours to attend. I hope I said some good stuff so it was worth the drive. Bastrop is a historical town so we took a short tour after the work shop and it is a cool looking place. Main Street has the old buildings that make you feel like you are in a different era. Small Texas towns like this remind me of the movie, The Last Picture Show. Bastrop has that feel of another time. Until you see the guys with their shaved heads and Harley t-shirts of course.

We are in Austin. I love this town. We are staying with my friends Sherry and David, (Sherry Mills is the Executive Director of Reel Women in Austin). I just slept for 9 hours. I think I needed it. Fiona and Moses are still a sleep. These road trips have a way of wearing you out. This is also one of the first days that we haven't had to be up really early to hit the road. The rest feels good.

We have two work shops here tonight and tomorrow night for Reel Women and then it is off to Denton and the UFVA conference for a couple days. We have done okay financially, but I really need these next two days to be good. Gas is still expensive and we have a 2000 mile drive when we finish up on Friday night. I know Fiona is not looking forward to the long drive home but we'll be getting her some more books for the drive and I know she'll sleep for a lot of it. I think she has been surprised at how comfortable the van is.

So today we are going to cruise around Austin and see the sights, and we are getting fish tacos. There is a place down here that makes the best.

I feel way behind in my correspondences and my booking. It is always hard to keep up with things when I am on the road. Too many things to do, and I am really tired by the end of the day.

Talk later.

AF's quote of the day

What I learned is if you do something, you need to go all the way. Go big, or go home!
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming fall 2007)

Father/Daughter Summer Tour #4

Saturday --

Fiona

Long car rides aren't that bad. I slept all the way to Houston this morning. That was fun. I missed a good 3 hours of consciousness. And 3 hour car rides are substantially better than 10 hour car rides. Houston is humid. Not too hot, but really humid. It's supposed to be 93 degrees soon. I am not looking forward to that at all. I miss Portland weather already.

Kelley

Welcome to Houston! It is hot, humid, and I feel like I have just walked in to a blast furnace.

It took us 3 days to get here. We hit a huge storm in New Mexico, the kind where it looked like a black wall in front of us. There was lots of lightning and thunder and the rain came down in sheets. We went under one underpass and there were half a dozen cars parked there trying to escape the rain. We were following another car and a semi. We were doing about 35 and had our four way flashers on. I am always amazed at being passed by other cars when we are going thru weather like that. I know I can't see anything, I don't see how anyone else can see any better.

We had a nice night with an old friend of mines Father and Brother in El Paso. I hadn't seen them in 25 years and they made us feel right at home. It was wonderful. Then we drove another 8 hours to San Antonio. We went thru quite a bit of rain, but nothing as bad as the previous day. Fiona got her wish and got to hang out with some horses.

I spoke on Friday to a group of high school students. One of them asked me if I was opinionated when it came to other people's movies. Before I could answer I saw Fiona trying hard not to laugh. I guess I am opinionated. I was also asked what movies I have seen recently that I really liked. It was a bad time to draw a blank. I couldn't think of anything.

On Saturday we had a good group for my work shop and also for my screening in the evening. The work shop was sponsored by SWAMP and the screening was co-sponsored by SPAMMO and SWAMP. I met a lot of nice folks and interested filmmakers. We screened some of my short films and I must say they seem to be aging well, but I still can't watch most of them. All I see are mistakes.

We are heading out early in the morning for Bastrop.

AF's Tip of the Day

A film can look like shit and people will think it's arty. If your dialog sounds like shit, people won't watch your movie.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming fall 2007)

AF's Tip of the Day

We like Script Supervisors, if they're good they can save your ass.
- - from The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide
(coming fall 2007)