Links, Books, & Other Stuff

March 24, 2010

Moses and I are cooling our heels in St Louis right now. Got a few meetings in the area and I’m going to try and get some work done.

I have added more links to “Links & Other Points of Interest” on my Bio menu. Check out the new stuff. If you have a link that you think I should put up on my list send it to me. If you would like to link to my page as well, I would really appreciate it.

I have been re-reading Morrie Warshawski’s book, Shaking The Money Tree and I have forgotten how much good fundraising stuff is in there.

I am also reading Scott Kirsner’s book, Fans, Friends & Followers. I saw Scott speak at SXSW and I was impressed. The book is really good.

I know some people are waiting for me to go off about SXSW since this was my first time there. I had a good time and I couldn’t believe all of the people that were there. It felt more like a tradeshow than a film festival to me, but I never made it over to see any of the films. I sat in on some panels, did my own panel, checked out a lot of the Vendors in the Trade Show area and reconnected with a lot of old friends. I have to say that I picked up a lot of information, but felt like I was one of many. I was gone before the music portion started so I didn’t get to see any of that craziness.

It seemed like you had to stand in line for lots of things and people there seemed to be having a good time. I guess I missed the art. I only saw one of the organizers, Jared (I hope I spelled that right) and he was great. He was sincere in wanting to make sure that Jim and I had no problems with our panel. Next time I am in Austin I’d like to buy him a beer.

We’ll see if I get asked back.

I am still trying to get on All Things Considered and/or Fresh Air. A lot of people have been sending notes to them on my behalf and I have to say that all I get is still the automated responses to my emails. Do you think they even read those things? I am beginning to doubt it, but I am going to keep trying.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, The Write Brothers (www.screenplay.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Creates (www.zoomcreates.com), and IMD Independent Media Distribution, (www.imdfilmsdvd.com). If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

Check out the DC Shorts Film Festival website (http://www.dcshorts.com/ ), it’s a great festival!

Feel free to link to me.

I got work to do, so we’ll talk later.

Kelley

Tips, Books & Other Stuff

January 26, 2010

Hey Everybody,

My daughter Fiona turns 18 today! Where did the time go? I still see clearly when I would put her up on my shoulders and we would run around the house playing the “duck” game. Happy Birthday Kid! I love you.

I just watched Confessions Of A Superhero, a great documentary about the people who dress up like super heroes on Hollywood Blvd and pose for pictures. I never realized these people were not hired by anyone, they are pan handling! It is great! Watching Batman get arrested is worth the price of admission. Check it out.

I'm going to put up a couple of Angry Filmmaker Tips for all of you.

“Don't give up on your movies. If you believe in it, you will find some one else who believes in it too. It just might take a while.”

“If a couple of your characters (actors) are going to have a major fight with each other, give them time to get in to rhythm and character on the set before you demand that they emote their brains out.”

“I intentionally set my films in the winter in Oregon when the weather is totally predictable. It's gonna rain.”

If you want to know, buy my book The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide at 20% off now through February 1st. Go to the website.

Check out Morrie Warshawski's website (http://www.warshawski.com/) he has written some great things.

Don't forget to hit http://www.yourscreenplaysucks.com/ William Akers site. His book is great!

Please ask your local libraries to purchase my book.

On most library websites there is a place to suggest books for purchase. Or just send an email. Here is the information they will need:

The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Making the Extreme No Budget Film
ISBN #: 1-4392-3273-3
Author: Kelley Baker
2009

When asked for the publisher direct them to my website: www.angryfilmmaker.com
(The publisher is BookSurge but I make more money if they buy from me...)

Thank you!

I would really appreciate it if people who have purchased my book could go to Amazon.com and write a review. Please tell your friends about the book, but don’t let them buy it on Amazon, send them to my site.

On to other stuff.

Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/thekelleybaker) or become a fan on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/The-Angryfilmmaker/88965343075?ref=ts

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

AF Bail Out and More Documentary Stuff

December 6, 2008

As most of you know, I just got back from Washington, D.C. where I testified before Congress trying to convince them that they should be bailing out Angry Filmmaker, Inc. I mean, I feel like I’ve mismanaged my company just as well as any of those other big guys and they all seem to be getting money… Anyway, they all seemed skeptical so I guess I won’t be getting any checks from them any time soon. (As one Senator told me, “Don’t hold your %$@#*&^ breath!”) And yes, I did sell the AF Corporate jet, I’ll just tour by van from here on out.

So I guess my financial future is going to be in the hands of you, the consumer. Please check out my site and if you see anything there that you like, BUY IT!

I mean isn’t it better to give me money and actually get something in return, then to give it to some huge faceless behemoth. You know that I’m going to use the money I get on making more movies, not on expensive conferences and retreats like some giant Insurance companies that shall remain nameless. (AIG). And anyway, we hate insurance companies!

But I digress… What were we talking about last week? Oh yeah,

Documentaries and funding part 2.

There are people who hate asking their friends for money. They won't do it, even in the form of a donation. These people are not going to be making movies any time soon.

Let’s talk about Fundraising parties. I have thrown fund-raising parties. You get a few of your friends together to host an event at their homes and have them invite friends of theirs. You all eat appetizers, drink cheap wine, and then you make a little presentation about your movie and pass the hat. These can be really successful, or not. It all depends on how aggressive you want to be.

An excellent resource for planning fundraising parties is Morrie Warshawski's book, The Fundraising House Party. Morrie is a buddy of mine, and this is a shameless plug! It's also a good book, check it out at www.morriewarshawski.com.

We did a fundraiser once at a restaurant and all sorts of moneyed people were there. It was organized by a professional group and the woman who was sponsoring it wanted to keep everything “low-key.” Well, it was so “low-key” that we didn't make any money!

It would have been better to just give me the money they spent on the fundraiser! I did follow up with thank-yous and reminders, and all sorts of stuff and made maybe $2,000, total. The event cost around $5,000. I found out later it was not so much a fund-raising event as a social gathering for the people sponsoring it. Sort of a "coming out" party if you will.

If you're going to do these kinds of fund raisers, you have to be aggressive! You have a captive audience, now you need to bag them. The next time I do this, trust me, it'll be a lot different.

A couple friends of mine have been very successful with fundraising parties, it comes down to, how bad do you want to make the movie.

There are stories that Michael Moore had Bingo parties in Michigan as one way he raised money for Roger and Me. I don't know how true this is, it's probably just another rumor perpetrated by the liberal media.

Other stuff…

My work books now exist as PDFs and will be posted on my site this week for a mere $10 per book. We should have them up and running by mid week. Or so I have been promised…

Since we are getting close to the holidays I am going to be putting different specials up each week so check out my internet specials and hopefully you’ll find something you like. (www.angryfilmmaker.com, as if you didn’t know)

There are some new video posts up on my site, check out The AF Speaks and Odds & Ends.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.

If you haven’t checked out their site and their services, you better.

The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at Film Baby.

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com
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www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
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www.filmbaby.com