Chicago, good blogs and other stuff

February 21, 2010

I am in Chicago and I just finished up speaking at the SEA (Self Employed Artists) Conference. It was great I had standing room only for one of my workshops and the other one was pretty full. A great conference and a great group of people, I am glad they invited me. I look forward to coming back next year.

I will be in Chicago all week doing guest lectures at Columbia and Northwestern. It should be fun.

I am booking for the Spring and still have a few holes in my schedule. Contact me at angryfilminfo@aol.com and let’s see what we can work out.

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

“When I first got into the business, my accountant gave me some very prudent tax advice in November: "tell your clients not to pay you until after the first of the year. Then take out a loan for 90 days and invest in equipment. Then after the first of the year, you can pay off the loans with the money you're owed. Take the tax deduction for the previous year, and you'll be in good shape." It made sense to me and everyone else I talked to
because we all went to art school! I almost went bust because of that advice!

Right after I bought all of that equipment, business dropped off severely. The film business can be seasonal, especially if you are outside of LA. In Portland, it usually dies off around Thanksgiving and doesn't start picking up again until mid- to late February. Sometimes it stays busy through the end of the year, but don't count on it.

A lot of the corporate and commercial people who hire us need to get things done and money spent before the end of their fiscal year. Then they take the holidays off. Why not? They have steady salaries. After the first of the year, they need to put together budgets and plan for the rest of the year. This is a cycle I have seen over and over. There have been exceptions to this, but rarely.

By the time I got paid on what I was owed, I had other debts that accumulated, and guess what, gang? Banks will not loan you money when you need it! They only loan you money when you have money. (Don't get me started here, I hate bankers.)

Anyway, I spent nine months in hell trying to pay my bills, and I had a bunch of equipment that suddenly felt like a burden.

The upshot of all of this is:

DON'T LISTEN TO BULLSHIT MONEY PEOPLE!”

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 $13.50 + $3 S&H. (It is still on special) You’ll feel better about yourself in the morning.

Go check out some of my friends blogs, there is some pretty cool stuff in them…

John Gaspard - http://fastcheapmoviethoughts.blogspot.com/
William Akers - http://yourscreenplaysucks.wordpress.com/
Nic Brown - http://bmovieman.com/default.aspx
Jon Ashby - http://www.filmrogue.com/

I’ll add more next time, but if you’re not reading these guys you’re not learning anything.

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.

Film Slug, (www.filmslug.com) will be up and running soon, 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

Let's Talk Docs and other stuff

December 1, 2008

Well, I made it through another Thanksgiving holiday relatively unscathed.

Let’s talk about documentaries here for a moment…

Documentaries are so hip right now, you should find a non-profit sponsor if you want to make one. A 501(c)3 in IRS terms. I don't think you can do a dramatic feature this way, but I'm not a lawyer. Go ask one. You can also form your own non-profit corporation, but it's a lot of hassle and paperwork, and to do it right you really do need an attorney. I would only suggest forming your own nonprofit if you plan on doing a lot of documentaries or educational films. For a one-shot deal, it's too expensive and too much work.

So what does a non-profit provide for you in return? Free money. Pure and simple. Okay, it's not really free, you’re still going to have to work to get it.

You can apply to foundations, which by law can only give to non-profits. You can also solicit donations from individuals and, after discussing it with their tax professional, they can probably write the donation off on their tax return. It works wonderfully for everyone involved.

What's the downside? A non-profit will usually charge you anywhere from 5 - 8% of any funds you raise, to administer the funds and do all the bookkeeping. Some non-profits won't allow you to go after the same foundations that they're pursing, and they certainly won't help by giving you their contacts. Those are about the only downsides I've encountered.

You’re going to work just as hard at raising money as you would for any other project. It's just that you aren't dealing with investors in this case, and no one expects your movie to make any money.

On one of my docs, I needed to do a shoot in Bowling Green, Ohio, and I had no money. I needed to do this shoot to keep my credibility intact with my subject. So two weeks before I was to leave, I made phone calls to about 25 people I knew, and in two nights I raised just over $1200. It was enough money for me to do the shoot and keep my credibility intact.

The big selling points for me were: It was a donation from my friends that they could write off at tax time and they were helping me. The personal thing will get you further than anything else. If your friends and family won't help you, why should anyone else?


I’ll talk more about docs next week.

Other stuff…

There are some new things happening, my work books now exist as PDFs and they will be posted on my site soon so that they can be downloaded. I am still working out the prices, but they will be less expensive then if you buy the printed versions. Keep watching this space.

I seem to be popping up on YouTube and ViodaTV. You can go to http://blip.tv/file/1370245, or www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn5x3Avb45M to catch an interview I did with Roger Bindi while I was in Madison, WI doing workshops for the Wisconsin Film School. Check out blip TV, it’s an interesting site and go to http://www.viodi.tv/ Roger has a lot of things up there that might be of interest.

Also check out www.youtube.com/user/dreamcatcheriowa. Dream Catcher Productions sponsored one of my work shops in Iowa (yes, the famous night I did the wrong workshop for 3 hours) and put up a short segment from the work shop. Check it out! You can also check out their web site, www.dreamcatcher.com.

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
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.filmbaby.com

Philip Marlowe/Casting Your Films/Internet Specials...

Your Angry Filmmaker guest quote of the week.

"Its (Hollywood’s) 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

I love Raymond Chandler. He was a terrific writer and he had such a way with words. When I was living in LA I read all of his books and then one of the art house theaters did a whole weekend of his films. I was in heaven! I was in that theater for just about every one. They also had the different versions of some of his films. That was a great weekend.

And even though times have changed, Chandler’s quote still rings true.

A lot of people have portrayed Philip Marlowe over the years, and I think I finally figured out what works best for me. If you combine Humphrey Bogart’s attitude with Robert Mitchum's physical presence you have the ultimate Philip Marlowe. Bogart doesn’t take anything off of anyone and you always know that he is on the case for the long haul. Mitchum looked large on the screen and has this weariness that I think is the essence of Marlowe. Mitchum’s Marlowe had seen it all and he was tired. He didn’t own much (an over coat and two pistols according to one of the films), but he was going to see this thing through to the end, and it didn’t matter to him if he survived.

If you could put those two guys together you’d have one great character. Trust me, I like them as individuals, it’s just that Marlowe is larger than life.

So who could play Marlowe now? Is there an actor out there that has the attitude and the physical presence to pull it off?

One of the things that most filmmakers who are starting out do is to cast their friends in their films. While it is always great to have free actors, one thing you need to be careful of, (especially young filmmakers) is casting a bunch of people that are all the same age and ethnicity. Sure, your leads can be a certain type, but then you need to fill your supporting roles with people of different ages and ethnic types.

Why? Because you need to give your audience characters that they can identify with, who are like them in different ways. It also shows a more accurate picture of the world around us. When I am judging some film festivals I can usually tell the age of the director by the age of the cast. This is not always true, but you would be amazed at how accurate I can be. Young filmmakers make films that have tons of young people in them. Don’t think about making films just for your friends; expand your vision and the world around you.

I was told by a lot of different distributors when we were shopping Birddog around, how amazed they were in the casting. They were all good actors and very believable in their roles, but they were all different. I was told that most first time directors make the casting mistake, this was just one of the reasons the distributors had a tough time believing it was my first film. I told them it was my 12^th film, but first feature.

Populate your films with all types and your films will look more “professional”. But also keep them historically accurate or you’re gonna have Spike Lee or Clint Eastwood bothering you!

Other stuff.

Internet Special!!!!

Go to www.angryfilmmaker.com and check out The Angry Filmmaker Work Books. They are packed with lots of good info and are a real bargain at a mere $10 each or the set of three for $25 (plus S&H). If you order all three work books, (Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production) before July 15^th, 2008 I will send you a free DVD copy of Kicking Bird. That’s all three books plus a Kicking Bird DVD for $25 + $9 S&H.

So what are you waiting for?

I am finally on Facebook and I am doing more stuff on LinkedIn. So if you want to be my friend at either place just look for Angry Filmmaker or Kelley Baker and add me.

My Masters Class, Making the Extreme Low Budget Film has been re-scheduled for August 18^th thru September 5^th in Franklin, Indiana. Check out www.independentcinema.net for more information as it becomes available.

As always, feel free to link to my site and subscribe to my blog.

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker

Fall Tour/New Book/New Workshop

Hey Everybody,

It’s that time of year again. It’s cold and rainy and I feel like I haven’t seen the sun in months. Yes, it’s June in Oregon.

And we all know what June in Oregon means. It’s time to dream of better weather, vast stretches of open highway, huge gas bills and the Fall Tour. Yep, I can’t believe it either, but I am going to be hitting the road in September in the face of high gas prices and the Presidential campaign.

My first stop will be at the DC Shorts Film Festival the weekend of September 13^th. I will be on the East Coast for about 2 weeks before I slowly start making my way west.

The Fall Tour is going to be a big one! In addition to showing my movies and teaching work shops I am going to be promoting my new book, The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Making The Extreme Low Budget Film. The book should be ready later this summer.

"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 and director of “The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah.”

I have also added a new work shop.

Pre-Production on Extreme Low Budget Features, is a 3 hour work shop where Kelley Baker will walk you through the ins and outs of everything you need to do before you get to the set. From casting, staged readings and actor rehearsals, to script break downs and securing lots of free stuff, Kelley has seen and done it all. How do you know if you've hired the right crew? What kind of insurance should you have, and how much? What happens if one of your locations falls through at the last minute? Do you have location releases, talent releases? Who gets a certificate of insurance? How long should Pre-production even last? “I believe that your movie is made before you ever step on the set. If you get Pre-production right then the rest of your schedule should go smooth, and when it doesn't you need to know what to do to get it back on track.”

So contact me (angryfilminfo@aol.com) if you’re interested in booking me on the Fall Tour, or if you want to chip in for gas. Moses and I will are looking forward to seeing all of our friends again.

Other stuff…

I have a new page on my site (www.angryfilmmaker.com), called The AF Speaks. If you have ever wondered why they call me the Angry Filmmaker I’ll tell you about it. The page contains short video interview clips which will be updated every other week.

I’ve also added another clip to Odds & Ends

Don’t forget to check out the work books. Bowling Green State University just purchased multiple sets for their film classes, shouldn’t you?

Talk later.

Kelley

Mid-West Weather/More Writing/New Stuff/other thoughts

First and foremost I want to say that I have been reading the news about the bad weather in the mid-west all weekend. I hope that my friends out there are doing okay. I’ve sent some e-mails to check in. I can’t believe all the bad weather you have been getting back there. Take care of yourselves.

And to my friends in the Franklin, Indiana area, (home to the Indy Film Co-op), I heard your town was really hit hard. I am so sorry. It was a beautiful town and I hope the flooding doesn’t have lasting effects. Good luck with the clean up, whenever that can start. I understand that you’re getting more rain later today. I hope you are all safe.

Take care and know that I’m thinking about you guys. I wish I could be back there to help.

From my previous blog.

Writing continued…

When I give my scripts to people I trust, I also give them a questionnaire so I can find out specific things about my story and characters. I want to know who they like, and why? I want to know if the story drags anywhere, does anything not make sense. I want them to put their thoughts in writing. That way I can compare their thoughts with others. Does more than one person have the same problem with a character or plot point? The more people agree on certain things within your script the more you know what is working, and what isn’t.

After talking to everyone, I go through all the notes and make comparisons. That usually tells me what I need to work on. I will do another draft or two and then hand my revised screenplay to the second group of people. They also get a questionnaire that usually contains the same questions that I asked the first group.

I want to see if I fixed the problems from the earlier drafts. I also want to know if I have created any new problems. Depending on the response tells me how many more drafts I will need to write.

The group that I have put together over the years is very important to me. They come from all walks of life and have all sorts of different points of view. Only one of them is a filmmaker. He is also a novelist. I rarely have other filmmakers read my scripts. Why?

Most filmmakers can’t separate themselves from their craft. They always want to talk about how I’m going to shoot something, what kind of gear I’m going to use, or they will compare my script to something else they’ve seen. (Film Geeks are even worse in this aspect.) That doesn’t help me at all! I want people who like films, but are more interested in character development and plot then blood, special effects and explosions.

I also want people who will be honest with me about the script. When someone says your script “sucks”, walk away. You will never learn anything from that person. If a person tells you they had some problems with your story and they have some questions, open your ears. You are (hopefully) going to be told honestly about problems with your story.

Many people have their own agendas when discussing your work, and that’s fine as long as you are aware of that. I always tell people that your parents and your friends will always tell you that your scripts (and films) are great. They don’t want to disappoint you.

I don’t have that problem. I can tell people that I have problems with their scripts and WHY! Why is a big thing. You need to explain why something doesn’t work for you. That helps the writer to understand where your criticism is coming from.

When I was at USC they would rip our films up one side and down the other. It was some of the meanest criticism I have ever seen and experienced. The faculty there wanted to know how badly you wanted to make films. We had a 50% drop out rate with the group that I started with.

I now have extremely thick skin and I’m smart enough to know that someone may not like my work but that doesn’t mean they don’t like me. It just means that I made something that they don’t like. That’s fine. You can’t please everyone all the time. (There are a lot of people who don’t like me or my work, trust me, I am not losing sleep over it.)

More on writing next week.

Your Angry Filmmaker Tip.

The Gospel According to Arthur: "Don't ask. Don't get!"

- - from The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide (coming really soon)

Other thoughts.

I am not sure what’s going to be happening with my Masters Class in Filmmaking this summer through the Franklin Film Institute. Let’s see what happens with the damage in the town. Go to www.independentcinema.net and we’ll post details as we know them. I’ll also post them here as well.

Find out more about the Angry Filmmaker @ www.angryfilmmaker.com. There are a lot of great tips contained in my work books. Buy one and see for yourself. You just might learn something.

I have also posted some new stuff on the site. Check out Odds & Ends, and the new page, The AF Speaks. Links to both are on the Home page, www.angryfilmmaker.com.

Take care, Bill, Josh, and all my other friends back in the mid-west. - - Kelley