The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook: (US Edition)

Description

The best-selling low-budget filmmaker's bible in the UK has now, at long last, been totally revamped for the American market. The two authors have interviewed hundreds of film industry insiders, resulting in, without doubt, the most comprehensive, entertaining, information-packed book available in America on how to produce a low-budget movie. The book has 3 main sections: Anatomy of a Movie, Case Studies, and The Toolkit. Anatomy of a Movie features in-depth, candid interviews with a huge cast of people already working in the film industry - from script readers to bank managers; from casting directors to costume providers; and from sound mixers to negative cutters. Case Studies tells the stories of a selection of low-budget movies, and how they were made. These include Chris and Genevieve's own films, as well as international successes like The Blair Witch Project and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The Toolkit is an amazing resource for new filmmakers, incorporating a huge range of sample legal contracts and agreements, as well as templates for production forms like locations checklists, shooting schedules, and call sheets.

Chris Jones has been making micro-budget features since he and Genevieve Jolliffe made The Runner in 1992. In 2009, his short film "Gone Fishing" was Oscars shortlisted, won the prestigious Producers Guild of America's Best Short Film and collected over 40 international awards. He co-authored the bestselling Guerilla Film Makers Handbook in 1996, and also wrote the hugely successful Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint. On top of writing and making films, Chris teachers new filmmakers and runs his business from the historic Ealing Film Studios in London. Genevieve Jolliffe met Chris Jones at film school and the two went into independent filmmaking through their production company, Living Spirit Pictures. She directed their third film together, Urban Ghost Story, in 1998. After moving to Los Angeles, Genevieve was a major force in pulling together the US edition of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook, and she also co-authored The Documentary Film Makers Handbook in 2006. With her husband and screenwriting partner Andrew Zinnes, she has sold projects to Warner Bros and has two indie features set to be filmed in 2010.

'This book will save you about five years worth of trials, errors, heartbreaks, and unpleasant credit card statements...Totally indispensable...It really doesn't get much better than this.' Total Film magazine 'Comprehensive and invaluable...a revelatory read that will inform and inspire in equal measure.' Empire magazine 'Immensely informative and entertaining to read...a terrific book for anyone interested in films.' BBC Radio 4 "The Guerrilla Filmmakers Handbook is a compilation of one hundred and eighteen interviews with filmmaking personnel, from agents to visual effects supervisors. The book is divided into ten chapters; each focuses on the stage of the production process, from training to distribution. There is a glossary and an index as well. The result of tremendous research, the book contains material for practically all levels and all interests in the filmmaking process. The sheer volumes of jobs covered in the book illustrates the complexity of the production process and is quite an education for the novice, who may have no idea how many people are involved in the production of most theatrically released films. There's plenty of practical information in this book, for the beginning as well as the more advanced filmmaker. The authors present the information in an accessible, readable and entertaining manner."- -- Journal of Film and Video 58.4, Winter 2006 "Classes and books instructing novices how to make their own motion pictures often end up only lining the pockets of the instructor or author. Yet this oversized, 720-page guide-a US-geared edition of a book that debuted in the UK several years ago-leads me to believe someone taking its advice could eventually get their own movie off the ground. Offering information on everything from financing to film stock to distribution deals-and packed with nuts-and-bolts interviews with independent filmmakers (Donnie Darko, The Good Girl, etc.)-this invaluable tome is probably the next best thing to sitting on set with Richard Linklater or Kevin Smith." -Creative Loafing, 6/2/04 -- Matt Brunson "The British writing team has packed the book with useful information, making it an excellent reference for filmmakers. It consists of interviews with professionals in every craft within the film industry, including extensive sections on trading, development, organizations, finance, talent, production, postproduction, distribution, aftermath, and case studies. [Jolliffe & Jones] have spoken extensively with every kind of motion picture professional that one could think of. Thoroughly informative, this book has a lot of good information that all filmmakers would benefit from knowing." -- Ben Rock, -Backstage West , 7/22/04 "What's brilliant about this new US-based version of the low budget film makers' guide is that it really gives you the feeling that it could be that easy - and then explains (over the following phone-book 720 pages) exactly how hard it is to turn your Scorsese daydreams into celluloid reality. This is as inspiring as informative. And it's pretty funny." -The Guardian, 8/14/04 -- Richard Vine "...this all-encompassing manual offers a series of down to earth pointers on how to make a movie and, more importantly, get it shown....no stone has been left un-turned in this astonishingly thorough course, which poses every question imaginable, then answers them in as much depth as possible. Even if you don't intend making a movie, this is a fascinating read-and if you do, you couldn't ask for a better primer." -Film Review, October 2004 "The Rolls-Royce of how-to film guides... Everything is in this book." -Christopher Wood, The Times, London, timesonline, September 2, 2004 "In The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook authors Jolliffe and Jones, guerilla film makers themselves have compiled a 'Bible' of everything anyone considering a career in independent film making would ever need to know. Every conceivable aspect of making an independent film, from training (film school or not), development, finance, talent, and production, to post-production, sales, and aftermath, is covered in depth. No detail is spared; absolutely everything, including catering, color temperature, ad working with animals, is covered. The style is easy to follow, and it is written clearly and in easy-to-understand language." -- American Reference Books Annual, Vol. 36, 2005 * American Reference Books Annual * 'It's in an undisputed position as the indispensable guide for first-time filmmakers...Astonishing.' Film Review magazine * Blurb from reviewer *