The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking: An Insider's Guide to Making Movies Outside of Hollywood

I'm a big fan of this book. I live in Los Angeles, I'm very serious about pursuing a career in independent film, and I've read a great deal of ground-up Hollywood "making it" books. Some like "Rebel Without A Crew" were actually pretty inspiring and others like "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking" were very helpful in terms of, well, the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. But no book I read really addressed the "big picture"- why people make independent films, and how they go about making independent films. This book was admirably neither bogged down in self-congratulation or in tiny, picky details. The Polish Bros and Sheldon started from the ground up and guide you pretty much step-by-step through the indie filmmaking process, and it was great to get their advice based directly on their own experiences, with concrete examples. The book doesn't offer anybody any false hope, but at the same time it's pretty damn inspirational. It offers the notion that you CAN have a different and original filmmaking vision AND successfully translate that to the screen. Through hard work and cleverness, the Polish Bros and Sheldon succeeded in making daring and thoughtful films outside of the conventional Hollywood model, and you, perhaps, can too. I read this book at the right time, and it made a huge impact on me. It gave me both hope and cold-shower, practical advice. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in independent film.

There are plenty of indie books out there, but this is the only one I've found which is comprehensive and made by real indie filmmakers. It's highly technical where it needs to be, like in the camera chapter, and easily understood throughout. My favorite chapters were distribution and writing as they illuminated the process in ways I hadn't fully understood previously. The book was a pleasure to read, I recommend.

This is just an amazing book. I appreciate it mainly in terms of its narrative. Its so interesting to follow their journey from hopes and dreams through trials and tribulations ove to achieving what they have. It engages from start to finish, whether you are independent film buff or not. For film buffs, the anecdoates are a delight. But for writers and artists, it is particularly inspirational, and lifted me right out an artist's block period with it's portrayal of a couple plucky film makers and their "can do" attitude.

I love this book! I read it all at once it was so good. I would rather learn about filmmaking from these guys than anyone I can think of at this moment. Reading this I felt I was hanging with them figuring things out, like; where the money was coming from next, how James Woods wasn't going to cry and how do you tell Kubrick's daughter bad news... ? Every two pages, I believed I had a good idea for a scene in my next movie just from some tip they'd hidden in a sentence. I have a lot of film friends. Some doing it, some that want to do it... This is the gift I'm buying them. Screw film school. Get Netflix, or Green Cine and this book and you're miles ahead.

I've read both Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew" and John Pierson's "Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes" and they don't come close to the level of detail I found in this book. (And I'm not just saying this because I love their films.) It's everything you need to know about getting a production going, and, thank God, it blows away the notion of screen writing as a 'get rich quick scheme'. This book doesn't teach you how to be a 'player' in 'the biz', it shows you how to make the kind of films you can be proud of, the kind of films people used to make before big money took over (and ruined) Hollywood. It's clear, it's concise, and these guys have the experience to back it up.