The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook

by Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826414648
• ISBN13: 9780826414649
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 719 Pages
• Weight: 4.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

F-ing awesome

I was browsing St. Mark's Bookshop a couple weeks ago and I picked up this book and started flipping through it and was so impressed. I thought it might be kinda lame and simplistic for me since I graduated from NYU's Tisch Film School 2 years ago, but it was so comprehensive and really wide-ranging and interesting. Not dumbed down, but really accessible at the same time.See, I'm trying to get some work in the film industry this summer (and get out of LA and back to NY!)and there are all these different actual names and contacts in areas like camera rental and finance and post-production and at the IFC, which has been really useful to me. A few people have even got back to me about possible jobs! So anyway, I highly recommend this book for both the experienced and inexperienced film maker. Also for guys like me who are sort of somewhere in between. This is seriously the best book on everything you'd ever want to know about how to actually go about financing, making, and marketing an independent film.

Indispensable

As a filmmaker, I'll keep this book by my side when I make my next film. Because this book covers everything and I mean everything. There are so many things to know to make a film and nothing has been left out here. Normally, a book as thick as this one would be a daunting read, but that's isn't the case. The book is amazingly well organized and compartmentalized. The sections are small, readable, so they are easy to digest. This book is a must for any filmmaker.

This book truly deserves 6 stars

Where to start with such an enormous book? Let me make this clear, in case my review ends up being too long and rambling: if you are interested in filmmaking, YOU NEED TO OWN THIS BOOK. It's that simple. Right, now...the first thing to say is 'thank you' to the two authors. I have never heard of either of you before, and I've never seen any of your three movies. But what you have achieved here is amazing. Especially because you're British, and what the hell do British people know about making movies?? (joke) The amount of information in this book is truly incredible. First off, there are over a hundred very honest and interesting interviews with people who work in the industry. And they're not just the same old people trotting out the same old platitudes about how great the industry is, or how to get a job, yawn yawn...these are people who - almost without exception - are brilliant at describing the various aspects of their roles, and also come across as very enthusiastic and passionate. Perhaps the key here is that Jolliffe and Jones (I'm not sure if they both do the interviews, or what) know exactly which questions to ask, and they know how to extract the right information from their subjects. No small skill. What is staggering is the range of professionals and experts they have gathered together here. Here are just a few of their job titles: Financial Advisor, Line Producer, Entertainment Attorney, Steadicam Operator, Director of Photography, Foley Mixer, Animal Trainer...yes, you read that correctly! Now, if I'm giving the impression that the book is just a stream of un-interrupted interviews, think again - another strength of this book is its visual presentation on the page. Almost every single page is jammed with information and photos, so not only do you get to see what all the interviewees look like (I find this weirdly helpful!), but you also get boxes and charts with lots of additional info in all the different subject areas. So, in the interview with the Animal Trainer guy, there's a box about the American Humane Association, telling you about what they do and how to contact them - address, website, phone numbers, everything. It's this attention to detail which really makes this book so excellent.Also, the layout of the book on the page is so well done. Although at times the authors and interviewees deal with quite technical material, everying is always very visual and fun to read. The photos in the book are sharp, and diagrams are used intelligently where they're needed. Pics and diagrams are never just used for the sake of it, or to pad out the book: the book is so huge that it doesn't need padding!The last 150 pages of the book are very different to the first 550, as this is where you will find a range of case studies of recent movies. The two authors start by telling their own story, and describing in fascinating detail the three movies they made in Britian in the 1990s. None of which seem to have made any money, and one of which e

Invaluable

I have read many books on film making and I find this to be one of the best. The authors interview successful people in the industry to inform you about what you'll be facing both from a production standpoint and a business standpoint (legalities to distribution). If you're interested in film making, get this book. I learned more from this book than three years working in the industry.

A very good guide to film making

Basically this book is a three part book. The start of the book goes into the film making process, what it is about, why bother and how to get started. It gives you a general air of what is going on before a film starts shooting.The middle part of the book is extremely technically useful. Don't be put-off by the fact that it is a British book, most of the standards are the same and the writer covers both US systems and UK systems. Anyway the value of this book is in that the writer interviews very important people that work in the filming process - actors, special effects, film lab, cameramen, editors, sound editors, legal agencies, projectionists, marketing people, producers, directors... etc.... and they all give very profesional tips on what you should do and what you should NOT do.The third part of the book deals with CASE STUDIES and various filmmakers talk about their projects and what went right and what went wrong (My copy of the book is actually missing pages here. It looks like the printer left out about 30 pages and replaced these with pages that where already printed a few pages back before).Overall this is a very good book with lots of information from the people that matter in this industry. There is a lot of information on what NOT to do when shooting your first film. Anybody who wants to get into to film making should not miss out on this writer/director's account of his experiences with film making. It is worth every penny, even though my book did have misprints.