Produce Your Own Damn Movie!

...Your Own Damn Movie!

by Lloyd Kaufman

Often low-budget filmmakers get thrown into the position of being not only the director, but their own producer. Using tips from the finest washed-up has-been producers in the business, this book will give the low-budget filmmaker practical tools for getting a movie shoot started, and keeping it going until it is supposed to end. From budgeting concerns to production-damaging acts of God, all will be discussed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Lloyd Kaufman is a popular American film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. Kaufman also serves as chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

Reviews

[Kim Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected, the book is pretty crass, yet-right-to-the-point and I think is great for any independent filmmaker to read. It offers a lot of good suggestions. The only reason why I gave it four instead of five stars is that he pushes using non-union cast and crew. I'm a SAG actor and I know that they now have reasonable contracts to fit any budget all the way down to zero budget projects with deferred pay contracts available which only guarantee the actor state minimum wage IF a condition has been met. As my SAG rep told me when I produced my first short film on a $700 budget, that condition can be anything. You could put "When we land on Jupiter" as the requirement for the actor to get paid their minimum wage. And the contracts they give you makes it simple to stay on the right side of the laws. It actually makes it easier in a way for a new producer. I haven't worked with union crew yet but I heard they also offer different tiered contracts depending on your budget. Anyway, I would recommend using professionals if your budget and their contracts can make it work, and pay people fairly for their hard work if possible. Anyway, all the other tips and examples of what not to do were a fun and helpful read. I do like the fact he stresses the importance of insurance. And this book had me in tears laughing while reading it!

[Daryl Hrdlicka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, but...

This was an interesting book and had some good information about producing, but overall didn't say a lot. I just produced my first short film and was hoping this would be helpful, but I just didn't think it was as good or helpful as "Make your own damn movie".

[Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Insightful. Practical. If this is a subject that you're interested in, Loyd Kaufman's practical advise should not be ignored. Especially helpful for anyone planning to create independent movies. Recommended.