The Portable Film School: Everything You'd Learn in Film School

by D.B. Gilles

The Portable Film School is a private tutorial from an instructor at one of the nation's most prestigious film schools. D.B. Gilles explains the fundamental skills and techniques of screenwriting and making a short film arming you with the two calling cards you'll need to break into Hollywood – without having spent the tuition or a minute in a classroom.

Genres: Film, Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

D.B. Gilles's began 2015 with the publication of his first Young Adult novel THE PUG THAT ATE PARIS, about a Paris-based talking dog, food critic and bon vivant! Sticking with his Paris theme, in 2014 he published PARIS TIME, a Paris time-travel novel set in Paris in 1889. Last year he came out with WRITERS REHAB: A 12-STEP PROGRAM FOR WRITERS WHO CAN'T GET THEIR ACTS TOGETHER (from Michael Weise Publishing) which is a departure for him. Unlike his previous books, which tell people who to write a screenplay and go to Film School on their own, WRITERS REHAB gets into the nitty gritty of every writer: "Why aren't you writing?" and "What can you do to get started again?"

In 2012 DB entered the world of e-books. In August, I HATE MY BOOK CLUB, debuted: a comic novel about an all-female book club with membership problems that reluctantly decides to allow men to join. In March, his suspense/thriller COLDER THAN DEATH appeared: a small town funeral director helps a teenage girl solve a murder that leads him to the realization that a serial killer has been feeding on local women for 25 years.

In 2011 he had 2 books published: YOU'RE FUNNY! TURN YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR INTO A LUCRATIVE NEW CAREER and THE SCREENWRITER WITHIN: NEW STRATEGIES TO FINISH YOUR SCREENPLAY & GET A DEAL (the 2nd edition of THE SCREENWRITER WITHIN published in 2000 by Random House).

THE PORTABLE FILM SCHOOL, published in 2005 by St. Martin's Press, continues to be a popular book with young filmmakers unable to go to film school.

D.B. Gilles is also one of the most in-demand Script Consultants and Writing Coaches in the United States. He is on the faculty of the Undergraduate Film & Television Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he teaches screenwriting, television writing and comedy writing.

He has also taught in the Graduate Film Department at Columbia University, The Department of Dramatic Writing and The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. He is a produced and published playwright, screenwriter and television writer.

Also a playwright, 2012 saw the New York production of his play INADMISSIBLE produced at The Canal Park Playhouse which also produced as their premier production in 2010 his play SPARKLING OBJECT. Four of his plays are published by Dramatists Play Service: Men's Singles, The Legendary Stardust Boys, Cash Flow and The Girl Who Loved The Beatles, a One Act two-character play that has become a standard audition piece for actors.

He wrote the screen adaptation of Spinning Into Butter which starred Sarah Jessica Parker. He has worked in television creating two pilots for CBS: The Late Bloomer and Man of the House. He has also written episodes for Herman's Head (FOX) and My Kind of Town (FOX).

He welcomes Followers on his screenwriting blog: WRITER'S REHAB: FOR WRITERS WHO CAN'T GET THEIR ACTS TOGETHER

He is a member of The Writers Guild of America and The Dramatists Guild.

You can contact him by Googling Writers Rehab or directly at dbgillescript@gmail.com

Twitter: @dbgilles

Reviews

[Daniel Doherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped trusting the author's judgement when he mentioned that Woody Allen was one of his favorites

[Doxie · Rating 1 out of 5]

---DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK I REPEAT DO NOT BUY
it was bad, I learned only one thing and the guy kept talking about sexy blondes and sexualized women in basically every scenario

this dude has been in the film/arts industry for decades I think and instead of giving us a lot of his knowledge he's just giving us shit we've heard before, his advice is bullshit and any good ideas are kinda just thrown away without ever being properly explored

lastly this guy is pretentious as shit. at one point he brings up all of his accomplishments just in case you miss his equally as sad bio at the back of the book. he says "I've had 2 screenplays sold, they haven't been made into movies but they have been sold" dude big fucking deal it doesn't really count, you aren't famous nor successful you have just managed not to starve

IF you want to learn valuable shit buy "The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age: Fourth Edition", I haven't fully read it but its got actual stuff and isn't sexist bs

[Nathan Nicolau · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually went to film school and this book is straight trash.

[Dax Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Naive, has misogyny on every other page, and a lot of less than interesting anecdotes. Don’t waste your precious time on this poorly written and redundant book.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is (largely) about writing. One of the key concepts of screenwriting, it says, is not over- or under-writing. Yet this book should have been about half as long as it is. I've never seen an author drag things on like this guy does. Almost every sentence is its own paragraph. Maybe he was getting paid by the page? Other than that, it was pretty informative. I'm not actually trying to become a screenwriter but for the layperson just interested in the topic, it was a decent resource.

[Beaver Buzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very outdated and is more about writing a screenplay rather than the overall process of filmmaking. It felt like 1/4 of the book was a "sample treatment" which was very unnecessary and was probably only there to increase the book's length. I would recommend reading another book or learning online rather than reading this.

[Philip J. Zamora · Rating 3 out of 5]

My big takeaways from this book are: 1) don't be afraid to start with what you have. Who cares if your first efforts have professional polish, just make the movie that you can make today. You will sharpen your skill set with each new film you make, so set out to make as many as you can. As a beginner, you'll do your best work if you make a bunch of short films before tackling a feature. 2) Nobody likes a know-it-all, anyone with real knowledge of filmmaking won't use it to tear down the work of others. 3) Dare to finish any project that you start and don't be afraid to put it out there. Putting it out there doesn't guarantee that you'll land that big Hollywood deal, but it gives you valuable feedback that will serve you well on the next project.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book. I think it's very informational. But I don't think it's an actual portable film school. you aren't gonna be like steven spielberg or anything after reading this. I have defanitely learned more about writing and learning about how to budget movies, and cast movies too. If you think you'll save money instead of going to actual film school, please go to film school. but I think for what this is it's a good book.

[lauren]

“””no matter how brilliant the overweight, unattractive actress might be in the role, by virtue of her physical appearance she would not serve the material. You don’t want the audience looking at the unattractive performer wondering why all the guys she works with desire her””” !!! — this every three pages

… and also “”I’m sick of saying he/she so i’m just gonna says he from now on”” lmao

skip this one, plenty of books out there that are way better (and more useful/helpful)

[Jay Sellers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and entertaining. I'm anxious to learn how to write more compelling and engaging short films, especially the public education content that we produce at the local utility. This book helps with an understanding of how to arrange the elements of a script to accomplish the basics of that goal.

[Lucas Swanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more of a book on writing screenplays than anything else, with a dab of filmmaking advice here and a dab of navigating the industry there. Rather outdated, as well, with little to no mention of digital filmmaking. Not the worse book on screenwriting/filmmaking out there, but you could find better.

[Tom Sturgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job of breaking down some parts of the screenwriting process, but doesn’t touch on in any depth mechanical issues like cinematography, sound, editing, scheduling or doing the other things a director might get involved in.

It pairs pretty well with Syd Field’s Screenplay and workbook.

[Caitlin Buxbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated, and like others have said, more focused on screenwriting in the middle than I was looking for (I skipped his treatment examples and a couple other sections), but still a reasonably good introduction to filmmaking / the business (especially if it's the only filmmaking book in your local public library). Could give it 3.5 maybe but I like to round up.

[Bea Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good practical lessons and tips. Definitely worth rereading!

[Kane B · Rating 3 out of 5]

i am not accustomed to nonfiction and a lot of things in this book i already knew and or are dated. But i did find the tips about motivation and pacing for writing and about the industry good.

[*~Bek Moranne~* · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's actually quite a fun book to read, especially if you're interested in movies or how the movies are made -(or if you want to be an actor, screenwriter, cameraman, etc).

[Michaell Cavllaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT STARTING POINT

This book gives a great overview of what you need to produce a good film. It gives you a starting point.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a way which is accessible and not overly pretentious about the importance of screen writing or the difficulty of it it gives you the feeling that being successful in writing a script is not so hard. HOWEVER, on attempting to write a script afterwards you realise actually it is quite difficult and WILL take a lot of work and practise (though Gilles doesn't pretend it won't).

Gilles makes himself seem very accessible and provides his contact details so that he could possibly give you pointers after you've written something. Makes you feel like he's a mentor. Though I would like to look up some of his work as the examples in the book are severely lacking. In saying that it makes you think of movies you;ve seen and some of the crazy plot lines and twists that make NO sense whatsoever. So yeah perhaps his writing isn't so bad after all.

[Natalia L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed reading this book. Truly for beginners, there's no assumption that the reader has any kind of work experience or knowledge of terms used in the industry. For the same reason, some topics (such as lighting and camera work) are only skimmed over. There's simply too much information out there to possibly include it all in one book. Not to worry: there are plenty of interesting suggestions for further reading (and watching). Also included are assignments for the reader/writer, which makes it not only an informative, well-articulated, and inspiring read, but also a productive one. While it's not exactly "everything you'd learn in film school" in a single book, there’s no doubt that it’s a fantastic start.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished "The Portable Film School" by D.B. Gilles. I would have gotten more out of this book if I did the homework it prescribed, but I didn't. I mostly read this one while waiting for this or that, not while I had a word processor in front of me. Either way, though, it was pretty good. Unlike the subtitle, though, this was not everything I would have learned in film school.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm working on a screenplay that I'll hopefully finish one day and this book offered valuable advice.

[Chelsea Parrish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly about screenwriting

[Joanna kapusta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book for aspiring filmmakers.