The Cheerful Subversive's Guide to Independent Filmmaking

by Dan Mirvish

In this fully updated second edition, award-winning film director and Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish gives you soup-to-nuts, cradle-to-grave advice on every aspect of the filmmaking lifestyle and craft. He drops advice on playing the Hollywood game, and shows you how to finance, cast, shoot and show your indie feature, documentary, episodic series, short film, student film, web video or big-budget blockbuster. Once labeled a "cheerful subversive" by The New York Times , Mirvish shares lessons he's learned personally from film luminaries Robert Altman, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Steven Soderbergh, Rian Johnson, Whit Stillman, Harold Ramis, Lynn Shelton, John Carpenter, Ava DuVernay, the Russo Brothers, Bong Joon-ho, Sean Baker and more. This revised edition includes brand new chapters on Visit the extensive companion website at www.DanMirvish.com for in-depth supplemental videos, behind-the-scenes footage from Dan's films and bonus materials.

278 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2021

Reviews

[Jon Schiefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

have read a lot of books on #filmmaking. Some are specialized: screenwriting, editing, cinematography, business plans, etc.

If you’re looking for an entry-level primer on how to be an independent filmmaker by a pro who actually gets movies made consistently, this book a spectacular! I'm going to be rereading the relevant sections to it as I enter each state of production.