Rebel Without a Crew

[Dan]

This one is obviously most entertaining to aspiring filmmakers, but I think it would be pretty entertaining to the average reader, too. The majority of the book is the journal of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Spy Kids, From Dusk Til Dawn) written while he was financing, filming, editing, and selling his first movie, El Mariachi. Rodriguez is a really likable guy, and you can tell he really cares about his movie (at the beginning of the book, he agrees to be a lab rat at a pharmaceutical company in order to finance his film). While his story is a definite one-in-a-million story (he doesn't mention in the book that he was a friend of a friend of a friend of the most powerful agent in Hollywood), but it's still inspiring. Most books, and well most people, tell you how you'll never make it as a filmmaker, this one makes you feel that it's within your reach if you work really hard for it.

 

[MtnBiker]

Hmm, interesting. He has made some good movies, my wife loves Desperado.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, that one was good, personally I think From Dusk Til Dawn is his best, but that's just me.

I forgot to mention that he's one of the most notoriously cheap filmmakers in hollywood, he made El Mariachi, an action movie, for about $7000! And he's shooting all of his movies on digital video now because it's cheaper and easier. He also likes to do everything himself, on his last movie, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, he was the writer, director, camera operator, set designer, editor, and music composer. This guy keeps busy!