Fast, Cheap & Under Control: Lessons Learned from the Greatest Low-Budget Movies of All Time
About this ebook
"We never put out an actual textbook for the Corman School of Filmmaking, but if we did, it would be Fast, Cheap and Under Control."
Roger Corman, Producer
★★★★★
It’s like taking a Master Class in moviemaking…all in one book!
Jonathan Demme: The value of cameos
John Sayles: Writing to your resources
Peter Bogdanovich: Long, continuous takes
John Cassavetes: Re-Shoots
Steven Soderbergh: Rehearsals
George Romero: Casting
Kevin Smith: Skipping film school
Jon Favreau: Creating an emotional connection
Richard Linklater: Poverty breeds creativity
David Lynch: Kill your darlings
Ron Howard: Pre-production planning
John Carpenter: Going low-tech
Robert Rodriguez: Sound thinking
And more!
Learn the tricks and pitfalls of low-budget filmmaking from 33 successful independent films and the filmmakers who created them. Includes never before published interviews with low-budget mavericks such as Steven Soderbergh, Roger Corman, Jon Favreau, Henry Jaglom, and many more.
Learn the lessons from such classics as Clerks, Night of the Living Dead, Swingers, Open Water, El Mariachi, Slacker, sex, lies and videotape, The Blair Witch Project, Eraserhead, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Dark Star, Return of the Secaucus Seven, The Little Shop of Horrors, Caged Heat and Targets.
Are you dying to make a movie? This is the one book that can help you make it a reality.
Grab it now!
★★★★★
Praise for the Fast, Cheap and Under Control:
"This terrific little book explains how to make every penny count on the often-arduous journey from script to screen."
John Carpenter, Director, Halloween, Starman, Escape from New York
"A helpful and funny guide for beginners and professionals alike."
Jonathan Demme, Director, Silence of the Lambs
"This book is as good as film school, and a lot less expensive. It's required reading in Tromaville."
Lloyd Kaufman, President, Troma Entertainment, Creator, Toxic Avenger
"I wish I’d read this book before I made Re-Animator."
Stuart Gordon, director, Re-Animator
"This simple and sensible book injects reality into the process and helps any filmmaker prevent their film from becoming a money pit. Lessons like those in this book are cheap at ten times the price."
John Badham, director, Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, Blue Thunder
"For everyone who wants to make art without breaking the bank, John Gaspard’s book is worth every penny."
Derek Pell, Editor, DingBat Magazine
"A richly-detailed, highly readable and inspiring book jam-packed with information that will keep low-budget filmmakers from making costly mistakes. Filled with a ton-full (not a spoonful) of fascinating, insightful interviews, with a you-can-do-it approach."
Dr. Linda Seger, consultant on over 2,000 screenplays, best-selling author of Making a Good Script Great and 7 other books
About the author
John is author of the Eli Marks mystery series and the Como Lake Players mystery series. He also has four other stand-alone novels: “The Greyhound of the Baskervilles,” “A Christmas Carl,” “The Sword & Mr. Stone” and “The Ripperologists.”
He hosts two podcasts: "Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast," and "The Occasional Film Podcast."
In real life, John's not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less - that's no small trick. He's also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, those books made more than the films.
John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several greyhounds, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.
