The Cheerful Subversive's Guide to Independent Filmmaking: From Preproduction to Festivals and Distribution

by Dan Mirvish

In The Cheerful Subversive’s Guide to Independent Filmmaking , celebrated Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish offers a rich exploration of the process and culture of making low-budget, independent films. Once labelled a "cheerful subversive" by The New York Times , Mirvish shares his unfiltered pragmatic approach to scriptwriting, casting, directing, producing, managing a crew, post-production, navigating the film festival circuit, distributing your film, dealing with piracy and building a career. Readers will learn how to game the Hollywood system to their advantage, get their films accepted by respected festivals without going broke, and utilize a broad range of media and tactics to promote and distribute their work. A companion website features behind-the-scenes interviews and footage from Dan’s films, and much more.

240 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2016

Reviews

[Spaghett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll likely never have the chance to work on a film myself, but what I do is entertainment-adjacent enough that I've been interested in reading a lot of filmmaking books lately, who knows maybe someday I'll find an in, and this book I got from Humble Bundle was a great guide to the ins-and-outs of the business side of things. Dan Mirvish has a great sense of humor and lots of interesting stories about his own productions, and spins his anecdotes into compelling object lessons. I always love hearing about the heat-of-the-moment zany schemes that indie filmmakers do go get their movies made, and there's a ton of cleverness on display here. Of course, it's not all fun and games and Mirvish spends great detail explaining all the boring, unsexy legal stuff you'll have to look out for to avoid getting sued. It's a good fast read but very comprehensive. Great stuff if you're a casual film fan or seriously considering a stab at a feature.