Kelley Baker is on a Mission

By Jay Tormohlen

Before meeting Kelley Baker for the first time, his reputation as the Angry Filmmaker preceded him. I had pictured him as a gnarled, sour-looking man with hairy ears and maybe an Eastern European accent or something. Instead of being odd and embittered, he is very amiable, exuding a kind of blue-collar integrity and geniality, simultaneously intense and mellow, rather than the though, fast-talking patina you’d expect a Hollywood type to have. His living room, lined with counters filled with computer monitors and sound mixers, bookcases and cabinets, attests to the fact he lives what he preaches.

As we began talking, I could see he revels in the role of the outsider. He told me he’d recently returned to Oregon, where he lives, from his Fall Tour, ten weeks and sixteen thousand miles across the U.S. in his van, his faithful dog, Moses, at his side. Moses, lying at Kelley’s feet as we talk, and looking as tired as his master, started barking at the sound of his name.

"The trip was great. No blizzards." Kelley’s given to wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a quick wit.

Touring twice a year over the past six years, Kelley has criss-crossed America showing his movies, promoting his new book (The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film) and teaching workshops at colleges, universities, media art centers, and art house theaters. "I've even done screenings in bars. I’m like the Tom Joad of filmmakers.” He’s driven through countless storms, stepped into a professional wrestling ring in West Virginia, sipped moonshine with filmmakers in North Carolina, debated civil rights at Hank Williams grave at midnight in Montgomery, Alabama, gotten lost in places you shouldn’t, watched hundreds of student films, made new friends in Scotland and Ireland, and eaten more club sandwiches laced with antacids than he cares to think about. "I tour like a punk band without the music and no punks.”

So, what would make an apparently sane man leave the glamour of the film business in LA to subject himself to the rigors of life as a touring filmmaker? After all, he attended USC's film program where he received both his BA and his MFA in Film with an emphasis in Production and worked in Hollywood for 20 years. He’s well known for being the sound designer on seven of Gus Van Sant's feature films, including My Own Private Idaho, Goodwill Hunting and Finding Forrester, as well as the Sound Designer on Todd Haynes film, Far From Heaven. He’s also made numerous award-winning short films, documentaries, and three of his own independent features. He walked away from it all not because he’s an angry filmmaker, not because his independent films and book are angry, but because he and his work are honest.

You get a sense of his honesty when you watch his first feature, Birddog. He says when he made it, it seemed like the film gods were smiling on him. He knew lots of people in the business and was liked and respected by his peers. He gambled on his film by taking the money he should have paid in taxes from his work on Good Will Hunting and putting it where his mouth was. The film impressed distributors and film festivals but ultimately wasn't picked up for distribution because, "as it was explained to me many times, there was no one famous in it," Kelley says.

He spent two years trying to get a distribution deal for Birddog. All the while the clock was ticking with the IRS. He soon made another film with buddy, Bruce Lacey. “We made The Gas Cafe for $4000. It has no starlets in it either, just an interesting story." His latest feature, Kicking Bird, was made in 2006 with a budget of $6000. All three features play well to audiences.

Wait a minute. I wanted to hear more about distribution. I quickly find out, however, if you want to see Kelley transform into The Angry Filmmaker, press him on independent distribution. According to him, although independent filmmaking is alive and well, independent distribution is dead. He offers up as evidence all of the films that come from Hollywood that they call independent. "If you look at a film that has a three, four, five, even ten million dollar budget with names in them, no real independent filmmaker does that. We make films on a much smaller scale. Does that mean our stories aren't as good? Our actors aren't as good? No, it means that we can't spend millions of dollars telling an audience that our films are independent. We have to do it in a grassroots way. All that distributors want is a film with recognizable names in it. They don't care about the story or the characters. They just want to get an audience in the door and steal their money. It's not about good movies to them; it’s about making lots of money. That's not what "Real Independent Filmmaking" is all about!" Kelley’s on a roll by now and Moses lifts his head. “Even the small distributors have gotten lazy. They want films that are easy to sell. They don't want to take any chances on small films.”

Which leads us back to why he’s on the road most of the year. Knowing that The Gas Cafe, like Birddog, would never find a distributor, Kelley decided to take his films out on the road. Besides, he’d already made eight short films that did great on the festival circuit and screened on PBS, The Learning Channel, and Canadian and Australian television. He started booking anywhere he could think of. He spent time on the phone. He faxed. He e-mailed. He blogged. Whatever it took to get his name out there and nail bookings. At first, he would fly into a city and do a twelve day tour that would lead him back to the city he started. He slept in rental cars and did shows for a hundred people, sometimes as few as three. On one trip he got so sick with a lung infection that his doctor was faxing prescriptions to pharmacies hours ahead of Kelley's next booking. At one workshop Kelley was so sick he couldn't stand, so he did the three-hour workshop seated behind a table in sweltering heat.

Sometimes he made money, other times he didn’t. His first full-blown ten-week tour in 2005 was scary. "I borrowed my Father's pick up truck and a canopy from my buddy Richard. I burned a thousand DVDs on my own computer, threw them in the back and took off with a couple hundred dollars in my pocket. By the time I reached to my first gig in Colorado, I was already broke. I realized if I didn't sell some DVDs at this stop, there might not be a tour. I didn't have enough money for gas to get to my next stop." Thankfully for us all, he sold enough DVDs the first day and was able to continue. " I realized there is an audience out there for real independent films. Contrary to what I was told, my films played well and audiences responded, especially on college campuses." Over time, he learned to publicize as he was touring, and to this day still books stops while he is on the road. "I knew I wasn't the first filmmaker to tour, but I really didn’t have any kind of blueprint. I was making this stuff up as I went along. I kept telling people I went to an art school. I didn't know anything about business or marketing. I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned."

He willingly acknowledges when he first started touring, he wasn't comfortable in front of classes. The talking didn't come easy. He would get really nervous before every workshop, screening or lecture. You wouldn’t know it, sitting here talking to him now. Gradually, he says it became a lot more comfortable. "I still have those moments when I look out at a room full of people and if I see one person who doesn't look like they're with me I start thinking to myself; what’s the matter? Why aren't they laughing? Don't they like me? And those people are the ones who tend to ask the best questions. They’d been listening. I just hadn't been able to read them."

So, what inspired the book, The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide Part One: Making the Extreme No Budget Film? “The book came about as a result of the tours. So many people were asking me advice about making good inexpensive movies. Combine that with my frustration with the way the film business works and it was a natural.” In true independent fashion, he decided to publish it himself. “I didn’t really think about taking it to a publisher. It just felt like the right thing to do. Although if I had realized how hard it was going to be I might not have written it at all. And it’s only Part One!”

In no uncertain terms, in conversational style, his book exposes the state of independent low-budget filmmaking. Even dedicated, seasoned filmmakers need his Survival Guide. Newcomers need it even more. Filmmakers will find inspiration and initiative, as well as applicable instructions how to avoid the pitfalls only an insider would know. It is an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at filmmaking from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way. He takes you step-by-step through scripting, budgeting, financing, organizing and equipping your shoot through coverage and sound design, to festival bullshit. With attitude, contained within is the wisdom of an Angry Filmmaker, gained the hard way, through experience. If you heed his advice, you’ll come out a survivor rather than a casualty.

John Gaspard, author of Digital Filmmaking 101 and Fast, Cheap and Written That Way, says,“One of the best books on making your way through the independent filmmaking jungle. Funny, profane and committed to telling the unblemished truth. Don't make your next movie until you've read this terrific book." William M. Akers, author of Your Screenplay Sucks!, warns,” Profit from your luck at having stumbled on this gem.” Brian Johnson, author, screenwriter, and director, wrote, “When it comes to independent filmmaking Kelley Baker is the real thing.”

Kelley says, “People tell me all the time that reading the book is like an extended conversation with me... And, they don’t have to pick up the check at the end.” He writes that the three most important aspects of any good film are, story, acting and sound. “Face it, if the story isn’t good, people aren’t going to watch. Cool technical innovations are only going to take you so far. The acting has to be good. We’ve all walked out of movies where the acting is bad. And remember, if the audience can’t hear or understand the dialog they will turn off you film. They’ll forgive a lot of technical problems, but they won’t forgive bad sound.”  That’s the sound designer kicking in now.

Part Two comes out this summer: Sound Conversations With (Un)Sound People. The book is about audio for films and how filmmakers can avoid many pitfalls. “I’ve interviewed a lot of people involved with post production and they have provided a lot of information on what filmmakers should and shouldn’t do when it comes to sound.”

When holding a workshop, pitching his book or screening his films, Kelley feels audiences especially love the opportunity to meet and talk to the filmmaker. "My favorite thing is when people come up to me with questions. They sign up on my email list and ask me about the book, my films, or questions that pertain to the films they're trying to make. It's great to meet people who connect with my work."

When I ask Kelley if he still sleeps in his car, he chuckles and rubs Moses’ head. He has his own van now. A friend helped build a platform in the back so he can sleep in there if he doesn't have screenings. He’d rather sleep in the van than spend money on a hotel room for a night. Most of the people that book him arrange lodging, but he still spends many nights on their couches. He admits liking to live like a college student even though he's in his early 50's. "College students and young filmmakers keep me young. I watch a lot of their work and see a lot of parallels to what I'm doing. I like their attitude." Kelley sees a lot of the same faces coming to his screenings and workshops year after year. He says it's like seeing old friends.

But that’s not the only reason he keeps touring and teaching. "I was led to believe that if I made a good movie I would get a distributor. I spent a lot of money I didn't have, ruining myself financially. My goal now is to show students and filmmakers you can make really good movies for very little money. If you have the drive, you can get them out in front of an audience. It's not easy, but it's rewarding on a lot of levels.” This doesn’t sound like an angry person talking, does it?

And what happened to his IRS troubles? After seven years of dealing with the (bleep), Kelley sold his home of twenty years and just about everything else to settle with them and just about everyone else he owed money to. Yes! There’s the anger again.

When I push Kelley about his desire to go back to working on big movies, he replies wryly, "I tell classes all the time, please, buy my stuff. Don't make me go back to Hollywood and work on bad movies...”

To learn more about Kelley Baker and his tour schedule, check out www.angryfilmmaker.com.

Everyone who wants to make a film or is making one now, you need to get this book!

The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide Part One: Making the Extreme No Budget Film

In no uncertain terms, Kelley Baker exposes the state of independent low-budget filmmaking. He is the Angry Filmmaker, but his independent films are not angry, they’re honest. And so is his book. Even dedicated, seasoned filmmakers need his Survival Guide. Newcomers need it even more. Filmmakers will find inspiration and initiative, as well as essential instructions on how to avoid the pitfalls only an insider would know. It is an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at filmmaking from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way.

This book takes you step-by-step through scripting, budgeting, financing, organizing and equipping your shoot through coverage and sound design, including festival bullshit. With attitude, this is the wisdom of an Angry Filmmaker, gained the hard way, through experience. If you take his advice, you’ll come out a survivor rather than a casualty.

 Brian Johnson, author, screenwriter, and director

What are you waiting for?  Order your book today.  www.angryfilmmaker.com

About the Author
Kelley Baker worked in Hollywood for 20 years. He’s well known for being the sound designer on six of Gus Van Sant's feature films, including My Own Private Idaho, Goodwill Hunting and Finding Forrester. He’s also made numerous award-winning short films and 3 of his own independent features. The latest, Kicking Bird, was madewith a budget of $6000 and has played to international audiences. Each year, Kelley takes his van out on the road with his dog Moses to show his films and conduct workshops on independent filmmaking.

For more information about Kelley, his films, or to order The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film, check out www.angryfilmmaker.com.