Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player

by Robert Rodríguez

Book Overview

Named One of The Hollywood Reporter's "100 Greatest Film Books of All Time"

Famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids, Machete) discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film El Mariachi on a shoestring budget.

This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452271878
• ISBN13: 9780452271876
• Release Date: September 1996
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Love it

Love it

Best, maybe only book you need on filmmaking; Most fun too!

When I started this book I didn't have the motivation to get up and make a movie. I wanted to, but it was all a big intimidating blur. The minute I finished it, 3 days after I started (and I'm not a fast reader) I decided to make a movie, and several months later had actually made a short film, as crewless as Mr. Rodriguez had been, and had an absolute blast doing it. Then it hit me, c'mon, how hard could it be from here to make a full feature? That's exactly what he'd been saying all along. This is the only book you need. Aw, what do I know, right? Well let me revise myself a little bit. This is the only book you need to read to be PREPARED to actually get up and make a movie, whether it's two or 120 minutes. If you still need tech and history books, all good, all good, but if you want some kind of a degree or certificate that says "Official Filmmaker", forget it, this is the only,well, ANYTHING, you need. If even! Rodriguez would probably say you don't even need to read the book, just go out and make movies. That's what he did. This book is as simple as it sounds. A production diary, edited here and there, highly informational introduction and appendices, and the most lively, vibrant, good natured, humorous, validating, and incredibly UN-intimidating (as said by my brother, he seems incredibly laid back) narrator you could ever wish for. Sometimes you honestly forget you're reading a book about movies and are just listening to a friend recount a few crazy harebrained adventures. The book flies by and I enjoyed every minute of it. I happily list it as one of the best and most entertaining books I've ever read, next to even my very favorite classics in literature! But Rodriguez' adoration of, common sense, and maverick independence regarding film is what takes the cake. He realized that there's a labyrinthian system of bureaucracy, upper crust of snobs, and far too many negative folks controlling the main highway of the business, from the schools to the studios, and he, a film student at the time, decided that the actual flesh and bone mechanics of film are available to anyone and that there was another way to go. He didn't like the idea of being taught how to make movies the way someone else wanted you to make them, he wanted to be himself, and he thought that if you have talent that's all you need, it can't be taught to you. So he got up and made some short films for festivals, then decided "shorts are easy, couldn't be that hard to make a feature". So he went to Mexico and made his indie hit, El Mariachi, all by his lonesome. The actual diary takes place during the making of El Mariachi (and the post production and "getting discovered" frenzy), and is a day to day account of imagination, creativity, ingenuity, a makeshift and anything goes sensibility, and old fashioned elbow grease, told by a fabulous storyteller. Everything afterwards is equally thrilling for anyone interested in filmmaking as it offers a VERY revealing glimpse into the s

You wanna be a filmmaker...fine, you ARE one!

I have a library of freakin' Hollywood how-to books. Filmmaking. Screenwriting. Treatments. Pitching. Blah-blah-blah. This book by Robert Rodriguez is the ONLY book in my library that actually inspired me to get off my [couch] and make a film!I read Robert's book in the summer of 2003. By February 1, 2004 I had written, produced, shot and directed my own short film. People said it couldn't be done.I'm about to submit my short film to the Los Angeles Film Festival. My film has a cast of 7 people and more than a dozen extras. I had seven crew members. I shot it using someone else's Canon GL1 miniDV camera. It was edited on Final Cut Pro 4 by someone...for free. People said it couldn't be done.I needed to shoot my film in 2 days -- Super Bowl XXXVIII weekend to be exact. People said "you'll never be able to get people to show up." I did.They said, "You can't shoot an 18-page script in two days." I did.They said, "You'll never be able to afford to pay your crew." Everyone worked on my production for FREE.They said, "You need a $5 million production insurance policy to book a location." I had everyone sign release forms and I filmed in my own condo and 'guerilla style' at night, at my employer's office.They said, "You need expensive lighting equipment costing $1000+." I paid $126 for lighting equipment from an online auction site.Robert's book shows you how to work around "the system" and do what you've always wanted to do: make films. Hollywood is an exclusionary environment where the powers-that-be want to keep as many people OUT as possible. You don't have to follow their rules. Make your own rules. The point of RR's book is for the reader to gain experience MAKING FILMS, not making coffee for some other director. Your first film may not be great, but so what? You've only spent maybe $100 on it, whereas film school grads plunk down tens of thousands of dollars only to see their films crash and burn.An acquaintance I know is trying to get in the business "the Hollywood way." He went to film school. He tried to do a student film. Now he wants to do commercials in hopes that he'll get "discovered". He turned up his nose at me when I said I was going to make a short film. But while he's working on everyone else's film, sitting in lecture halls, taking tests and being a PA I have already directed my first film and I'm about to see it premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.So you wanna be a filmmaker? Fine, you ARE one! Now go print some business cards and make a film!

Robert Rodriguez amazes me.

Not because he's a great writer or director, but because with every single project he makes me feel like I can DO this. I can make good movies that people will enjoy watching. And you can, too.This is one of the most inspiring books on filmmaking I've ever read--it depicts, in detail, all the ups and downs that went into making and selling EL MARIACHI, the $7000 sensation that opened doors for Rodriguez.A lot of filmmakers argue that EL MARIACHI isn't a great film, that the story's kind of silly, that the version that most of us saw had $500,000 worth of post-production work added, and on and on.But they're talking about it. It's 2003 and people are still talking about the amazing feat Rodriguez pulled off with this film. For $7000 of his own money, plus a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, he got himself noticed and made a career out of his hobby. "Do what you love, then find someone who will pay you to do it."This is a how-to manual for the basement movie-maker, written by a man who is excited about using movies to tell his stories: in this book, in the commentary tracks for his movies, in his Ten-Minute Film School installments, I have never once felt like Robert Rodriguez was bored with either his work or his achievements. The guy has fun, and his personality gets its fingerprints all over his work--if you can't enjoy yourself while watching a Rodriguez movie, you're expecting too much and thinking too hard.This guy is not changing the face of American cinema: he wants all of US to change the face of American cinema, and this book is an open invitation to do just that.Devour Rodriguez. Consume this book and engorge yourself on his DVDs. Chow down on special features on how he did it that also show YOU how to do it. If, after a week-long diet of Robert Rodriguez, you DON'T want to make your own movie IMMEDIATELY, seek a different destiny: making movies is not for you.

A must-read ripper of a tale

This is a delightful, funny, amazing and inspirational book. It's the remarkable account of how one 23-year-old made a film on the cheap, and how hard he had to work (it was a labor of love, of course) to do that. This book also gives an insightful glimpse into the dazzling world of Hollywood glitz from the point-of-view of "an ordinary Joe" who suddenly finds himself catapulted into a world of limos, expense accounts, and who-you-know mentality. Included in the book are Rodriguez's famous "Ten Minute Film School" essay and the script for his film "El Mariachi" as he wrote it. (No, it's not in "proper script format", but since he wrote, directed, shot, and edited the whole film himself, it didn't matter. Rodriguez rule number one: You don't always have to follow the rules.)Readers who aren't dying to make their own movies will still find this a tremendously good tale of how an ordinary, middle-class, almost-a-dropout can become a success. Rodriguez's formula for success is a true homily: 10% inspiration + 90% prespiration, and a little blood donated to science. Oh, and a whole lot of chutzpah. For aspiring independent film-makers, this book is truly a must-read. For everybody else, it's a ripper of a true tale, well told and likeable. Oh, and don't forget to pair it with the video of "El Mariachi", the film the book is all about. It shows how stylish a "cheap" film can be, and it's a lot of fun, especially when you know all the "inside jokes": cheat sheets, wheelchair dollies, why everybody always gets shot in the chest, etc.

To call it Inspiring is an Understatement

Robert Rodriguez, Texas-born filmmaker tells us how his attempt at honing his filmmaking skills jettisioned him straight into the big time.This diary book tells us of the frustrations and nightmares of making his debut feature film "El Mariachi". He also tells us of his interesting and amusing stories of entry into Hollywood: like getting representation from a major Hollywood agent at one International Creative Management (the biggest talent agency in the world). And he tells of his adventures and misadventures in a such a friendly style, you'd swear you were speaking to your best friend.This is the only book I've ever read that can genuinely constitute as inspiring. I'm dead serious. I'm 17 years old and an aspiring filmmaker. Before I read his book, I was trying to make movies and was more than a little discouraged at how things turned out. But, that all changed when I heard what this book was about. I requested it for Christmas and couldn't believe my eyes. If Rodriguez, for some reason, decides that he doesn't want to make movies anymore, he should seriously consider being a motivational speaker. In this book, he tells of his filmmaking experience -- all the trials and tribulations and encourages and inspires people by telling them how easy and straightforward the filmmaking process, always known to be daunting, really is.And as an added incentive -- frosting on the cake, really -- Rodriguez includes his "10 Minute Film School", telling how you can make a movie in a few easy steps. Again, this guy speaks to you on an equal level -- he doesn't patronize, which is what makes the book even better. Robert Rodriguez does an excellent job of entertaining and inspiring us in this book on how easy, sometimes challenging, and rewarding the filmmaking process can be.Take a bow, Mr. Rodriguez.