THE FILMS OF RICK SCHMIDT 1975-2015

For all those indie filmmakers who wonder about jumping into the „feature filmmaking“ pond, here's an exciting catalog of movies that Schmidt made, by hook or crook––26 no/low-budget features in 40 years. Budgets range right down to $39 for the DV movie THE HIGDEN MAN (see FOREWORD/Interview with feature filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake). What matters is that if „filmmaking“ is your dream, hopefully this little booklet will form a basis for your future efforts (if HE can do it so can U!). By examining the one-page entries the reader should get a sense of Schmidt’s creative priorities––an improv approach to actors/non-actors, on-the-spot story-telling, editorial exploration, and the nuts and bolts of no/low-budget producing. Hopefully, the take-away from this “used-car filmmaking” book is that ANYONE CAN BECOME A FEATURE FILMMAKER. With DV/digital moviemaking equipment—many features here were shot in DV––artists can now make their movies with affordable HD cameras or phones, shooting 4K video and editing apps. And with determination, you can start to compile your own catalog of completed works, hopefully earning a trip to Park City/Sundance and beyond.
It should come as no surprise that Rick has brought out another new book on IMPROV FILMMAKING, to further expose readers to the joys (and the wild ride) of creating motion pictures without a full script, using mostly non-actors, while letting dialogue flow from the innate intelligence of all participants within range of the shoot. Film directors such as Kevin Smith (CLERKS), Tom DiCillo (Living in Oblivion), Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) and Vin Diesel have used Schmidt’s previous book to produce their breakthrough features. SO CAN YOU!