Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7 - 000 Became a Hollywood Player

In an industry where everyone that "knows" says it takes millons to do anything is good to see something different.
The story is one of a kind, still is good to know it's real and can eventually happen.

This book builds up the moral for all young people
out there - people with their home cameras and dreams
about big time in art and/or movie business.
Thumbs up for Robert, this is what the youth should be.

Great for new filmmakers. Inspires filmmakers through his own story. Robert Rodriguez is a big Hollywood director now. For people who dream of making movies and do not have any place to start this is very good! Times have changed since Rodriguez got his start with all the youtube generation and reality stuff. But this still inspires!

Some People are out right just lucky in the movie industry. Is Robert Rodriguez one of them I don't know. He has a nack for technology and he's got a nack for art. Usually when you put this together you find successful people. I enjoyed this book, It proves that when you are good at something you do, and other people appreciate it, you are greatly rewarded. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to get into the business.

Some People are out right just lucky in the movie industry. Is Robert Rodriguez one of them I don't know. He has a nack for technology and he's got a nack for art. Usually when you put this together you find successful people. I enjoyed this book, It proves that when you are good at something you do, and other people appreciate it, you are greatly rewarded. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to get into the business.

Highly detailed account of the filmmaker's various experiences from the days of shooting on video to college experiences to being independent as a whole shows intriguing merit for both filmmakers and non-film crew.

Instead of being oversaturated with trivial pop culture or other oversaturated topics, this book manages to pack in the confidence and experimentation that goes into indie productions without dragging or being too much information for its own good.

Rodriguez himself is a like it or hate it kind of guy but every film addict and electronics guru is going to relate to this and leaen a thing or two with the liaded surprises in here. Now if only Robert himself would get this deep with his own actual movies time and again!

If you have not heard this story, prepare yourself for a real life tale more unbelievable than anything you`d see in Sin City. Robert Rodriguez exploded onto the scene in the early 90s with El Mariachi, a super guerrilla film that he paid for in part by checking himself into a facility to be used as a guinea pig for experimental medicines. No matter what Rodriquez goes on to accomplish in film, his legacy first will be El Mariachi, a film that expanded the limits of filmmaking and inspired a generation of kids to run up credit card debt and make horrible movies (sorry, but I don't blame Robert for the sins of his followers).

In "Rebel Without a Crew", he gives a stunningly thorough summary of his life before, during and after making the film. The most fascinating aspects of the book are the Entourage-like behind the scenes stories about studio negotiations, trying to get into film festivals, etc. Rodriquez almost overnight fame seems more when you hear him describe how little he had going for him financially when he was negotiating deals that would guarantee him millions of dollars of creative control for the rest of his artistic life.

Like I mentioned above, many people have heard this story, thought what he did sounded easy and tried to follow his path. Nearly all failed. Hidden within his story is the mind of a creative genius with an encyclopedic knowledge of film techniques. What people fail to understand is that Robert Rodriquez would have been discovered eventually. How he got there is not as important as who he was. If you want to be like him, study the history and craft of filmmaking before mortgaging your future (and possibly health) to try to replicate his life.

I think that Robert Rodriguez is a better filmmaker than his films. He has a strong dedication to getting the job done the best way he knows how...and he knows quite a bit.

He has yet to make anything I've really enjoyed. EL MARIACHI is only interesting if you know the backstory on how it got made--and where it took Rodriguez. He makes a little $7000 film and takes a videocassette to LA, then ends up with agents from ICM, major studio deals, and a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. He goes from selling his body to medical experiments for money to being the Next Big Thing in Hollywood in only months. It's an interesting and even inspiring story, and he tells it well.

The book doesn't go overboard with technical jargon or practical career advice, it just basically boils to: Just Get It Done. People in Hollywood obviously aren't used to that. They're in the business of saying No. Rodriquez says Do It. I particularly liked his observations of Hollywood as a slow-moving, non-caring business of bland product, where no one seems to care about getting something out. There isn't much of that, but it's there.

For people interested in filmmaking, this is a must-read, if only to see how someone did it. I'm not a fan of his films. FROM DUSK TIL DAWN and PLANET TERROR are run-of-the-mill drive-in schlock. I didn't even bother with SPY KIDS. If I hadn't read how he made EL MARIACHI, I wouldn't have cared about it.

But he did it. And he'll probably be a big Hollywood filmmaker for the rest of his life because of it.
That makes it worth reading about.

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.

Rebel Without A Crew is an extraordinary and inspirational book by Robert Rodriguez about his legendary frugal filming of El Mariachi and the whirlwind aftermath of the famous post-production. Most filmmakers will not obtain the quick success of El Marichi, but Robert shows that being prepared with a script, having experience with shooting and editing movies (as opposed to only having Film School knowledge) and lots and lots of hard work you can go far in an industry dominated by heavy weights.

The "I was a human lab rat" chapter is especially hilarious on his adventures in Pharmaco Research Hospital where he used the money earned there to help finance Bedhead and El Mariachi. Being the practical person he is he even found his lead bad guy Peter Marquardt as Moco.

The most important lesson that Rodriquez has proved is that you do not need millions of dollars to make a good action film (or tens of thousands even). You do not need professionals as actors. You do your own crew work and borrow what you can. In fact your inventiveness can give your film flavor that you would not have thought of if you had a plethora of money. His criticisms of the "Hollywood" system are especially pertinent in which so much time and money are wasted on inane union practices (his commentary on the From Dusk To Dawn DVD also goes over this).

As an additional bonus you get two important appendixes in "The Ten-Minute Film School" and the original screen play of El Mariachi. Almost all of the advice throughout the journal entries is summed up in this awesome, short but pragmatic chapter that adds advice on writing, directing, cutting and photography. When you read the screenplay it is fun to see where he differs between this and the actual shooting.

The only real downside to the book is the terse nature of the journal entries. Now this is normal for this type of prose but I wish that there was more extrapolation.

Now go watch El Mariachi and Bedhead.

Whenever I feel my motivation ebbing, I just pick up the this book and re-read a passage or two (actually, I end up spending about an hour re-reading!). The format is so streight forward, the writing style so 'down to earth' - any thoughts about NOT being a director completely leave my mind when I read what he's done. It just all seems so simple.
The two most influential ideas that I got from this book were 1) The only thing in my way is ME and 2) Trust myself - stop taping every shot 3 or 4 times. Make the decision and stick to it.
Really - if you want to make movies and just think it's to big a thing - read this book. If you're still in doubt after you read it - forget it, you're not cut out to make movies. Rodriguez is as great as he is because he kept going, knowing that he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Simple as that. The 'how' is just his personal twist - everybody's 'how you get there' is going to be different. Trust yourself.

One of the most inspirational books on film and story telling. Giving your blood for imaginary ideals is sincere. Openly financing story's with little than more. Human drama playing out with less importance than the joy of work. Constant motion in the direction of your dreams.

The most important thing about this book are the things it tells you that some people may be tempted to ignore. Joe Queenan, who tried to follow in our hero's footsteps by making a $ 7,000 film of his own, followed none of the lessons in this book and totally missed the point. As a result, he wound up making a tremendously disappointing $ 65,000 film instead. (Search for 'The Unkindest Cut' for his story).
The author cut his teeth on video, which in my mind was the ideal medium. It's cheap, and you can gain a lot of experience that way without spending that much money. We high tech types can always buy a Canon XL-1 or similar camera, which is capable of quality levels approaching film.
So it's incorrect to say that our hero had no film experience, although most of the people he hired didn't.
He became amazingly lucky, but something people might not have noticed is that his original plan was sound and realistic. Make three films, distribute them in a market that was dying for films regardless of quality, and step up in quality and budget as he learned. Then, with a portfolio of three films that made modest amounts of money, present yourself to the studios.
The story of how fate managed to get him an agent and short-circuit the whole process was hilarious and incredible. But I don't think aspiring filmmakers should forget that he had a sound original plan, not something built on dreams.
I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in understanding how to make an inexpensive film on your own. Personally, I think video would be a much better medium for most people reading his book. The overwhelming majority of the initial $ 7,000 cost were related to buying and processing film. It was actually edited originally as a video to stay within the budget and to be sellable as a video in stores. Taking the original negatives and re-cutting them as a film was what cost the $100k Columbia put into it for distribution.
It's worth looking at Joe Queenan's film as a counterpoint: He, not being as cheap, rented better equipment and as a result got synch sound (which saved much of the expensive post-production). However, his editing and other post-production cost about half of the total budget of the film, thanks to the high cost of renting film studio time. Had he bought video equipment and released it as a video, he could have saved a great deal of that.

Reading stories like this one are truly inspirational. Not just for people in the film making world, but life in general. This is a story of a man who was determined to follow his passion, to make films. He would have been happy with the minimum reward, making enough money to survive, as long as he was doing what his heart told him to do. He was lucky/fortunate/gifted, so he excelled far beyond that. It's great to know he started for the love of what he did, not just for the possibility of big bucks.

I also like the fact that he did (and still does) so much of the work himself. To this day he still edits all his movies, and hasn't fallen prey to the Hollywood "trap". Reading this book, you can see his roots and following his career, you can see he has stayed close to those roots.

I highly recommend this book, for those interested in film, or even just a great personal story.

This is the story of a young, aspiring filmmaker who let people perform medical experiments on him, and then used the money they paid him to make an incredibly low budget film that cemented his career and made him millions.

It's a pretty amazing story, and as he tells it he gives good advice on how to attempt to follow in his footsteps. The book is well-written, often funny, and almost always entertaining. At times it reminds me of the book "Being There," because Robert Rodriguez's rise to fame is so sudden, so unexpected, and so unusual.

It's very cool, and may make you want to buy a cheap video camera, write a script, and start filming. And even if it doesn't, it's worth fourteen bucks.

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!

The text was so fast paced and interesting it was hard to put down. The writing style enables the reader to experience the obstacles and relate to the situations he finds himself in. The motivation Rodriguez has for filmmaking was so inspiring. It is a definite reader for anyone who has a dream to be creative but is afraid. His confidence is exuberant and inspirational. It reminded me of how important it is to have "ganas" - a will to accomplish. His writing and experiences speak to the Chicano/Latino experience of optimism and the familiarity of one's own resources. I will definitely recommend his book to students. Adelante con tu pasion.

This is a must read story for anyone interested in filmmaking. However, some words of warning. Don't be fooled for a second into thinking you could do what Rodriguez did - very few people have access to all resources he did. He didn't have to buy or rent a camera! If you alrady had all those resources, you'd be able to make a movie cheap too. Also, this is a sad tale of how Hollywood will make any Joe Blow into a big shot director. I don't think it's stretching things to say Rodriguez did not live up to his reputation after El Mariachi... I mean, look at all the garbage he's made. Rodriguez went from hotshot to hack. He should probably be a producer, since he seems more concerned about how to cut costs than making his characters interesting. Those are my gripes, but not with the book. It's a great tale, and you should read it. Just don't expect it to happen to you!

Rodriguez is a phenom, only matched today by Soderberg. Both are directors who do it all, but it's not likely that most people will have the chops to be able to match Rodriguez skill for skill. So this book won't tell you how to actually make a movie, but it will tell you how to work with the limitations not just of the medium, but of everything else from lack of budget, lack of resources, lack of sets, lack of everything except imagination. The key thing you learn from this book is you get great stories about how Rodriguez overcame the limitations at the moment. Only problem is that you won't run into the same limitations, and you probably don't even have a turtle either. Key wisdom is never give up.

So get inspired by reading this book, and by all means read his "Ten minute film school" Just don't try to copy what he's done, it's not the point.

If your looking for a book for struggling filmmaker (or are one yourself) I know of few books I would recomend more highly than this one. It only contains a short chapter on actual filmmaking itself, but the Story of Robet's "El Mariachi" will sustain you through the trials and tribulations of low budget filmmaking. Robert put his blood and sweat into the little $7,000 film that could, and he literally has the scars to prove it.

(Yes I am well aware that Columbia Pictures spent $100,000 on a cleaning up the film sound and others, so the version you rent at Blockbuster is not the one he screened for them, but the point is, he made the film for $7,000 and got a three picture deal for it-How many of you sideline film snobs can say that?)

Want to make films? Not sure where to start? Here you go. RR is living the dream, and he did it by just getting out there and following his passions. This book is mainly composed of his journal entries over the two years where he wrote and directed el mariachi, and the roller coaster ride that followed. The great thing about this book is not just the fact that he became a major player, but that you get to see the entire sequence of events that got him there. Not just the great breaks, but also the lows he had to get through. Basically, get this book as a pep rally before you jump into making your films. He shares his failures as well as his successes, which will help you to face your obstacles in a realistic way, but at the same time give you a kick in the butt to just get out there and do it. The book also includes RR's 10 minute film school, and the el mariachi script.

Robert Rodriguez without knowing it has become the poster boy for the "Digital Revolution". Although his first film was shot on film, he helped to prove the theory that you can shoot enjoyable films without the deep pockets of Hollywood, and that you don't have to throw money at everything to have things work out. He also proved that digital editing can be a viable way of editing. (Which is commonplace now, and soon all digital productions from start to finish.) If you rent the dvd of El Mariachi/Desparado (double feature) there is some bonus commentary that augments the book shot by shot. I found both invaluable.

The actual story of how he got the money to make the film, and how it became a success is almost "too good to be true". It will probably be made into a movie one day.

The Hollywood machine has mostly forgotten the creative powers of directors, opting for work that has been spoon fed through their money making processes for a quick buck. We need alternatives and radicals within and outside of Hollywood to keep the movie making process alive.

(I would also recondmend Badd Asssss by Melvin & Mario Van Peoples)

"Rebel Without a Crew" is hands down the best book on filmmaking I've ever read. Rodriguez was the only crew member on "El Mariachi" (hence the title of the book). This is an inspiring tale of how a guy from Austin made a movie with little money, a borrowed camera, and "90% perspiration, 10% inspiration." Any aspiring filmmaker who is depressed about their prospects should read this. And get the "El Mariachi/Desperado" double feature DVD. They both feature commentaries by Rodriguez.