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

Rodriguez, much like many independent filmmakers, entered the cinema world with a movie that cost not even a skirmish of a typical Hollywood blockbuster. To make the movie, Rodriguez used his own money (a piddling $7,000) by participating in a experimental clinical drug testing and even veto some of the seemingly inexpensive movie tools (slate) to keep the costs down. The result was "El Mariachi", the movie that launched his career and showed that with a little creativity, anyone could make it in the business.No matter what your opinion on the movie is (which is very good, in my opinion), you cannot deny that "Rebel Without a Crew" is a fantastic read. Rodriguez depicts the making of the film and then its subsequent celebration at film festivals in chronological order, breaking them down into dates like a diary. In the process, he shows what he did to keep the costs down and used a variety of techniques to make a movie look like a million bucks, such as using a ladder instead of crane for crane shots, a wheelchair for a dolly a la Godard or using a sound effects track on a VHS camera. It's also important to note that Rodriguez shot this whole film with only one camera and not a single crew member on the set. He was also 23 years old, two years younger than Orson Welles was when he made "Citizen Kane". This is a rags-to-riches story straight out of "Cinderella" and yet it's true. The book is so gripping that it would make an excellent movie. That's how good it is.This book is extremely entertaining, but it's also very informative and refreshingly without prejudice towards Hollywood. When reading this book, you get a complete understanding of what it takes to get not only your movie made but also sold, distributed and promoted. Rodriguez gets to meet or contact with many of premier directors at that time, most notably Jonathan Demme, Richard Linklater and, of course, his future war buddy Quentin Tarantino. As the movie becomes more successful, Rodriguez achieves critical recognition, winning numerous awards and successfully entering the mainstream with films like "Desperado" and, after the book's release, "The Faculty" and "From Dusk Til' Dawn". In the end, Rodriguez had done the near impossible: he became an independent filmmaker that succeeded in Hollywood without losing his roots.The icing in the cake, however, is the astonishing "Ten-Minute Film School", one of the book's final appendixes that details how you could make a movie without the need of a million dollars or even ten THOUSAND dollars. Rodriguez argues that using your smarts to overcome financial barriers, rather than being expensive, can turn a bad little movie into a great little movie. In the end, he offers encouragement for aspiring directors to keep their passions strong and following them will lead you to enormous fulfillment. Amen to that, hombre."Rebel Without a Crew" is one of the best books about making movies ever conceived, a tonic to the costly film schools and programs that promise you many and deliver little. At the same time, it's also a great underdog story of how a certain nobody used his brains and wit to achieve the impossible and become a success story - all for a mere seven grand. Engrossing, insightful and endlessly engaging, "Rebel Without a Crew" belongs in every movie lover's collection. Don't even think of making movies without buying this book first.Strongest recommendation to buy.

This is the book that compelled me to start publishing books. I just did a presentation at USC a few weeks ago on my fourth book, a multi-collaborator version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and I had a slide showing Robert Rodriguez so I could pay homage to the man who kicked out the stop.The Introduction and first Appendix (10 Minute Film School) have been read and reread so many times the pages in those sections are falling out. I bought a hardcover version so I can have a more permanent copy of what I deem the most valuable book on productivity known to man. I have a few other books that are up there, but this one takes the cake.Here's the biggest draw for me...In the introduction Robert explains how he got the idea to make a trilogy of movies as a training method for learning how to produce feature films. How he got to this point (by hijacking his dad's VCR and using his award-winning short films to kick down the door to film school) is also explained. But the key here was learning by doing, and not learning by simulating how to do. There is a massive distinction, one so big that it literally will change your life.As I mentioned, I make books, not films. But by way of making books, I learned how to manage projects and produce contracts and research, write, design, edit, price, market, and otherwise MAKE books. I don't believe many of my books are worth reading, but as Robert says, everyone has bad movies in them, and they have to get them out of their system before greatness is possible. So failure be damned, do the work and let the chips fall where they may. You can't make the world love your stuff, but if you don't learn the process you'll never get enough exposure to give the world the chance to even see you at all.In sum: creativity and productivity are two sides of the same coin. Or as Robert says, "If you want to learn the guitar, you don't take a couple of guitar classes and expect to do anything innovative. You practice in your garage until your fingers bleed."Thank you Robert. I owe you a beer and a plate of puerco pibil.

As has been mentioned, this is a memoir about how Robert Rodriguez made his film "El Mariachi". I just finished it and was thoroughly fascinated by it. This is not a technical manual (although there is plenty of technical knowledge and "pearls of wisdom" to be gleaned from it) so much as it is a motivational book. It is also a book about seeing a project through to its completion, regardless of the obstacles that may come up. It is written in a day to day format and tells how he came up with the concept, the unusual methods of funding that he came up with to make the film, the obstacles that he had to overcome, and how he pulled off a feature length film for $7000 that was eventually bought by a major Hollywood studio.If you are tired of technical books, I highly recommend Rebel Without a Crew. But first, I recommend renting "El Mariachi" and watching it. Its a good action movie, better than some of his later films such as "Desperado" and "From Dusk Till Dawn". As Rodriguez discusses some of the shots, you will be able to visualize these scenes and see why he had to film them the way he did. I found it to be an entertaining and educational read.As I mentioned, this is not a technical manual. It is not written in a "how to" format, so to speak. But he does go into detail about how and why he shot many scenes the way he did, how he came up with props and locations, how he cast roles, paced the movie, and how he sold it. I believe that any aspiring indie filmmaker will find ideas that he can apply to his own film making.

The first half or so of this book really kicks ass. It's mostly told in diary form and picks up when Rodriguez is a financially struggling film student who volunteers for a month-long paid drug study so he can make $3,000 towards financing his first feature length film. The idea is to make a straight-to-video cheapie for under $10,000 as a kind of demo reel, the proceeds from which he'd use to build his skills and reputation with an even better sequel and so on. The stories from in the hospital are funny and you get a great sense of his singleminded focus and determination. Then we go to Mexico where he makes the film, with lots of great behind-the-scenes detail. Then back to Texas for post-production, and on to Hollywood to try to sell it to a Spanish language distributor, hoping to make just enough to live on and make the next film. The low rent video distributors give him the runaround, but with a big dose of luck he strikes it rich and his little $7,000 action movie takes Hollywood and the top tier festival circuit by storm. A real ripping yarn up to this point. This is the Cinderella happy ending, but the book isn't nearly finished yet, although the interesting stuff is.What follows is about 100 pages of victory lap and namedropping. It's a diary, so it's understandable that his sudden success, fame, and wealth would lead him to gush about all the cool people he's met, but compared to the first part of the book which is rife with inspiring anecdotes and useful filmmaking tips, the second half just feels like padding.I'd just finished reading two seminal and very concise film books--https://amzn.to/388trHY and https://amzn.to/2UxWuRx--so maybe that's why this felt a bit bloated and self-indulgent. Still, the first half is excellent, so dig in!

great book that helps the aspiring film maker and shares his amazing and unique path to success. fun read

Robert Rodriguez writes a rollicking story about discovering how to make movies by making movies from scratch.(AKA, Learning by Doing.)Creativity hinges on knowing how and when, what and where to shoot film and/or video, and visualization through practice. But he says in the introduction that wanting to be a film-maker will never be the same as BEING a film-maker, because if you really want to be a film-maker you already are a film-maker. The mistakes made along the way are all learning-lessons, especially when you love what you're doing. Most of the film-schools only teach how to work in the field, becoming part of the crew of single-functioning members who each do their part in those enormous productions that cost millions. The mistake they make is in not encouraging individuality which is where you find the well of talent and creativity.

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.

I bought this as a replacement for a copy I loaned to a friend. That alone should be some kind of testament to this book’s popularity. I really enjoy the author’s humor and candor as he weaves his way through the Hollywood maze working against the odd to build a career. It’s not only a well told tale, it’s also a “how to” manual for anyone trying to break into the movie business.

LEITURA OBRIGATÓRIA

questo libro è il diario di viaggio della creazione di El mariaci, il primo lungometraggio in pellicola 16mm girato da Robert Rodriguez.La vera storia scritta da Rodriguez stesso, di come con 7000 $ girò il suo film, poi lo montò in vhs e lo fece girare, solo dopo la Sony ne acquisi i diritti, e lo rieditò in 35mm con tutte le lavorazioni del caso.Tutta l'energia, la passione, le sofferenze sopportate per ottenere un risultato negli anni 90 impossibile.Il padre di ogni videomaker e filmaker moderno svela trucchi e spiega perchè il suo modo di girare a Hollywood funziona poco, e invece funziona a livello globale. Suggerito a tutti coloro che vogliono intraprendere la carriera cinematografica, e sono stufi di sentirsi dire come fare film con i milioni di dollari.

I remember watching Spy Kids as an 11 year old, and this dude's name pops out. Fast-forwarding on to college, I picked up on my Hollywood movie binge. Watching the El Mariachi trilogy backwards, I was surprised by humble beginning of Rodriguez as a moviemaker. He has written this book with just as much love and humility with which he made El Mariachi. It will give any budding or couch-loving wannabe filmmakers wild ideas, just like me. I am reading this slowly, I dont want this fever to leave me yet, so I will take my time to finish this. To all you people who think you chose the wrong academic subject during college or later, you can pick up from here and see where it takes you. Beware though, everything that you dream of while reading this may not come to happen, but dont let that stop you. Buy it, this is one hell of a ride. Become a 'Rebel Wihout A Crew' if you dare. :)

Robert Rodriguez a toujours adoré le cinéma et il a commencé très tôt à en faire.Ses premiers court-métrages ont été récompensés dans toutes sortes de festivals.On peut d'ailleurs les voir encore aujourd'hui sur Youtube... et constater que son talent était bien là dès le départ.Pour financer son premier long métrage, le désormais légendaire "Desperado", le jeune cinéaste sans le sou n'a pas hésité en 1992 à passer un mois dans une clinique où l'on testait des médicaments sur des êtres humains.Avec les 7000 dollars ainsi récoltés et une mauvaise caméra vidéo, il a ensuite réalisé un film dont les acteurs étaient choisis au jour-le-jour, dans des décors on ne peut plus "naturels" et avec des effets spéciaux bricolés à la va-comme-je-te-pousse.Au final, les pontes d'Hollywood ont été tellement impressionnés par le résultat qu'ils lui on proposé de distribuer son oeuvre et de devenir un vrai metteur en scène professionnel.C'est ce parcours en forme de conte de fées que Rodriguez nous raconte dans ce journal bourré d'idées intéressantes, d'anecdotes amusantes, de conseils précieux et - surtout - de passion.Vous aussi vous avez envie de devenir riche et célèbre dans l'industrie du cinéma?Le beau Robert vous explique comment - lui - il l'a fait. Comment il éclairait ses plateaux, comment il réalisait ses travellings, comment il préparait son montage et comment il s'arrangeait pour toujours tirer le maximum de son microscopique budget.Ce bouquin ne vous donnera aucune recette infaillible, mais il vous apprendra au moins une chose primordiale:pour se différencier des autres, il ne faut jamais compter que sur soi-même.A méditer.

Libro interesante, aunque ya lo conocía y parece un poco incompleto. Pero es ameno a la hora de leerlo y no es tedioso.