Customer Reviews

Shooting to Kill

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is easily the best book of its kind I have ever read. Ms. Vachon is astoundingly generous with her experiences. Some of it is laugh-out-loud hysterical and it is always highly readable. It should be required reading for anyone who has even ever thought of making a film.

Not only is this a thorough and informative piece of work, which would make it worth twice the price all by itself, it's also an inspiration and should be read by anyone, writer, actor, producer, director, anyone.... who's ever been told you have to compromise your vision in this business to get your movie made. There are several great stories in this book but the image that keeps resonating in my head is Christine Vachon, the High Priestess of Indie Film and Soverign Protector of Infant Directors, saying to the producer's rep: "We'll talk about it" and saying to everyone else after hanging up the phone, "We're not cutting anything, we're not cutting anything." Not only did I not know there were people out there doing such things, I had begun to wonder if it was even possible. This book can make you believe again. I didn't read it. I devoured it.

Definitely the most readable book on the subject of Independent Producing that I've ever read. Writing from her own experience makes this anecdotal book on producing much less dry than any other I've read. Not for those looking for a handbook, this offering gives you a real feel of what it's like to be an independent producer and insight on how she's made it happen. I love that her tone throughout is "this is how I did this" and not "this is how it must be done." Excellent starting point for anyone interested in independent film production.

If you want to know more about what it's like to produce, rather than HOW to produce...this is the book. Vachon takes you through her life, and I've learned more about producing just from reading about one of her days. She's honest, doesn't preach much, doesn't give very many golden rules (since we all make our own), and tells you how it really is. If your tired of reading books on forms and paperwork, negotiating and contacts, and are just plain interested in what it's like to be IN IT, buy the book. It's so worth it.

A great book for wannabe filmmakers, and established indies who need a blast of inspiration with more than a few words of warning. As an indie producer with seven features to my credit, Vachon's book will become well-thumbed and marked-up as I struggle through the wonderful hell of trying to get U.S. financing for one of my new films. The only down note for me was the fact that it is very, very close to a book that I'm writing about making low-budget films. (Called GUERILLA FILMMAKING: 101) Thanks Christine, for being so generous with your wisdom and so entertaining with your writing.

I got this book as a gift. Thankfully I didn't pay for it. I struggled through the ego, the name dropping and the condescending within the book to try to really see some positive angles. There weren't many. Although it is mildly informative it focuses more on the authors elitist view on indie film. This book is not for you if you are an indie filmmaker. As much as the book tries to claim that it is an indie toolkit, it has more of a sub Hollywood feel to it. Honestly, dont waste your time with this book. There are much better things to read and way more helpful.

Having just directed a low-budget feature in Hollywood, I wish I had read this book beforehand (and I certainly wish my producer had read it). Vachon breaks down the process, making it understandable to even the most novice film fan. The writing is gutsy, the tales from the trenches always interesting. One of the must-reads if you're at all interested in making movies.

If you are a filmakker this book is for you. Detailed explainations of most aspects of low-budget indie filmmaking, how realtionships work on set, and what problems to look out for in regards to all aspects of production. Detailed budgeting information and what not to do. Diary entries that explain Christine's experiences as a filmmaker. All in all a great book to gain experience without paying for it. Now this does not make you a professional filmmaker, but it sure helps in the process. Just remember that this book is about her experiences and how she dealt with them. One must remember that she is only one person in a world of many producers; even though she is extremely successful; her way is not always the right way for everyone. Wishing you success.

amazingly awesome book for any filmmaker or aspiring indie producer. i learned more from Vachon's book than i did in my film school's crappy media management class (for producers), although it is a bit dated since it was released in the 90s and only refers to film and no digital video filmmaking. if you get this book, you should also get her second called A Killer Life, also amazing, which was written in the 2000s so more up to date.

Shooting to Kill by independent film producer Christine Vachon gives you the nuts-and-bolts of what a producer does to blast through the barriers to make movies that matter on extremely low budgets, but it is also filled with great stories and anecdotes about what really goes on in those desperate film sets with auteur directors aching to have their stories told on screen. "Basically, a low-budget movie is a crisis waiting to happen," she tells her readers in the opening chapter. Here is an example of a mini crisis from "I Shot Andy Warhol" a film about the woman who really did shoot Andy. She was played by Lili Taylor and another actor had an identity crisis playing drag queen Candy Darling because he didn't want still photos of him in drag leaked to the press (as if people weren't going to see him anyway when the film was released):

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Tom Kalin, my coproducer, beeps me 911. He has just spoken to Stephen's agent at ICM who chewed him out for allowing any stills to be taken--which according to him is BREAKING OUR VERBAL CONTRACT, which according to him is BINDING IN THE STATE OF LOS ANGELES. We might have to track down and destroy all the negatives, or the state of Los Angeles will come after us.
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Christian Bale meltdown? When he was just starting out, on Velvet Goldmine, he was much more easygoing (though there is dramatic foreshadowing of what was to come). Christine needed a ride home, so she asked Christian; little realizing what she was in for:

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He had only been on the set for a couple of days, so I didn't really know him, but he seemed nice enough. He didn't take kindly to my request, though. "My contract," he said curtly, "says I get an exclusive ride to and from the set." It did, so that was that. When I started to turn away, he said, "Christine." Big grin. "I'm kidding."
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Rumor has it that he said the same thing after his Youtube meltdown, but they cut that off to leave the impression that he really was an insensitive, intolerant jerk who had let his minor talent and major stardom go to his head.

A large part of the fun of Shooting to Kill is these little stories about actors that started in independent films and went on to bigger but not necessarily better things. As the actors and directors she worked with became more and more famous, the films she worked on had bigger budgets, and bigger problems. Or in some cases, the actors and directors matured and delivered much better work. She worked a lot with director Todd Haynes, and he went on to make Far From Heaven, with Julianne Moore, and I'm Not There. with Christian Bale. She produced I Shot Andy Warhol, which was directed by Mary Harron and starred Lili Taylor and Jared Harris, and then later on she produced The Notorious Bettie Page that also was directed by Mary Harron with Lili Taylor and Jared Harris. The biggest success she can point to is producing Boys Don't Cry which won an Oscar for its star, Hillary Swank. She produced one of the earliest films with Julianne Moore, but was also there for a mature masterpiece of hers, Savage Grace. I like this story a lot, about one of Julianne Moore's first auditions. Her agent had said she wouldn't read, and they couldn't tape her, but when they met her she was eager to read and be taped. They were casting for a part in Safe, about a woman who is being killed by toxic chemicals in the environment:

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And she gave the most astonishing reading. Time froze, the air in the room stopped circulating. Todd and I were both on the floor. What do you say? Great! Thanks!" She left and we looked at each other and-- "She's cast! We've got to get her!" Julianne told me later that she wanted the part so badly that out in the hall she burst into tears.
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Christine has chapters on Development, Budgeting, Financing, hiring the crew, finding locations, shooting the darn thing, editing, post-production, marketing, and most important, schmoozing at film festivals. It includes actual budgets and other charts and graphs that would really only interest you if you wanted to follow in her footsteps, and become an independent film producer. But actually, it is fascinating seeing all the work and planning that goes into making films. She includes other voices, from friends and associates who also work in the film industry. For instance, here is James Schamus expounding on the independent film climate:

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The other space that was competing for ascendancy at that time was created mainly by European television, which was itself a publicly-funded thing. American Playhouse combined those two cultures: It was a bridge between the international marketplace culture and NEA apparatchik culture.
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You can really see that James has spent time in Berkeley, and in fact, when I lived in Berkeley he was a friend of a friend of a friend and I heard some interesting stories about things he said. He works a lot with director Ang Lee, who made The Ice Storm; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; and Brokeback Mountain. James is half Irish and half Jewish, just so you know. Ang Lee was making a film about a Chinese family that involved a lot of arguments over the dinner table. Schamus was having a hard time writing convincing dialogue for the Chinese family, as he couldn't imagine how they talked. Ang Lee told him to just write it exactly the way that the Jewish half of his family talked at table. Once he heard that, he was able to write it with no hesitation, and it was just what the director wanted. He just did a global search-and-replace that changed the names of the characters from Jewish names to Chinese names. I guess some experiences are universal.

The Bottom Line is that Shooting to Kill by Christine Vachon is quite interesting even if you don't intend to become an independent film producer (a thankless task). Shooting to Kill would be of interest to you if you are a film lover and are curious about the process of making films, even if you don't intend to make a film yourself. If you do want to work in films, as a producer, director, writer, or in some other capacity, and are planning to break in through independent films, then this is absolutely the book for you.

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I know that in this book I've been rattling on about money and locations and equipment, but it's important to remember that they all surround a thing so fragile, a thing that requires imaginative leaps and an incredible emotional commitment. And yet, there's no other way to approach it, is there? No matter how deep and poetic and delicate an onscreen moment will be, you still need lights, a camera, and a location in which to shoot. And in the middle of the most intense, hushed scene, when your actors are plumbing their most profound emotions, the AD will still turn to you--as an AD turned to me, recently--and point to the clock that shows you're three hours behind schedule, and whisper: "We Suck."
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PRODUCED BY CHRISTINE VACHON

I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (2007) (producer) Directed by Todd Haynes, with Christian Bale
Savage Grace (2007) (producer) Julianne Moore
The Notorious Bettie Page (2005) (producer) Directed by Mary Harron, with Lili Taylor, Jared Harris
Party Monster (2003) (producer) Chloë Sevigny
Far From Heaven (2002) (producer) Directed by Todd Haynes, with Julianne Moore
Boys Don't Cry (1999) (producer) Hillary Swank, Chloë Sevigny
Velvet Goldmine (1998) (producer) Directed by Todd Haynes, with Christian Bale
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) (producer) Directed by Mary Harron, with Lili Taylor, Jared Harris
Kids (1995) (co-producer) Chloë Sevigny, Rosario Dawson
Safe (1995) (producer) Directed by Todd Haynes, with Julianne Moore

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As Bruce Wagner, the director of I'm Losing You, puts it, independent film is "a whole new arena of hope." And what I want most passionately is for aspiring producers, directors, and writers to treat it with something like reverence. H. L. Mencken notwithstanding, a lot of people have gone broke underestimating the public's intelligence. Whereas I truly believe that if you fashion a great work, it will--ultimately--be seen. I have to believe that, or I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing.
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