I’ve decided on occasion to post about a book that I’ve read or a film I’ve recently watched. I don’t plan on doing this with any regularity but who knows if the response is good maybe I’ll make it a regular thing.
Here is my first one.
Sometimes you just need to back up, take a break, and read some Mark Twain.
I decided I wanted to read some of his shorter works so I picked this up and was not disappointed.

“The first draft of everything is shit.” — Ernest Hemingway
Okay this may be a bit extreme, although not having read any of Hemingway’s first drafts, he may be right. My early drafts are not great, but they’re not supposed to be. They serve more as an outline, a rough path for me to move forward.

Jeff Bezos doesn’t need any more of your money. And it’s not just him, all of those big companies and CEO’s don’t need your money either.
Don’t get me wrong, they want your money, all of it. But they don’t need it.

Do you know who needs your money?

This is the very first film book I ever purchased that was not assigned. It’s also the first book that wasn’t about “movies” it’s about making films.
I found it at Larry Edmunds BookShop in Hollywood right after I had moved to LA in 1977. Larry Edmunds BookShop became my go to bookstore for film books that were not assigned for a specific class. The selection was and still is amazing.

Hey there! I have decided it’s time to (re)introduce myself and since I’m starting up a new blog on Substack, this seems to be the perfect time.
I’m Kelley Baker, also known as The Angry Filmmaker.

I think we all look back every now and again and ask ourselves, "What if?" What would have happened if I would have gone to a different school, married that person, taken that job that was offered, or not gone out drinking that night? We run all of these scenarios through our minds but the truth is, we didn’t do those things for whatever reason at the time. We ended up where we are based on the information and the decisions we made at the time. Using “What if?” is a great thing to do when you’re creating characters and forging their paths, but ultimately I think if you spend too much time thinking about it in regards to real life, then it’s a waste of time.

“I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.” – Ray Bradbury

Do you ever feel like there’s a really cool party going on and you’re not invited?

When I was in elementary school our teacher read aloud a story that took place on the planet Venus. My first “science fiction” story. I don’t remember the title or the author.
The story has stayed with me since then. We’re talking 50+ years. I remember so many things about the story and how moving it was especially the ending.

I read a lot. In my mind (and Ray Bradbury and Stephen King’s minds) it’s important if you’re a writer that you’re also a reader. I re-read books that I enjoyed when I was younger.
A short time ago I re-read Johnny Tremain and I’m currently re-reading A Wrinkle In Time.
I’m seriously thinking about getting a copy of the Newbury Award winners list again and re-read a bunch of the books I loved on that list.

I've been very lucky. I have gotten to work with some amazing actors over the years. They have all been wonderful and Portland has an amazing pool of actors. Today I want to write about one of them.
Lately I've been thinking about my old friend and mentor, Tom Lasswell. It's hard to believe that he passed away back in June of 2003 at the age of 71.

When I was at the University of Oregon I saw a class on Satire so I signed up for it. One of the best things I ever did.
The instructor was B. (Barbara) Clark Mossberg. She walked into the class with so much energy. When she handed out the syllabus we all started laughing. That nervous, “are you kidding me?” laugh.

You know when you’re growing up and people always say, if you do such and such and get caught it will go on your “permanent record”? We all laughed because there’s no such thing as a “permanent record”. It’s just something adults used to scare you into submission.
We were wrong!

Last month I got a royalty check from Amazon for One Cent! Really, One Cent. I asked myself what the fuck could they have sold of mine that would generate One fucking Cent!
I still don't know. I'd appreciate it if you'd help me and other Independent Artists out by letting your friends know we're out here and you can buy from us directly.

Years ago I was inspired by the Punk DIY movement. I have always independently made and distributed my films and I do the same thing with my books.
I promise I will never build a rocket ship and go almost into space (you’re not fooling anyone Bezos…), or buy things like social media companies so I can block anyone who disagrees with me.

Growing up in the late 50's/early 60's I was a sucker for monster films. I would watch these on Saturday afternoons and I loved them.
This is one of my all time favorites. Them - about giant ants.

This is from an interview I did a month or two ago for the McMinnville Short Film Festival. It covers a bunch of stuff. Read it and you'll learn a bit more about me and why I do what I do.
The festival is over now and it was amazing. Here's the interview...

When you are on location you need to get everything right, especially the audio. I have said before that an audience will forgive bad lighting, bad camera work, or even out of focus shots. They will not forgive bad audio. If the audience can't understand the dialogue you've lost them.

Because I've been immersed in films for the last four days I decided that today's blog post is going to be some important quotes from a few of the people I interviewed for my 2nd book, The Angry Filmmaker's Survival Guide Part Two: Sound Conversations With (un)Sound People
Sound is an excellent carrier of emotion. And film is about emotion. - Gary Rydstrom, Sound Designer - - Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park (winner 7 Academy Awards)

Yesterday was my last class at Pacific University for the academic year and we ended it with a screening of my first feature, Birddog.
This is not a vanity thing for me. One of many issues we discuss is racism and the final class is about Oregon’s history of racism. It really opens up the student’s eyes because they all have this idea Oregon and Portland have always been these liberal places and the reality is quite different.

Growing up we had a series of cheap black and white TV’s. My parents didn’t buy their first color television until I had gone off to college, which was in the mid-1970’s. We didn’t have a lot of money and I don’t believe television was all that important to them. We were a household of readers. Which might explain why I haven’t had cable or a decent TV since the late 90’s. I’d still rather read.
So all the shows that influenced me were in black and white, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I was able to watch cartoons and shows like Rocky & Bullwinkle, or Beany & Cecil in re-runs and they were in color!