Mr. Willie Nelson
Austin, Texas
Dear Willie Nelson;
I need some advice.
Like you, I have a problem with the IRS. I'm a filmmaker, and for years, I was the sound designer and editor on other peoples movies, a sideman if you will. I always wanted to make my own feature. As I was finishing up the sound on Good Will Hunting I finally said, this is it, I'm going to do it. Now, I am not new to this, I had already made 8 short films that have won a bunch of awards.
My friends and people that I have worked with over the years told me that they would do whatever it took to help me make my film, and find a distributor. This is where I made my first mistake. I took every dime I made on Good Will Hunting, and the remake of PSYCHO, (including the money I should have paid in taxes), and spent it on my movie, Birddog.
With help, I thought I could get a distribution deal and use that money to pay my taxes. My friends in the business told me how much they liked my film, but they couldn't help. They offered all sorts of reasons but I soon realized that ... I was on my own. I sent the film to festivals, to the Independent Film Market in New York, I even screened the film in London & Toronto for foreign distributors.
Everyone told me the same thing, we really like your movie, but there are no stars in it so we can't sell it to the public. I was also told that I hadn't spent enough money (they all figured my budget was 8 - 10 times higher then it really was).
Now I'm doing things my way. I'm touring the country showing my films (we call it the AngryFilmmakers IRS Tour), and selling them on the internet.
Here's where I need your advice. Since I owe the IRS money, (not nearly as much as you did, but a lot for me). I'm thinking about putting out a special IRS edition of some of my films. Is that a good idea? Did your IRS tapes sell well?
I am going to be in Austin towards the end of April and if you want to come to my screening I will let you in for free. (Or I can send you a DVD.) I am NOT looking for money from you. If you like my work maybe you could give me some sort of quote for the website and the boxes.
I know you're real busy, and I'm sure you get all sorts of weird requests but I sure would appreciate it if you could help me out here. Good luck to you and whatever you have going on. And feel free to mention my website and my films whenever you think of it.
Sincerely,
Kelley Baker
AngryFilmmaker