The Cheerful Subversive's Guide to Independent Filmmaking

In this fully updated second edition, award-winning film director and Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish gives you soup-to-nuts, cradle-to-grave advice on every aspect of the filmmaking lifestyle and craft. He drops advice on playing the Hollywood game, and shows you how to finance, cast, shoot and show your indie feature, documentary, episodic series, short film, student film, web video or big-budget blockbuster.

Once labeled a "cheerful subversive" by The New York Times, Mirvish shares lessons he's learned personally from film luminaries Robert Altman, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Steven Soderbergh, Rian Johnson, Whit Stillman, Harold Ramis, Lynn Shelton, John Carpenter, Ava DuVernay, the Russo Brothers, Bong Joon-ho, Sean Baker and more. This revised edition includes brand new chapters on

• filming during a global pandemic
• finding investors and crowdfunding backers
• whether and where to go to film school
• how to get a big Hollywood agent
• self-distributing your film, even to airlines
• casting an Oscar®-winner as your lead actor
• and turning your garage into a 1980s New York subway

Visit the extensive companion website at www.DanMirvish.com for in-depth supplemental videos, behind-the-scenes footage from Dan's films and bonus materials.

Dan Mirvish is an award-winning director, screenwriter, producer and author. His first film, omaha (the movie), led to the founding of the Slamdance Film Festival. His real estate musical Open House forced the Academy Awards® to rewrite its rules. Dan's critically acclaimed features Between Us, Bernard and Huey and 18½ have screened around the world.