My First Movie: Twenty Celebrated Directors Talk about Their First Film

Twenty directors discuss their experiences making their first feature films through in-depth interviews conducted by Stephen Lowenstein. The conversations cover both practical aspects of filmmaking and personal reflections on each director's path to completing their debut. Directors featured include Oliver Stone, Ang Lee, Kevin Smith, and the Coen Brothers, spanning different decades, genres, and production budgets. The filmmakers detail their individual struggles with funding, casting, shooting, and post-production, while also revealing their unique creative approaches. Conversations explore the period leading up to production, the challenges of working with actors and crew for the first time, and the process of bringing a vision to the screen with limited resources. First-time successes and failures are recounted with candor and technical specificity. The collection highlights common threads in the creative journey while demonstrating how varied paths can lead to breakthrough first features. The interviews offer insights into both the technical and psychological demands of transitioning from aspiring filmmaker to professional director.

Readers appreciate the intimate, conversational tone of the interviews and how they reveal the practical challenges faced by now-famous directors during their first films. Multiple reviews note the value for aspiring filmmakers in learning about early career struggles and creative problem-solving. Liked: - Raw honesty about mistakes and difficulties - Technical details about budgets and production - Focus on both artistic and business aspects - Includes diverse range of directors Disliked: - Some interviews lack depth or focus too much on anecdotes - A few readers wanted more recent directors included - Questions can be repetitive across interviews Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (389 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (28 reviews) Notable reader comments: "Like sitting down for coffee with experienced mentors" - Goodreads reviewer "Would have benefited from more female directors" - Amazon review "The financing details alone make this worth reading for film students" - LibraryThing user

On Directing Film by David Mamet Through transcripts of film directing classes, working directors share their techniques and philosophies about the craft of directing first films.

The First Time I Got Paid For It by Peter Lefcourt, Laura J. Shapiro Writers from film and television recount their initial experiences breaking into the industry and selling their first scripts.

On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrick A compilation of lectures and notes from a film school director contains practical instructions and insights about directing first features.

Making Movies by Sidney Lumet A step-by-step examination of the film-making process follows the journey from script to screen through the lens of a veteran director's first-hand experience.

The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking by Mark Polish, Michael Polish, Jonathan Sheldon Three filmmakers present the realities of making a first independent feature through production charts, contracts, and practical guidance.

🎬 Several directors featured in the book, including Oliver Stone and the Coen Brothers, created their first films while still in film school rather than through traditional studio channels 📽️ Author Stephen Lowenstein conducted all interviews in person, often spending several hours with each director to capture detailed accounts of their early filmmaking experiences 🎥 The book reveals that Mira Nair funded her first film "Salaam Bombay!" by taking out personal loans and convincing over 400 individual investors to contribute small amounts 🎞️ Many of the featured directors, including Anthony Minghella and Richard Linklater, worked numerous non-film jobs (including taxi driver and oil rig worker) while trying to finance their debut films 🌟 The youngest director featured in the book was 24 when making their first film (Kevin Smith with "Clerks"), while the oldest was 41 (Michael Apted with "Triple Echo")