The East Lansing Film Festival - ELFF

“The Angry Filmmaker” Speaks up

This article was posted on Thu, Sep 01 2005

The East Lansing Film Festival, now entering into its 9th year, will hold a seminar on “Guerilla Marketing and Self-Distribution of Your Film” presented by Kelley Baker, “The Angry Filmmaker”, on Saturday, September 24 from 1pm - 4pm in Room 104B, Wells Hall, MSU campus. Baker has appeared in over 40 cities and 60 venues throughout the US teaching his subversive brand of filmmaking and showing his films to a wide range of audiences. He has written and directed three full-length features, many short films that have aired on PBS, The Learning Channel and on television in Canada and Australia. He was the sound designer on six of Gus Van Sant’s feature films including, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, GOOD WILL HUNTING, and FINDING FORRESTER.

His seminar, “Guerilla Marketing and Self-Distribution of Your Film” focuses on the difficulty of finding distributors for an independent film. “Forget Sundance, Miramax and PBS. These places get hundreds of submissions a year, “ states Baker. In his seminar he will walk through the different ways, such as websites, press kits, and reviews, to get an audience for your screenings. He will challenge you to assess the real market for your film and provides examples of how other filmmakers get their work in theaters even after traditional distributors turned them down. “You’ve already made the film, what good is it doing sitting on your shelf?” he asks rhetorically.

In addition to the seminar, ELFF will screen Baker’s most recent feature film, KICKING BIRD, about a teenager on Saturday, September 24 at 7:30pm in Room 147 in the Communications Art Building on the MSU campus. Kelley Baker will be on hand to discuss the film and answer questions from the audience. Cost for the seminar and the film is $25 for general admission and $10 for students with proper ID. The film alone is $2. For more information and directions, please visit http://www.elff.com or call 517-336-5802.