Himself
Welcome to the NEW, FULL-COLOR, DELUXE/YOUTUBE 2nd Edition of ’Rick’s Films,’ with links to over fifty motion pictures at his youtube channel. For all those indie filmmakers who wonder about jumping into the 'feature filmmaking' pond, here’s a collection of unique indie productions that Schmidt created by hook or crook, many with running commentaries on ’the making of.’ Budgets range right down to $39 for the DV movie THE HIGDEN MAN, to his recent NO TEARS FOR BANKERS (under $15,000) pulled together with non-actors, no pre-scripted story, just the magic of his IMPROV approach (see FOREWORD). What matters is that if 'filmmaking' is your dream, this HOW-TO BOOK, with numerous 'Director’s Statements' by Rick on the struggles to produce IMPROV features, will hopefully form a basis for your future efforts (if HE can do it so can U!). By examining the various movie entries with their detailed discussions, readers can then equate that information with screening of TRAILERS and FREE FULL MOVIES, getting a sense of Schmidt’s creative priorities. His approach to working with actors/non-actors, on-the-spot story-telling, editorial exploration, and the nuts and bolts of no/low-budget producing should begin to make sense. After all, his fully-improv,’ $15,000 feature, MORGAN’S CAKE, nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, offers proof of the pudding!-don’t miss the full account in his book, 'The Miracle of Morgan’s Cake.' So hopefully, the take-away from this 'used-car filmmaking' book is that ANYONE CAN BECOME A SUCCESSFUL INDIE FEATURE FILMMAKER. With DV/digital moviemaking equipment-many features here were shot in DV--artists can now make their movies with affordable HD cameras or phones, shooting 4K video, finally completing the storytelling process with inexpensive editing apps. With determination, YOU can start to compile your own filmography of completed works, while earning a trip to Park City/Sundance and beyond. Good Luck!
