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Fast, Cheap and Under Control
Lessons Learned from the Greatest Low-Budget Movies of All Time
by John Gaspard
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Book Presentation:
Dying to make a feature? Learn from the pros!
"We never put out an actual textbook for the Corman School of Filmmaking, but if we did, it would be Fast, Cheap and Under Control."
Roger Corman, Producer
It’s like taking a Master Class in moviemaking…all in one book!
• Jonathan Demme: The value of cameos
• John Sayles: Writing to your resources
• Peter Bogdanovich: Long, continuous takes
• John Cassavetes: Re-Shoots
• Steven Soderbergh: Rehearsals
• George Romero: Casting
• Kevin Smith: Skipping film school
• Jon Favreau: Creating an emotional connection
• Richard Linklater: Poverty breeds creativity
• David Lynch: Kill your darlings
• Ron Howard: Pre-production planning
• John Carpenter: Going low-tech
• Robert Rodriguez: Sound thinking
And more!
Learn the tricks and pitfalls of low-budget filmmaking from 33 successful independent films and the filmmakers who created them. Includes never before published interviews with low-budget mavericks such as Steven Soderbergh, Roger Corman, Jon Favreau, Henry Jaglom, and many more.
Learn the lessons from such classics as Clerks, Night of the Living Dead, Swingers, Open Water, El Mariachi, Slacker, sex, lies and videotape, The Blair Witch Project, Eraserhead, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Dark Star, Return of the Secaucus Seven, The Little Shop of Horrors, Caged Heat and Targets.
Are you dying to make a movie? This is the one book that can help you make it a reality.
Grab it now!
Praise for the Fast, Cheap and Under Control:
"This terrific little book explains how to make every penny count on the often-arduous journey from script to screen."
John Carpenter, Director, Halloween, Starman, Escape from New York
"A helpful and funny guide for beginners and professionals alike."
Jonathan Demme, Director, Silence of the Lambs
"This book is as good as film school, and a lot less expensive. It's required reading in Tromaville."
Lloyd Kaufman, President, Troma Entertainment, Creator, Toxic Avenger
"I wish I’d read this book before I made Re-Animator."
Stuart Gordon, director, Re-Animator
"This simple and sensible book injects reality into the process and helps any filmmaker prevent their film from becoming a money pit. Lessons like those in this book are cheap at ten times the price."
John Badham, director, Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, Blue Thunder
"For everyone who wants to make art without breaking the bank, John Gaspard’s book is worth every penny."
Derek Pell, Editor, DingBat Magazine
"A richly-detailed, highly readable and inspiring book jam-packed with information that will keep low-budget filmmakers from making costly mistakes. Filled with a ton-full (not a spoonful) of fascinating, insightful interviews, with a you-can-do-it approach."
Dr. Linda Seger, consultant on over 2,000 screenplays, best-selling author of Making a Good Script Great and 7 other books
About the Author:
John is author of the Eli Marks mystery series as well as two other stand-alone novels, "The Greyhound of the Baskervilles" and "The Ripperologists."He also writes the Como Lake Players mystery series, under the pen name Bobbie Raymond.In real life, John's not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less - that's no small trick. He's also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, they've made more than the films. Those books ("Fast, Cheap and Under Control" and "Fast, Cheap and Written That Way") are available in eBook, Paperback and audiobook formats.John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several dogs, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.
Press Reviews:
"We never put out an actual textbook for the Corman School of Filmmaking, but if we did, it would be Fast, Cheap and Under Control."
Roger Corman, Producer
"This terrific little book explains how to make every penny count on the often-arduous journey from script to screen."
John Carpenter, Director, Halloween, Starman, Escape from New York
"A helpful and funny guide for beginners and professionals alike."
Jonathan Demme, Director, Silence of the Lambs
"This book is as good as film school, and a lot less expensive. It's required reading in Tromaville."
Lloyd Kaufman, President, Troma Entertainment, Creator, Toxic Avenger
"I wish I'd read this book before I made Re-Animator."
Stuart Gordon, director, Re-Animator
"This simple and sensible book injects reality into the process and helps any filmmaker prevent their film from becoming a money pit. Lessons like those in this book are cheap at ten times the price."
John Badham, director, Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, Blue Thunder
"For everyone who wants to make art without breaking the bank, John Gaspard's book is worth every penny."
Derek Pell, Editor, DingBat Magazine
"A richly-detailed, highly readable and inspiring book jam-packed with information that will keep low-budget filmmakers from making costly mistakes. Filled with a ton-full (not a spoonful) of fascinating, insightful interviews, with a you-can-do-it approach."
Dr. Linda Seger, consultant on over 2,000 screenplays, best-selling author of Making a Good Script Great and 7 other books
"Just when you thought the low-budget film topic had been strip-mined to death, John Gaspard and his merry crew of subjects hit a whole new mother lode."
Jon Pierson, Author, Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes
"Filled with riveting stories of how a wildly diverse group of filmmakers, with very little money and an abundance of passion, determination, and courage, got their movies on the screen."
Michael Hauge, Author, Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds.
"One of the best!"
K. Chiba, Amazon.com (verified purchase)
"A necessary book for any filmmaker."
Jeremy Hanke, editor, Microfilmmaker Magazine
"This book is for film fans (and film makers) and it is indispensable."
Matthew Terry
See the publisher website: Albert's Bridge Books
> From the same author:
Fast, Cheap and Written That Way (2009)
Top Screenwriters on Writing for Low-Budget Movies
by John Gaspard
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
> On a related topic:
A Guide to (Short) Documentary Filmmaking (2025)
Creating Artful Short Documentary Films
Directors Tell the Story (2025)
Master the Craft of Television and Film Directing
by Bethany Rooney and Mary Lou Belli
The Art of the Filmmaker (2023)
The Practical Aesthetics of the Screen
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