NEW DARK AGES--How a Punk Movie EMERALD CITIES Got Its IMPROV

NEW DARK AGES--How a Punk Movie Emerald Cities Got Its Improv is a bold new addition to Rick Schmidt's how-to books about moviemaking that includes Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices and Extreme DV (Penguin/Random House Books). NEW DARK AGES lets the reader participate in Rick's IMPROV decision-making process as he applies his stream-of-consciousness approach to solving moviemaking problems where the filmmaker must battle her movie into existence often with little money and little time to complete the task. Readers can learn from Rick's open universe approach where he dares to proceed against all odds. This is a fun read. How Schmidt overcomes obstacles physical and mental is a miracle of inventiveness imagination perseverance and determination matter-of-factly remembered and told. The New Dark Ages vividly catalogues the everyday efforts required to bring forth his indie film-making odyssey Emerald Cities and in the process (as an aside) also his successful book Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices. -- Bibbi Lee translator NOTHING GROWS BY MOONLIGHT author of A WEEK OF MENUS/Chateau De Lesvault. Rick's bestselling how-tos have helped launch the careers of numerous future Hollywood moviemaker including writer/director Kevin Smith co-writer/co-director Eduardo Sanchez (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT filmmaker Tom DiCillo (LIVING IN OBLIVION) actor Vin Diesel and many others. Maybe NEW DARK AGES can also enable readers to become successful writer/directors in the new emerging markets of indie steaming (Netflix etc.).Without Rick's book CLERKS would have been an idea that never made it past this page. - Kevin SmithThe book changed my life. --Vin Diesel