Independent Ed Independent Ed

Independent Ed

Inside a Career of Big Dreams, Little Movies, and the Twelve Best Days of My Life

    • 4.3 • 20 Ratings
    • $6.99
    • $6.99

Publisher Description

An entertaining and inspirational memoir by one of the most prominent practitioners and evangelists of independent filmmaking, and the acclaimed writer, director, and actor (Saving Private Ryan, Friends with Kids, Entourage) whose first film—The Brothers McMullen—has become an indie classic.

At the age of twenty-five, Ed Burns directed and produced his first film on a tiny $25,000 budget. The Brothers McMullen went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995, and established the working-class Irish American filmmaker as a talent to watch. In the twenty years since, Burns has made ten more films (She’s the One, Sidewalks of New York, and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas), while also acting in big budget Hollywood movies (Saving Private Ryan), hit television shows (Entourage and Mob City), and pioneering a new distribution network for indie filmmakers online and with TV’s On Demand service (“why open a film in twenty art houses when you can open in twenty million homes?”).

Inspired by Burns’s uncompromising success both behind and in front of the camera, students and aspiring filmmakers are always asking Burns for advice. In Independent Ed, Burns shares the story of his two remarkable decades in a fickle business where heat and box office receipts are often all that matter. He recounts stories of the lengths he has gone to to secure financing for his films, starting with The Brothers McMullen (he told his father: “Shooting was the twelve best days of my life”). How he found stars on their way up—including Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz—to work in his films, and how he’s adhered religiously to the dictum of writing what you know, working as if he was just starting out, and always “looking for the next twelve best days of my life.”

Chronicling the struggles and the long hours as well as the heady moments when months of planning and writing come to fruition, Independent Ed is a must-read for movie fans, film students, and everyone who loves a gripping tale about what it takes to forge your own path in work and life.

GENRE
Biographies & Memoirs
RELEASED
2015
January 29
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
272
Pages
PUBLISHER
Penguin Publishing Group
SELLER
PENGUIN GROUP USA, INC.
SIZE
6.5
MB

Customer Reviews

PHallP ,

Great book by a great writer/director & entrepreneur

Loved the books, shows what it takes to succeed in this tough industry. Also love his movies most of them at least

Rafael Mendoza ,

Inspiring...is an understatement!

Such a well written book...you find yourself going through every step of the roller coaster ride of the past 20 years. I met Mr. Burns back in Toronto for the showing of "sidewalks"...true gentleman. He was inspiring to me then and to this day I look forward to his films. Thank you for sharing your story with us filmmakers that sometimes need a little motivation to stay on course and see our dreams through.
Tomorrow is Day one for me to get back to chasing down my dream.

Vagiginitis ,

Fantastic read

Fantastic book written with a honest approach. - Very entertaining as well. And great author event when it came out feb. 5th in NY.

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