Frank D. Gilroy is a compulsive diarist who wrote I Wake Up Screening! while he made four independent feature films--each accorded three stars in Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide--witha total investment of two million dollars (for all four films!).
These intimate logs of the making of Desperate Characters, Once in Paris, The Gig, and The Luckiest Man in the World show clearly that a film school that doesn't include in its curriculum discussions of negotiating with the Teamsters and of raising money as independent producers is leaving out vital parts of the filmmaking process.
Because Gilroy wrote the scripts, raised the money, assembled the production team, directed, opened each of the four films, and even ventured into the murky world of distribution, I Wake Up Screening! is a vast repository of information about filmmaking in general and independent filmmaking in particular. It is not recommended, however, for anyone who wishes to preserve a fairy-tale notion about feature filmmaking. When Gilroy first considered publishing these logs, his wife encouraged him. "Do it," she said. "If it stops one person from following in your footsteps, it will be worthwhile."
About the Author :
Frank D. Gilroy is a playwright, novelist, television writer, screenwriter, director, and independent filmmaker. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize (for The Subject Was Roses), an Obie (for Who'll Save the Plowboy?), and a Silver Bear (for Desperate Characters) from the Berlin Film Festival. A member of both the Writers Guild and Directors Guild of America, Gilroy is past president of the Dramatists Guild, of which he is a lifetime council member.
Review :
"The trials and triumphs of raising interest in a project, and then raising capital, are chronicled with acerbic wit amid insight. Mr. Gilroy 's anecdotes make a fascinating read, and give fair warning to all who might venture into film production."--Academic Library Book Review
"The most vivid character to emerge from the pen of Frank D. Gilroy may be the writer-director himself, as he appears in these charming and useful diaries chronicling film projects from 1971 to 1989. Through his eyes, it's possible to see how much can be accomplished with nerve, determination, a little BS, and a high self opinion, even in the absence of cash."--Neill Bogan, Variety
