For those filmmakers, writer/directors, inventive artists who thirst for ways to break free from the standard approach to making movies, this new book from Rick Schmidt (author, "Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices, Extreme DV from Penguin/Random House) should help to initiate your own original works.
With his new 2026 feature, BREAD MACHINE, his 27th, it’s clear that Schmidt has removed the final obstacles to making a professional feature film without guardrails. SEE TRAILER at his youtube channel––FEATURE FILMS @ USED-CAR PRICES. This book in your hands details how he’s reduced the process of pre-scripting and pre-production, creating a filmmaking world where one need not worry about ‘story’ or locking down locations, because the IMPROV approach delivers the MAGIC automatically available to artists who take on the risk of “just beginning.” Shooting a camera yourself with Hi-Res DV, editing the results on computer, keeping alert for filmmatic opportunities, is the ticket to success.
Schmidt’s’s unusual IMPROV approach was proven a viable one when his 4th feature, MORGAN'S CAKE, received a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival—“A Delight,” said critic Janet Maslin. Few, back then, understood what Schmidt had actually accomplished on a budget of $15,000—a movie made up completely on the spot!
BREAD MACHINE—THE MOVIE, has upped the ante of creative moviemaking techniques, and Schmidt’s book offers you a ringside seat. You’ll get a glimpse of the production through stils taken during the five-day affair.. Yes, Rick’s son, Morgan, wields a big/expensive DV camera, but shots made by Schmidt with his 8K cellphone blended right into the final cut. Given that Rick's relatives did most the IMPROV acting–his grandkids, great grandson and daughter––plus.adult son and daughter co-producing with a couple pro-actors assisting––it legitimizes the idea that REAL movies can be made with your own family members. The book encourages, "Take your shot!"