The legendary Roger Corman is America’s proto-independent filmmaker, having produced literally hundreds of films and directed dozens more, most of them genre films made under a “fast, cheap and profitable” model that still offers guidance for new filmmakers everywhere. And while Corman is best known for films made during an earlier independent era, one in which regional distribution circuits and drive-ins offered screens for movies made far away from Hollywood, Corman is still innovating — and monetizing. Corman’s Drive In is his VOD YouTube channel, where, for $3.99 a month, you can dip into his vast library and sample films like Rock and Roll High School, Swamp Woman and Strip Teaser.
Aside from the still prolific nature of his filmmaking — hisSharktopus vs. Werewolf premiered last month on the SyFy Channel — Corman is known for discovering talent. Early directors of Corman pictures included Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Francis Ford Coppola, all of whom took something away from the Corman School of Cinema.
On August, 22, Corman will be appearing at the Anthology Film Archives in New York to screen his 1959 horror comedy, A Bucket of Blood. In the below interview, conducted in 2013 but appearing here for the first time, Corman distills his various experiences and insights into ten lessons for producers and directors making films of all kinds. MORE...
