First Time Director

by Gil Bettman should be THE bible to every novice director dreaming of breakout. I've been on too many indie/student productions where everything that can go wrong, did go wrong, ended up being disappointments for everyone involved because the directors were unprepared or uninformed. Every aspiring director should study this book front ot back and measure himself up because making a movie involves more than shooting stuff with cameras.

This book is also invaluable to other participants in a film production because it provides you with an insight how a director works and reasons for his "madness". For an example, an actor would gain insights to the demands of a director on the set, even though that demands may seem unreasonable to the actor. Or an editor, like yours truly, can collaborate with the director more efficiently and creatively. You don't have to read the whole book for this as Mr. Bettman wisely included a summary at the end of every chapter, even though I strongly encourage to read the whole chapter pertaining to your profession.

"The director is responsible for everything, even that which he has no control over." is the mantra that every director needs to remember in the process of making a movie. It's not an easy job, unlike a popular image of a director sitting in his director's chair calling shots. But this book makes it a lot easier, by informing the seemingly impossible tasks that befall upon a novice director. I wish I had this book when I was in film school, and it may have led me to a different sort of path in this industry.