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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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INDEPENDENT ED

Todd Gold Edward Burns

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

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 25, 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 (including She’s the One, Sidewalks of New York, and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas), while also acting in big budget Hollywood movies like Saving Private Ryan, hit tv shows like Entourage, and pioneering a new distribution network for indie filmmakers online and with TV’s On Demand service.

Inspired by his 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 box office receipts are often all that matter. He recounts stories of the lengths he went to in order to finance his films, how he found rising stars—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, and working as if you’re just starting out.

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. The book will feature anecdotes about Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, and Tom Petty, just to name a few. Finally, Burns is set to star in the new TNT series, Public Morals, which premieres in 2015 (he’s also writing, producing, and directing it!).

Edward Burns is a writer, director, and actor. In 2015, he will star in the TNT series Public Morals. He lives with his family in New York.
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Book

Published 2015-01-06 by Gotham

Book

Published 2015-01-06 by Gotham

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Interview Read more...

The Brothers McMullen filmmaker prides himself on his ability to pitch, making it ”feel like I was telling a story while sitting at the bar with a beer in my hand.” Fortunately, that’s also the easy tone of his memoir, which focuses on his hardscrabble moviemaking career after his initial brush with success 20 years ago. Read more...