True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking

Don Coscarelli

Oct 2018 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Don Coscarelli

About this audiobook

This program is read by the author.

From Don Coscarelli, the celebrated filmmaker behind many cherished cult classics comes a memoir that's both revealing autobiography and indie film crash course.

Best known for his horror/sci-fi/fantasy films including Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-tep and John Dies at the End, now Don Coscarelli’s taking you on a white-knuckle ride through the rough and tumble world of indie film.

Join Coscarelli as he sells his first feature film to Universal Pictures and gets his own office on the studio lot while still in his teens. Travel with him as he chaperones three out-of-control child actors as they barnstorm Japan, almost drowns actress Catherine Keener in her first film role, and transforms a short story about Elvis Presley battling a four thousand year-old Egyptian mummy into a beloved cult classic film.

Witness the incredible cast of characters he meets along the way from heavy metal god Ronnie James Dio to first-time filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. Learn how breaking bread with genre icons Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter and Guillermo Del Toro leads to a major cable series and watch as he and zombie king George A. Romero together take over an unprepared national network television show with their tales of blood and horror.

This memoir fits an entire film school education into a single audiobook. It’s loaded with behind-the-scenes stories: like setting his face on fire during the making of Phantasm, hearing Bruce Campbell’s most important question before agreeing to star in Bubba Ho-tep, and crafting a horror thriller into a franchise phenomenon spanning four decades. Find out how Coscarelli managed to retain creative and financial control of his artistic works in an industry ruled by power-hungry predators, and all without going insane or bankrupt.

True Indie will prove indispensable for fans of Coscarelli’s movies, aspiring filmmakers, and anyone who loves a story of an underdog who prevails while not betraying what he believes.

Praise for True Indie:

"A smart, insightful and entertaining look at the bizarre roller coaster life of an indie director. If you don’t love this book... you’re already dead.” — Rob Zombie

“A must-read for fans of horror, lovers of independent cinema and people who respect tenacity, determination and perseverance. True Indie is a charming, entertaining and insightful look at the life and work of a bold and brazen filmmaker. It hits the mark like a speeding, double-spiked chrome ball.” — J.J. Abrams

Ratings and reviews

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About the author

Independent and award-winning filmmaker Don Coscarelli was born in North Africa and raised in Southern California. Long before he was old enough to attend film school, his short films, made with the help of neighborhood friends in his hometown of Long Beach, California, were winning prizes on television. At the age of nineteen, Coscarelli became the youngest filmmaker to have a feature film distributed by a major studio when he sold Jim the World's Greatest. He is best known for the Phantasm films, which have spawned a rabid cult of fans around the world. Don also wrote and directed The Beastmaster, Bubba Hotep, Kenny & Company, and Survival Quest. Coscarelli has won numerous awards for his films including a Bram Stoker award, HBO’s Best Screenplay Award for comedy, and the Hollywood Horror Film Award. He was inducted into Fangoria Magazine’s Hall of Fame in 2004.