Rebel Without a Crew

Introduction
Author's Note
The Idea
I Was a Human Lab Rat
Preproduction
Production
Postproduction
Highway to Hell
The Chase
Columbia Pictures
Postproduction, Take 2
Telluride and Toronto
Postproduction, Take 3
Sundancing
El Mariachi: The Release


Epilogue: The Curse of El Mariachi
Appendix 1: The Ten-Minute Film School
Appendix 2: El Mariachi, the Original Screenplay

Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez won critical acclaim and the attention of every studio in Tinseltown with his action-packed debut feature, El Mariachi but the question remains: However did he write, direct, shoot, and edit the flick all by his lonesome and for a paltry $7,000? You ll find that out and more in this straight-talking and highly entertaining memoir-cum-moviemaking primer... you will never view an independently made movie (or $7,000) the same way again. Entertainment Weekly

There's no one in the American film business quite like Robert Rodriguez, who plays completely outside the rules imposed by Hollywood studios Given his success rate, it's clear his method works Rodriguez has long been a hero to independent filmmakers. The Daily Telegraph

"A hero to the independent film crowd." The New York Times

Only someone very young or ignorant would attempt to make a feature film with $7,000 dollars and no crew. This is because most people know such an endeavor is impossible. Not only did Robert Rodriguez create El Mariachi under those conditions but at 23 he became a Hollywood success overnight Rebel Without a Crew is the kind of book one would expect from someone who had the courage to break with convention and enough talent for it to pay off almost immediately. The Los Angeles Times