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Book Review: From Reel to Deal by Dov S-S Simens
Welcome to the DOJO!
I spend a lot of time at my local Barnes & Noble. Way too much time and, if my credit card statements are any indication, way, way too much money. I wish there were a “frequent flyer” equivilent at B&N because, if there were, I’d have racked up 10,000 miles this year alone!
One section of the bookstore I frequent with an almost religious regularity is the Film/TV/Media section. At my B&N it is located right behind the Science Fiction and Graphic Novel Section, which makes it very convenient for this comic book-television-film nerd. An entire section of a store dedicated to not getting laid? I’m there!
As am indie filmmaker who has been around for a while now, one of the books that has kept popping up on my radar was “From Reel to Deal: Everything You Need to Create a Successful Independent Film” by Dov S-S Simens. If you’ve been online and seen ads or the websites for the “Web Film School” or “2-Day Film School” then you are probably already familiar with Simens. He’s the “Billy Mays” of the film instruction scene — very used-car salesman, fast talking and lots of repetition.
The back cover of From Reel to Deal
Wow, with a build up like that, I figured the insides of the 422-page book must be an incredible fount of knowledge and information. I was excited to get started and placed “From Reel to Deal” at the top of my “bathroom read” pile. Truth-be-told, I spend even more time in my bathroom than I do at Barnes & Noble. Well, a week and twelve bathroom reading sessions later, I’ve read Dov S-S Simens’ “From Reel to Deal” and wanted to talk about in here at the FilmSensei.com.
First off, I’m a bit baffled as to what Simens’ actual credentials and qualifications for writing this book are. I did a search on IMDB and found nothing on him as a director or producer. Even Googling his name in conjunction with the two films mentioned on the backcover blurb of “From Reel to Deal” only brought up some very vague mentions of the two films. From what I can tell, Simens is someone who probably took a lot of filmmaking classes in the early and mid 1980s but never really had much to do with the film industry itself as a professional filmmaker. I could be completely wrong here, but Simens doesn’t seem to exist anywhere on the information superhighway except in reference to his 2-day film school, the “From Reel to Deal” book and web school DVDs. To me it seems like he is a very good sales person who has repackaged a lot of information found for free on the internet. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just wish I had known it upfront.
I was also more than a little amused that in his first paragraph Simens lists 10-15 celebrities by name and in his second paragraph says his book does no name dropping at all.
Second, in regards to his 2-Day Film School having launched the careers of anyone in Hollywood, I find it to be a great little sound-bite with very little actual substance to it. I’m sure a lot of people have taken his 2-Day Film School workshops, but I’m not sure it qualifies him as having launched their career. When I was in 12th grade, I took a filmmaking workshop at my high school’s library. From my very hazy recollection, it was a two-hour class run by a local filmmaker whose name completely escapes me. Because I attended his class and eventually went on to work in the film industry, does that mean this forgotten film workshop launched my career? Uh…no. Sorry, Dov, it just means I attended a class and that’s all.
On to the book itself. “From Reel to Deal” is written in a style very similar to the way Simens speaks in his videos and (I assume) at his seminars. Very fast, lots of hyperbole and with an obvious tone of “I know more than you do, so shut up” to it. That tone may be a turn off for a lot of readers, especially anyone with any sort of film industry experience at all. Which kind of sums up my opinion of the book itself: if you have any experience as a filmmaker, then the book is going to be a bit redundant for you. The information is all very basic and is geared to someone just starting out as a filmmaker or a “wannabe filmmaker.” I’d label it as more of a “rah-rah” cheerleading type book to help a filmmaker just starting out get inspired to do his or her first film.
Unfortunately, the book is also aimed heavily at making films with a $200,000+ budget — and, really more of a $1,000,000 budget. His only advice for ultra low budget or microbudget films is to “cut stuff out of your budget” to get it down to whatever money on hand. In other words he’s saying “if you want to make a cheaper movie, don’t do as much stuff!” To me, that particular advice is more than a little insulting.
I can summarize for you Dov S-S Simens’ answer promised in the subtitle of his book “From Reel to Deal: Everything You Need to Create a Successful Independent Film.” The answer is “a million dollars.” That’s right, Simens’ advice and the epiphany his book reveals to you is: all you need to make a successful indie movie is a lot of money to make it with. As long as you have that you’ll be just fine.
Overall, From Reel to Deal
I can only really recommend From Reel to Deal
That’s it from the DOJO for today. I’ll be back with more tomorrow. Until then, keep shooting!
-Mat N., the Film Sensei
http://www.FilmSensei.com
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