KELLEY BAKER BIO

Angry Filmmaker Kelley Baker has written and directed three fulllength features.

KICKING BIRD (2005) is the story of Martin "Bird" Johnson, a 17 year old white trash high school kid who runs. With his Mother in jail, his father gone, one brother in a work camp and his bitter grandfather beating him, there is nothing else to do but run! One day the manipulative high school cross country Coach sees Martin out run his entire team and figures that Martin may be his ticket to a college coaching position. On a budget of $5000 and an 18 day shooting schedule this movie was shot in digital video. Runner's Gazette says, "Kicking Bird Kicks Butt!"

Five people collide in a bar one night, one is dead, one never lived, and the other three are lying. THE GAS CAFE (2001) was shot in digital video in 8 nights. It was made for $4000 and funded entirely on Unemployment checks. This movie has been called "an old Twilight Zone episode, that has collided with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot".

BIRDDOG (1999) tells the story of Harv Beckman, a used car salesman in a trashy part of town who accidentally comes in to possession of a rare 1948 Kaiser automobile, which leads to some disturbing revelations about the facts behind the 1948 Vanport, Oregon flood which destroyed an entire city. Portland, Oregon is the backdrop of this film that explores racism, greed, and class in a very corrupt city. Throw in the local Kiwanis Club and you have a very odd unpredictable film. One critic referred to Kelley's style as "Bruce Springsteen meets David Lynch". This film opened the 2000 Sao Paulo Film Festival in Brazil.

Kelley Baker is well known for working with other people. He was the sound designer on six of Gus Van Sant's feature films including, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, GOOD WILL HUNTING, and FINDING FORRESTER. He designed the sound on Todd Haynes feature film, FAR FROM HEAVEN, with Dennis Quaid and Julieanne Moore. He was an Editor and a Sound Designer for Will Vinton's The Adventures of Mark Twain, and on four Claymation Specials for CBS.

Kelley also wrote and directed 8 short films which have aired on PBS, The Learning Channel, Canadian and Australian television. His films have been shown at Film Festivals like London, Sydney, Annecy and Edinburgh, Sundance, Chicago, Mill Valley and Aspen.

Kelley is also producing and directing DANGEROUS: KAY BOYLE, a feature documentary chronicling the life of "the most dangerous woman in America" (SI Hiyakawa, 1967). This work in progress was featured at the Independent Feature Film Market in New York.

To eke out a living Kelley directs commercials, corporate and educational videos. His clients have included NIKE, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Department of Juvenile Justice, Howard University, and Wells Fargo Bank.

Kelley attended the University of Southern California's "Famous Film School". He received a BA (1980) and an MFA (1982) in Film Production, and did some post graduate work at the American Film Institute (1989). This and three bucks gets him coffee at Starbucks.

In 1985 Kelley received a Pioneer Fund Emerging Documentary Filmmaker grant for his film CRIMINAL JUSTICE. He also successfully raised funds from foundations and various individuals to complete the one hour film. Thanks to aggressive distribution and it's uniqueness of subject matter and stylistic approach it is still being widely seen.

Kelley has received a Western States Media Arts Fellowship (1997), and grants from the SOROS Fund (2000), The Collins Foundation (2000),Oregon Arts Commission (1993), The Jackson Foundation (1984), Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust (1984), The Maurie Clark Foundation (1984), a technical assistance grant from RACC (2004), and has done 2 documentaries for the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Juvenile Justice Office of the Department of Justice (1999).

The Pacific Film Archives had a retrospective of Kelley's short films, and both the Northwest Film Center in Portland, and 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle have devoted entire evenings to Kelley's work.

Kelley has spent the last six years touring the US teaching his subversive brand of filmmaking at workshops and showing his films to audiences at Art House Theaters, Colleges, Universities and Media Art Centers. Kelley has driven over 70,000 miles, flew to the UK, given over 523 lectures & workshops, screened his work over 243 times, talked to thousands of students, eaten his weight in patty melts and club sandwiches, drank a swimming pool of gas station coffee and eaten five cases of antacids.

Among the locations Kelley has been to over the last 6 years include: USC Cinema, MACROBERT UNIVERSITY (Stirling, Scotland), UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, (Dublin), DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, COLUMBIA COLLEGE (Chicago), DEPAUL (Chicago), 911 MEDIA ARTS CENTER, (Seattle), EMERSON COLLEGE (Boston), BLINDING LIGHT CINEMA, (Vancouver, B.C.), EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, (Olympia), UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, (Austin), REEL WOMEN, (Austin), CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS, (Santa Fe), DESERT REEL FILM FESTIVAL, (Midland, Texas), BELCOURT THEATRE,(Nashville), INDIE MEMPHIS, ZEITGEIST MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTS CENTER, (New Orleans), CAPRI THEATRE, (Montgomery, Alabama), ARTSFEST FILM FESTIVAL, (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - Kelley was the key note speaker), PITTSBURGH FILMMAKERS, (Pennsylvania), PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENT FILM AND VIDEO ASSOCIATION, (Pennsylvania), ROXY THEATRE, (Northampton, Pennsylvania), WEST VIRGINIA FILMMAKERS GUILD, MADLAB THEATRE, (Columbus, Ohio), CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, (Ohio), NIGHTENGALE THEATRE, (Tulsa, Oklahoma), and WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY, (Kansas). The list just goes on...

Kelley is currently self distributing his short and feature films, his book, The Angryfilmmaker's Survival Guide: Making The Extreme Low Budget Film will be out in Spring 2008.