Kelley Baker

Kelley currently resides in Portland, Oregon. He has a daughter, Fiona, whose mother is novelist, Karen Karbo.

Following his work on Good Will Hunting, Kelley financed his first feature film, Birddog (1999), the story of used car salesman, Harv Beckman, operating in a trashy part of Portland.[5] It opened the 2000 São Paulo Film Festival in Brazil, and one critic referred to Kelley’s style as "Bruce Springsteen meets David Lynch". The movie is notable for its focus on the former city of Vanport, Oregon, which was destroyed by floods in 1948.

The Gas Cafe (2001) has been called "an old Twilight Zone episode, that has collided with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot". The movie was shot in Portland, Oregon over an eight day period on a budget of $4000, funded entirely by unemployment checks.[3]

Kicking Bird (2005) is Baker’s 3rd feature film which tells the story of a 17-year-old high school student, Martin "Bird" Johnson.[3] Shot digitally, the movie was completed for under $5,000. The Runner’s Gazette says, "Kicking Bird Kicks Butt!"

Baker was the recipient of a Western States Media Arts Fellowship (1997) as well as grants from the SOROS Fund (2000), The Collins Foundation (2000), the Oregon Arts Commission (1993), Pioneer Fund Emerging Documentary Filmmaker grant for his film Criminal Justice (1985), Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust (1984), The Maurie Clark Foundation (1984), and a technical assistance grant from RACC (2004). Baker has completed two documentaries for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Juvenile Justice Office of the Department of Justice (1999).[3]

The Stirling Art Centre at Macrobert University in Stirling, Scotland, ran a retrospective of Kelley's work in 2006. The Pacific Film Archives and The Northwest Film Center have hosted a retrospective of Baker's short films.[3]

Baker was the sound designer on six feature films directed by Gus Van Sant, 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 Julianne Moore. He was the picture editor and sound designer on Will Vinton's The Adventures of Mark Twain, Meet the Raisins, and four Claymation Specials for CBS.[3] He has also worked with Roger Corman as Assistant ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) Mixer on Humanoids from the Deep in 1996.[2]

As proprietor of Angry Filmmaker, Baker tours the United States and United Kingdom teaching about indie filmmaking at workshops and showing his films to audiences at art house theaters, colleges, universities and media art centers. Baker has appeared in over 200 cities and 350 college and media arts venues.[3] In the last six years, some of the locations Kelley has spoken at include: USC Cinema, Macrobert University in Stirling, Scotland, University College, the Dublin Institute of Technology both in Dublin, Ireland, Rochester Institute of Technology, Columbia College, Depaul both in Chicago, Illinois, 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle, Washington, Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, Blinding Light Cinema in Vancouver, British Columbia, Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, Reel Women, University of Texas both in Austin, Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Desert Reel Film Festival in Midland, Texas, Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee, Indie Memphis in Tennessee, Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, Capri Theatre in Montgomery, Alabama, the Artsfest Film Festival (as keynote speaker) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association both in Pennsylvania, Proxy Theatre in Northampton, Pennsylvania, the West Virginia Filmmakers Guild in West Virginia, Madlab Theatre in Columbus, Ohia, Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio, Nightengale Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wichita State University in Kansas.[3]

Baker is the author of The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Making the Extreme No Budget Film released in 2008. He is has also written the books From Arrah Wanna To Mule Shoe, Dennis Barton is a Bastard, and Road Dog, which was a focus on Kelley’s work peddling his movies across the United States.[8]

Kelley has appeared on the podcasts Getting Work to Work, Film Trooper, and Beyond Your Imagination where he discusses his career and approach to low budget filmmaking.[9][10]

In 2021, Kelley appeared on the fifteenth episode of The Ghost of Hollywood where he would revisit his work with Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, and Will Vinton. During the interview, Kelley explains that it was his daughter, Fiona, who would suggest he accept work on Haynes’ film, Far from Heaven, after the two watched a videotape Haynes had delievered.[11][12]

Baker is producing and directing Dangerous: Kay Boyle, a feature documentary chronicling the life of the woman called "the most dangerous woman in America" by S. I. Hayakawa in 1967.[13] This work in progress was featured at the Independent Feature Film Market in New York.

Baker is also directing The American Dream: A Work in Progress 2006-07. He has spent two years, interviewing people across the country about the American Dream.[3]

Baker attended the University of Southern California. He received a BA (1980) and an MFA (1982) in Film Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and did post graduate work at the American Film Institute (1989)