Kelley J. Baker (born July 20, 1956) is an American independent filmmaker, writer, and director. His three

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

feature films are ''Birddog'' (1999), ''The Gas Cafe'' (2001), and ''Kicking Bird'' (2005).

Education

Baker attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He received a BA (1980) and an MFA (1982) in Film Production from the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

and did post-graduate work at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

(1989).^{itation required/sup>
Career

Baker was the recipient of the Western States Media Arts Fellowship (1997) as well as grants from the SOROS Fund (2000), The Collins Foundation (2000), the Oregon Arts Commission
The Oregon Arts Commission is a governor-appointed body of nine commissioners who allocate grants for artists based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It receives the bulk of its funding through the National Endowment for the Arts, the state, and the Or ...
(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).

Projects with other filmmakers

He worked with Roger Corman

Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...
as Assistant ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) Mixer on ''Humanoids from the Deep'' in 1996.

Books

Baker is the author of:

* ''The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Making the Extreme No-Budget Film'' (2008)
* ''From Arrah Wanna To Mule Shoe''
* ''Dennis Barton is a Bastard''
* ''Road Dog''.

Interviews

In 2021, Kelley appeared on the fifteenth episode of The Ghost of Hollywood

''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, where he revisited his work with Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...
, Todd Haynes

Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...
, and Will Vinton

William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work a ...
.

Filmography

Feature films

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Kelley
Film directors from Oregon
American male screenwriters
Pacific Northwest artists
Artists from Portland, Oregon
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
1956 births
Living people
Screenwriters from Oregon}