Today's independent film industry isn't independent at all, says Kelley Baker, also known as the Angry Filmmaker.

"I'm angry with the way the independent film industry works ... They all have Hollywood stars and big budgets," said Baker, who will be speaking at Dormont's Hollywood Theater Sunday. "So I stay away from the independent film movement."

Baker will lead a workshop on "Making the Extremely Low Budget Feature" at the Hollywood Theater at 2 p.m. He also will be signing his new book, "The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part 1: Making the Extreme No-Budget Feature."

Baker, the sound designer on films such as "Good Will Hunting," "Finding Forrester" and "Far From Heaven," learned the hard way that making independent movies in Hollywood is more difficult than it seems.

In making his first indie film, "Birddog," which cost $150,000, Baker went deeply into debt and is encouraging today's aspiring filmmakers to take a different route.

"My problem with all these kids going heavily into debt is that odds are the distributors won't take them," he said. "They didn't want to distribute ['Birddog'] because there were no famous people in it."

Baker has learned his lesson and has since written, directed and self-distributed two other full-length feature films, "The Gas Cafe" and "Kicking Bird." His first feature, "Birddog" will be screened at The Hollywood Theater.

"I make them inexpensively and I distribute them myself and I think that's the new wave in filmmaking," he said. "People are hungry for interesting films. Don't think you have to go the Hollywood route."

For Baker, the problem is not just the unlikelihood of finding a distributor. It's also about the artist's control.

"Even in the independent world, the directors may think they have total control, but if they don't do what the money people want, they'll get their budget cut," he said. "Distributors are not in my best interest. They make more money than I will. I think I deserve a fairer part of the pie. As artists we deserve to be compensated."

Being a truly independent filmmaker takes work that many filmmakers are unwilling to do, he said, but it's worth it.

"I'm like a punk band without punks or music. I book theaters and college universities and come out on the road. I show my work everywhere. I find an audience," he said. "To me, really good, interesting stories usually are with a cast you've never heard of, movies that are challenging, things that are not necessarily ready for a broad audience."

The public also should do its part.

"You need to support your local small theaters, local museums. That's where the new and interesting films are being shown," he said. "Go to film festivals. Check out the Internet ... It's like trying to follow indie music, you have to work a little at it."

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