Receiving the book "Confessions Of A Puppetmaster" by Charles Band with Adam Felber as a Christmas gift brought back plenty of fond memories for me. First off, it reminded me of my own experience of working with Warren Disbrow on a few of his Visual Experiences films and getting distribution through Troma Video. And second, it reminded me of how much I used to love watching the movies that were released by Full Moon, which was one of Charles Band's many ventures having to do with independent filmmaking. My favorites were "Trancers", "Subspecies," and "Puppetmaster." His movies usually were short (under 90 minutes) and with at least the three I mentioned, had many sequels.
I could picture a movie being made about his life, as it was filled with many ups and downs. For someone who practically invented the straight-to-video format, he was still able to live in a castle and own a studio lot that was connected to Dino De Laurentiis. Due to a character that Richard Moll had to play in one of his movies, you could say that Band is responsible for his bald-look, which everyone loved in a sitcom he became popular with. Actors such as Tim Thomerson, Helen Hunt and Demi Moore have appeared in his productions. Flipping through his catalog you can find a very young Viggo Mortensen.
There is also a very funny story about Gary Busey causing havoc on a set after eating all of the "cheap candy" that was required in his contract. Band worked with Gary Allen for awhile on some of his posters and marketing slogans. For example, "Ghoulies-They'll Get You In The End." Now on the surface that might not seem like much, but you have to see the poster which had a creature coming out of a toilet bowl.
Charles Band's grandfather was a popular artist, Max Band, who lived in Paris. After fleeing the Nazis, Max moved his family to Hollywood, where Charles' father caught the movie bug. Charles has worked with his dad on his own movies as well. The book is an easy read and one that is hard to put down. Any independent filmmaker would be able to relate to some of these stories. However, the book isn't just for them! It can be for a fan of the Full Moon or Moonbeam product, or it just might make you a fan.
A side note that should be mentioned is that Charles Band wanted his movies to be the "Marvel Comics" of the film industry. He even included a short piece at the end of his video tapes that were supposed to be his version of "Stan's Soapbox." He did eventually get to meet Stan Lee.