Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes

A Guided Tour across a Decade of American Independent Cinema

By John Pierson

University of Texas Press

#66, The 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time, The Hollywood Reporter

The legendary figure who launched the careers of Spike Lee, Michael Moore, and Richard Linklater offers a no-holds-barred look at the deals and details that propel an indie film from a dream to distribution.

Pierson, a producer’s representative, explains how he has helped filmmakers with no profile at the time to get their work made, sold and seen by the world, sharing stories about Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, Moore’s Roger & Me and Linklater’s Slackers, plus Hoop Dreams, Clerks and many others. Chats with Kevin Smith serve as interstitials between chapters.

John Pierson has faithfully chronicled the American independent scene. He was there, he knows. Spike Lee

The most contentiously witty and revealing view of off-Hollywood around. Rolling Stone

Sly, knowledgeable, deeply entertaining.. . . You couldn’t do much better than to hop aboard this ten-year wild ride. Grade: A. Entertainment Weekly

John Pierson hunted down, represented, and, in some cases, financed over twenty first-time independent features by directors including Spike Lee, Michael Moore, Richard Linklater, and Kevin Smith. After writing this chronicle of that era, he created and hosted IFCtv's first original series Split Screen, a globe-trotting, magazine-format show by filmmakers for film aficionados, which eventually took him and his family to Fiji's remote 180 Meridian Cinema. When he returned, Pierson moved to Austin to teach in the University of Texas Department of Radio-Television-Film, where he’s interviewed over seventy notable industry guests in his RTF master class.