3a Dung Beetle reading scheme Pre-order
The cover of We Make a Movie: John holds up an Oscar outside Studio Stage 3

We Make a Movie

Stephen Follows and Miriam Elia

The cover of We Make a Movie

£20

Hardback, 48 pages

Posting in December

A children's reading scheme for adults who know better.

John has a good idea for a movie. He follows his dream all the way to Hollywood and back, meeting many important people, who each take a small piece of him.

Plus postage. Posting in December.

Not for children. It looks like a reading book. It contains swearing, cocaine and a film producer.

Three of the twenty pages

The other seventeen are in the book, obviously. (Plus these three.)

Made by humans who don't understand AI

There are machines now that will paint you anything you like in about four seconds. We couldn't work out how to use them.

So we hired an actor, put him in a brown corduroy jacket and photographed him pretending to win an Oscar. Then Miriam painted all twenty pictures by hand, in gouache, over several months, as if it were 1962.

Nobody in this book has six fingers.

Fuck AI.

The actor playing John holds up a statuette at the photo shoot
An actor, being paid
The finished cover painting of John holding up an Oscar
John, not being paid
The first pencil and watercolour sketch of the coffee bar
A pencil
Miriam's printed photo collage of a coffee bar
A collage
The finished painting of the coffee bar
Several weeks later

Who did this

Miriam Elia holding a copy of We Go to the Gallery

Miriam Elia

Miriam Elia is an artist, author and publisher best known for We Go to the Gallery, her satire of the art world. Her Dung Beetle reading scheme now runs to eight books, including the lockdown hit We Do Lockdown, and has sold more than 250,000 copies since 2014.

Stephen Follows

Stephen Follows

Stephen Follows is a leading film industry analyst. Since 2013 he has published around 600 data-led studies of the film business, read by about 15,000 subscribers in 135 countries, and he consults for Guinness World Records on movie records.

Previously in the Dung Beetle reading scheme

Penguin's lawyers sent Miriam a fifteen-page letter about the first one. This is book 3a.

We Go to the Gallery1a We Learn at Home1b We Go Out1c We Do Christmas1d We Do Lockdown2a We See the Sights2b We Make a Movie3a, this one

All of Miriam's books and prints at Dung Beetle Books

Questions

When will my book arrive?

We post every pre-order in December, as soon as the books arrive from the printer in Poland. We'll email you when yours is on its way.

Is it a children's book?

No. It looks like one, which is the joke. Please don't give it to a child, unless they work in development.

Can I send it as a present?

Yes. Put their address in at checkout and add a note if you like. There's no receipt in the parcel.

Do you post outside the UK?

Yes. Postage is added at checkout.

Can I change my mind?

Yes. Cancel any time before your book is posted and we'll refund you in full. Once it arrives you have 14 days to send it back.

What is the signed artist's edition?

One hundred copies, signed. There won't be a hundred and first.

I'd like ten or more copies

For film schools, companies and wrap presents, email stephen@wemakeamovie.com.

I run a bookshop

Trade copies are available from Turnaround, our distributor.

Pre-order We Make a Movie

Hardback, £20 plus postage. Posting in December.

Pre-order the hardback48 pages, 20 paintings£20 Signed artist's edition100 copies£30
We Make a Movie£20, posting in December
Pre-order