John Cassavetes took acting jobs he hated to finance films he loved. The Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby, The Fury—paychecks that funded his independent features. His first film, Shadows, cost $40,000 and was shot with natural light on New York streets with a mostly non-professional cast. No studio would touch it, so Cassavetes became his own studio. Every film after was made the same way: earn money acting, spend it directing. Cassavetes made ten films with his wife Gena Rowlands, including A Woma