How deep do your pockets need to be - to make a quality feature film?
With one feature film under our belts, and the completion of our second short film drawing near - I sat down with the team to discuss our options for a next project. Several ideas and a few scripts were being tossed around at the time, and most of the team had strong opinions on which project they thought would be best. The two leading scripts were drastically different in content, but shared one important thing in common - they were going to cost more money than we had at the moment. To make either film, we were going to need to seek outside funding. (A prospect that, as you can imagine, none of us were excited about)
What if we were to table those ideas for now, I thought. What if we were to start over - design a project from the ground up with a budget in mind. A budget we could fund internally. The enthusiasm for this approach grew.
Why should available capital dictate what film we make next? In fact, why should budget matter at all? Can we make good films on a meager budget? Why stop at a budget we can fund internally... Could we make a quality feature film for something ridiculous, like say, One Thousand Dollars?
This project looks to prove that while a larger budget will absolutely make things easier - maybe more comfortable - possibly less stressfully ... the size of your budget will not necessarily make your film better.
Knowledge, Patience, Diligence, Vision, Talent, Planning - these things are free. If you wield them, instead of your checkbook - you can create something of the same or better quality.
We can make a quality feature film for $1000.00 ...and so can you.
Can you make every film on a budget like this? Absolutely not.
Is $1000.00 a magical figure? No. It might take you more, it might take you less.
The point is, your project does not have to be slave to your budget.
Watch us struggle to make the best feature film we can for $1000.00. Armed with only our Vision, Planning, Determination ... and ten $100 dollar bills...
