Jaime Brandon Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Hello talented individuals of cinematography.com! I am creating this post to get an idea how much it would cost to shoot a Short Film. Currently, I am a struggling actor in NYC looking to follow in the footsteps of Stallone (Rocky) and Vin Diesel (Multi Facial) by creating a great film for Film Festival recognition. The film is a comedy and the script is 29 pages. I'm dotting the last i's and crossing the last t's to prepare it for the Library of Congress for Copyright purposes. I am planning to submit to SAG, so it will be 35 mins or less. I am sending out this post early, so I'll have an idea what costs I will be looking at. Everything will be done with my own money, so I have to save up to get to this point (unless someone out there knows any producers who may be willing to back the film upon reading the script). Here is what I require: -An ENTIRE crew: everybody from A-Z! I would be responsible for finding the cast and makeup artist, but anyone associated with the filming aspects would be needed. -I have a Directorial vision, but would need an experienced Assistant Director to help run things and bounce ideas against. This may be on me to find, if so, no problem... Please indicate if you have affiliations with an editing department. -I would need 2 cameras: an outstanding cinematic camera (like the Red), as well as an "audition" type of camera (not sure what type these are, but they are closer to documentary style than cinematic). This is my first film of any kind, so I have lots to learn. I encourage you to treat this post with the utmost sincerity. Along with prices, I also invite you to send samples of your reel, as I will keep tabs on this post as I go through the process. Not sure if this is important, but there will be 5 locations used: an apartment room, a bar, a park, an office, and an audition room. I estimate the filming to take no more than 5 days. If you are still reading, let's make magic! If there are any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. Thank you, -Jai Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted September 29, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted September 29, 2009 You may do better if you post this in the "production dept." forum at the very bottom. That dept. would include anyone interested in scheduling and budgeting films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Vogt Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 May I suggest possibly cutting down on the script a little. I am under the impression that most film festivals wont accept short films over 20 minutes, 15 for Cannes, including credits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Brandon Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 You may do better if you post this in the "production dept." forum at the very bottom. That dept. would include anyone interested in scheduling and budgeting films. Thanks Chris, will do... May I suggest possibly cutting down on the script a little. I am under the impression that most film festivals wont accept short films over 20 minutes, 15 for Cannes, including credits. Hey Rob... I thought about that myself as I would have loved to be able to submit it to Cannes, but there is no room to throw out story/dialogue - most other film festivals, including Sundance and Tribeca, are fine with films 30 mins in length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted October 1, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2009 Hey Rob... I thought about that myself as I would have loved to be able to submit it to Cannes, but there is no room to throw out story/dialogue - most other film festivals, including Sundance and Tribeca, are fine with films 30 mins in length. There's always room. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Matthew W. Phillips Posted October 1, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2009 There's always room. ;) Chris is right on...you will benefit greatly from cutting the script down...shorts really need to "cut the fat out" and you will also spend less money shooting a shorter script. Less time, less film stock (unless you shoot digital, then less rental fee), less days of feeding people. Fests may ALLOW certain time thresholds but they PREFER less than 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Justin Hayward Posted October 1, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2009 Fests may ALLOW certain time thresholds but they PREFER less than 10. It's true because most shorts that work tend to be totally different beasts than features. They usually set up the concept/conflict immediately, and then deliver a clever or thematic solution shortly. That’s why a lot of shorts need already established characters (but not clichés) we’ll quickly recognize. Like, “lonely old man” or whatever. There are the occasional “long” shorts that win big at Sundance or Tribeca or wherever. I’ve seen them. They’re the ones with the end credits longer than “Star Wars”. But, I’ve never seen one without a screaming theme and/or cause the festival programmers thought would be beneficial for the public to see as those films take up almost a third of their shorts hour and half to two hour program. In other words, I’ve never seen a “long-short-comedy” at a big film festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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