Bare Minimum Feature Budget

Phil Rhodes · January 10, 2017

And I'd lost sleep over the fact that I have paid crew as little as several times that.

Sometimes I wonder who the fool is.

Sam Javor · January 10, 2017

If it's an inexperienced cast and crew I honestly don't feel bad about not paying them... because a lot of them would rather do a movie than another community theatre project.

In Columbus, a properly budgeted "real indie film" (ie local talent and crew) seems to cost about $150K-$300K ... a more weekend warrior/ passion film of the same quality level (and often the same people) will take about a year (of shooting) on open days but cost about $5K to $15K... with most of the expense going to food.

(older Columbus based projects for example)
I think the "Aiden 5" webseries was done for about $15K for the season
"Horrors of War" was done for under $300K

Neither really made money... but "Aiden 5" was nominated for / won a lot of awards.

But the real answer is get the script, and do a breakdown and _know_ what it's going to cost. It's always sad to see people raise money and have it still not be enough, and then rush though the project anyway while cutting corners.

Stuart Brereton · January 10, 2017

If it's an inexperienced cast and crew I honestly don't feel bad about not paying them... because a lot of them would rather do a movie than another community theatre project.

I don't see what them being inexperienced has to do with whether or not they should be paid. If you ask someone to give you their time and their labor, they deserve to be paid. Just because they'd 'rather do a movie' doesn't give you an excuse to exploit them.

Aapo Lettinen · January 10, 2017

doing a 1 or 2 day short film shoot is quite different compared to a indie feature...

it may be quite ok to have people work for free in shorts if no one else gets paid and they are doing it just as a hobby for fun.

A 20 or 30 day shoot however is too much for almost any person to do for free without considerable financial losses ( for example I don't shoot indie features anymore because just the lost work hours alone may cost me between 3000 and 6000 € and I will never get back any of it. they may also lead to missed job opportunities which may lead to incredible costs in the long run, tens or even hundreds of thousands € . I have actually turned down so many low budget indie films that they don't even ask me to participate anymore... one of the reasons is also that they seem to magically always schedule the shoots to the same days the commercial productions are shooting or when I have editing/post work to do) ,

a share of the profits is not enough if it's a small budget indie which is not likely to get any commercial distribution anyway.

Of course if one is a student or unemployed with cheap rent or living with his/her parents it might be possible to donate time to a production (if getting free lunches at least) but for people with mortgages and children and living expenses it is generally just not possible without getting paid SOMETHING. something like a 100 per day seems to be the limit for most people to work on cheap ass productions, it's either around that or completely free work (either they get paid around the minimum profitable amount OR they will donate their time for free. but working for 15 bucks a day for example is insulting for most people. paying for travel expenses and food is however always mandatory, if it's a no budget shoot the director normally pays them from his own pocket because it is the director's artsy show most of the time anyway ;) )

Heikki Repo · January 10, 2017

Filmmaking:

- If it's for fun, let's all be equals. Everyone gets a say, everyone can come and go as they wish and everyone pays for their own food and transportation. If someone is irrational enough to pour thousands of dollars to buy props and film and processing, let them do that without any expectations of paying wages as they'll never ever again see that money. Hobbies are hobbies.

- If it's for serious art, let the director/producer be rational and think the project through many times. Is there going to be an audience for this piece of art? Do others believe in it enough to even have -- at least partially -- funded it? Or is it a project that'll bring ruin to the director/producer's personal economy? Find people who believe in art and pay them what is fair and take good care of your crew. Budget accordingly.

- If it's for profit.... well, if you don't have a budget to pay everyone what is fair and possibly a bit more than that you are probably doing something wrong. Or illicit...

Does anyone watch these bare minimum budget features (unless it belongs to horror genre)?

AJ Young · January 10, 2017

If I may, I would like to share my experiences shooting features at this budget level:

Director as Producer

I believe it's totally legitimate to shoot a feature with a budget like this ($30k), but the biggest challenge as a DP will be working with the director who is also producing the film. In the same breath you'll be discussing how to cover a scene and have to talk business about hours. It becomes challenging for the DP because they essentially become the liaison between the crew (if there is one) and the producer (who is also the director). Inevitably, the DP will have to deliver bad news to the producer side who won't take it well and will have those negative feelings cross over into the director side and cloud their judgement or create animosity between the producer/director and DP.

As a DP, you'll be working with an individual who is being pulled in way too many directions; we all know how busy a director and producer are by themselves, imagine one person having to do all those jobs. You can't blame the person for doing this, it's the nature of the beast with budgets like this. Instead, a DP has to enter the project with an understanding what the producer/director is dealing with. Your best bet is to put your ego aside and help this person get what they need; at the end of the day, you want to walk away from this kind of project has the person who helped rather than demanded higher budgeted expectations.

Experience Level

Across the board, everyone will most likely have less (if not far less) experience than the DP, especially the director. I believe it's best to manage expectations for yourself and the director; you won't be able to get Hollywood quality set-ups because of the lack of crew, location, equipment, etc. Prep period becomes the most important part of a budgeted film like this and having a thoroughly made look book can help manage expectations on the look of the film. The DP should make it clear that prep is essential, and to have the initiative to use prep time. You won't get paid for prep, but how often do we get paid for full prep even on higher budgeted projects? ;)

I love that David shared Upstream Color; it's one of my favorite films of all time and was an artistic achievement. It was beautifully shot and worked with its limitations rather than against it because of (I would assume) a good use of prep time.

Recently, I shot a $50k feature in Illinois. The director was also the producer, but he managed to secure many if not all of our locations for free and most of the cast donated their time to the project. The key to success of this film was the understanding of the limitations of the budget early on in prep. The director re-worked the script to have simpler locations and simpler action. We agreed in prep to shoot the film in a very straight forward way (WS, OTS, OTS for roughly every scene) and made all of our days (8 total). Sure, we averaged 12-13 pages a day, but we discussed in prep that block shooting our scenes would optimize our time on set (and it did).

Crew

At budget levels like $30k or similar, you'll be lucky to have crew. And if you do get a crew, it'll most likely be their first time on set. For films at this size, your cinematography becomes dependent on your management skills and less on your artistic skills. Creatively getting what you need with the tools and labor you have separates the children from the adults; it'd be nice to do a big lighting set up, but can you actually manage a novice crew through such a set-up?

If the budget does allow for more experienced crew members at a relatively decent rate (per say $175/day), you'll still have the risk of losing them once a higher paying gig comes around. Another feature I did had seven different 1st's because the rate was $175/day. Each one of them got a higher paying gig and left the project. At that rate, you'll have to rely more and more on your management skills of labor because the essential portion of your camera team keeps changing!

End Delivery Format

Whenever I'm offered to shoot a feature of this size, I always ask in the interview what their intended distribution will be. The Illinois feature, for example, wanted to release directly on the web. Knowing what your final product will be will not only help you decide the camera/resolution, but it will help you decide on the type of lighting you will need to do, the types of compositions, etc.

Furthermore, you'll know what to expect for the post-production pipe-line. Will there be a colorist? Will the DP have to color the film? Will they even do a color grade?

It would be nice to shoot RED Raw, but keeping management in mind, will you be able to download the media yourself in the inevitability of no DIT? Will you trust the editor to use that LUT you created? Maybe a DSLR will be more manageable for a one-man-band crew instead of an Alexa? I recommend working yourself backwards from the final product and know precisely what the expectations from the director and producer will be. From there you'll be able to more accurately decide on what equipment and crew you will really need.

Inexperienced Actors

You'll be lucky to get anyone who is a full time professional actor with budgets like this. Your best bet is to have decent coverage of every scene; allowing lines to be fed off camera and a way to cut around awkward performances that will save the film. The coverage will feel very plain, but no one will notice great photography if the performances are lousy.

A master shot will be your best friend, but you'll only need two takes at most. The coverage will save the day and you want, in my experience, as many takes as the director needs. With that in mind, lighting your coverage should be quick to maximize the amount of takes. Plan accordingly and expect that there will be no perfect take, but perfect moments from many takes.

Sound

Your sound guy/gal will probably be as equally experienced as you, but they'll be severely understaffed. They'll be used to it, but they'll also be moving slower. Furthermore, the director will most likely want lavs on all of the actors plus a boom, but there won't be enough lavs, so changing them will eat up more time. Talk to sound at the beginning of the day on the plan of coverage and see if it needs to be rearranged for lav placement/replacement. It's not quick to change lavs.

You'll most likely NOT have a script supervisor as well, which compounds on the complexity of sound: keep an eye on those packs and constantly stay in touch with the sound guy/gal on frame lines, blocking, etc. Sound often gets rushed on these budget levels and helping them out as much as possible will help YOU out more than you think.

Finally, a scratch track will go a long way in post production; the built in mics on DSLR's are shitty, but good enough for a scratch. Plus, you'll be able to do playback on set much easier, and trust me, the director will want playback often. No sound on playback will add to the frustrations of an already stressed director/producer.

Data Management

I can't sugar coat this, you'll most likely be doing the data management. Downloading (video and audio), backing up, and checking footage will be your job as the DP. If you have a 1st AC, then maybe they can do it, but the reality is you'll still most likely be the one doing it. With your own laptop too.

Furthermore, you'll have to advise production on what size of hard drives, how many, and you'll have to reach out to the editor (if there is one yet) on the organization and desired codec. You can put your foot down to a certain degree on what you can do, but the reality is that you will have to download, back up, and check that footage.

Final Thoughts

Be a team player. Movies at this budget level aren't about you, they're about the finished product. Check your ego at the door and help this production be a success. Don't produce, but don't demand. Get an understanding of where they are in terms of prep and lend advice when asked, but never try to help produce. It's not your movie.

You may get some good reel footage, hell even a decent scene, but your reward for a project like this is a great review from the director. Make them happy and you'll have an excellent reference on your resume for a completed feature with a satisfied director/producer.

I hope I didn't blab for too much! I just wanted to chip in my experiences shooting low budget features like the original post was mentioning.

Again, I HIGHLY recommend everyone to watch Upstream Color. It's definitely weird, but beautiful and inspiring.

Jon O'Brien · January 10, 2017

Clever script choice would be a big factor to working within that 30K budget. I don't know what budget the Bicycle Thieves by De Sica had but the script was a perfect choice - very few actors needed, and not all that much dialogue with a lot of visual action telling the story, and 'mood'/atmosphere from facial expression etc, and just the background sounds of the city and people going their way doing their thing sort of partially telling the story. And the requirements of the script didn't call for highly-experienced actors. Of course, De Sica was some kind of genius and part of that was having an excellent eye for talent. He picked inexperienced actors who turned out to be marvellous in their roles. Sure, a big part of that was no doubt what they call "luck".

Jon O'Brien · January 10, 2017

Also, a lot of it was shot almost like a documentary, on the street. Lighting wouldn't have cost much. Maybe just some reflectors needed to light shadows etc.

Michael LaVoie · January 10, 2017

A 25 day schedule is very generous for a budget of $30K. I would suggest cutting the schedule in half or double the budget. Do 2 weeks, breakneck weeks but you'll be able to afford at least a splinter crew (assuming they're friends who do you a solid.)

Even at 12 days, you can maaaaybe do it if you really go through the shotlist and cut absolutely every nonessential insert and cutaway, establishing shot etc. Just get the main business with the main talent. Leave everything else to pickups or a 2nd Unit to do later on. Also, as many oners as possible. Eliminate nonessential coverage.

Keep the lighting package very tiny and schedule day for day, night for night as much as possible. Do not allow the schedule to reverse that as it always takes more time, crew and gear.