Producing : Is it worth it to produce a short film? by Mariannjely Marval

The "trick" if there is any such thing is not to go beyond budget which you consider dispensable — I have not produced anything but walked on to a $100,000 set & my edit made it to air-time on screen which is astounding in that I have never studied film formally → You run The Making of God Spoke and it will tell you everything that you will need to know on a $3Million + project

All I produce now are shorts. You can produce a 8 - 10 min short film, using consumer grade HD DSLRs for basically the cost to feed your actors/crew a decent lunch each shooting day: A simple 2 day shoot with a 7 cast/crew is gonna cost you about $200 a day. About $400 for two days, throw in a few odds & ends and you are easily up to $500. Your first film will likely suck but the understanding, experience and education are priceless. When finished, you've got something tangible. Is it 'worth it'? You bet it is! It's the best and cheapest filmmaking course you'll ever take.

I personally do not know director or writer who has made it big before making it short...so yes, please do :)

Nicholas Jordan Thank you for the advice :)

Doug Nelson thank you for the insights! How do you go about finding a DP, light, sound, editing for that budget? Using students? I have actor friends and a director that will give his time to the project, but for the rest of the crew I'm looking about $4000.

Kiril Maksimoski :) thanks!!

if this is the life you want to do as your occupation, then yes- it is worth making shorts. Gotta make your own Luck, find your own people and rise together.

Mariannjely Marval What Doug and Kiril said. If you cannot get through a short, you certainly cannot get through a feature. It's a required step, in my view.

Mariannjey, you're in Atlanta; find out where the local filmmakers hang out & join 'em. Post notices on local school bulletin boards, Craig's List & anywhere else you can think of. Attend local film festivals... just get out there and circulate.

$4K for a first short is a lot of money, esp. since you most likely (IMO) will never earn that back. I consider shorts a sort of hands-on film school. You'll learn the craft and make connections - the same as you would in film school, but for a lot less money. But keep the expenses in the 100s, not 1,000s.

Here's how to break in from Beck and Woods (A Quiet Place):

https://www.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/dllrzo/how_to_break_in_from...

Nicholas Jordan To add to this on budget. Depending on where you are, $200 a day is not reasonable - In California, there is literally no legal way to hire a crew without paying at least minimum wage. You can style the project as a student film, but there is no legal mechanism which relieves you of that responsibility unless it truly is a volunteer and community-owned project. Because the moment there is any agreement that you get the rights to someone else's work (which you MUST have to show it anywhere), you are their legal employer. In that context, $4000 is not an unreasonable sum for a 2 day shoot, possibly 3, depending on your production design. Yes, it is still a lot of money. But it's 2021 and it's not a lot of money. My first film, in the days of actual film, was $25k and that was many many years ago.

Shadow - many of us (self included) left California for a reason: It's to expensive to live or work there. Even the big studios are sending production to other states (& offshore) because of that. She's in Atlanta - quickly becoming the East Coast version of Hollywood. My advice to her is to take advantage of that while she can.

Thank you for sharing your experiences! Def going to take all these great advices and start working! :)

Doug Nelson Mariannjely Marval Our show Esco Eats shoots in Atlanta - be careful about employment laws there that's all I will say on that - best to pay minimum wage and make sure you OWN all the rights, and avoid wrath of labor departments. As an independent film maker, I sympathize and have to deal with this on every production I work on. It's just a fact but consider it's also a fact that not paying people properly is actually theft of their labor. There is no way around that fact, not legally and not morally. It's gotta be faced.

Absolutely it's worth it to make a short film. But only after I've considered a few things: do you have the team ready and willing to go to make the best project possible? Have you thought through how you are going to market this piece (through film festivals, self-distribution, etc) to get the most exposure and bang for your buck (since you won't be getting an actual return on your investment, most likely)? This plan needs to be in place BEFORE you shoot so you can be thinking in that context.

What you want to make sure is that you learn a ton, and you come out the other side with the best calling card possible that represents your mad skills, etc. If those ducks are in a row - go for it!

I would say it is worth it to make a short film or pilot. You learn a lot about the process too. I wrote & produce my first SAG pilot in 2016. I learn a lot about doing SAG paperwork and $$$ which a good bit went for SAG fees, but next time I know.

Hi Mariannjely, YES IT I WORTH !!! I am a newbie and I just finished my 2nd short film and now I feel like a pro ..lol

I sign up with the 5 Shorts Project, it is based out of Philly where I live. They teach you everything about producing a short film. From writing a script , finding your film crew and locations, finding actors. This experience was great for me.

Here is the link to the website .. https://5shorts.org/

good luck !!!