Filmmaking / Directing : No budget feature. Am I crazy? by Rob Kelly

Good Luck Rob!

I say go for it. I've been involved in a couple of no-budget features (although in post, not on set) and if nothing else I think the entire crew learned lessons about what works and what doesn't, and where to put what little money you might have.

Rob, you've got this. Have confidence in your vision, and prepare for the production well in advance. Know your locations, the crew, and have your shot list prepped with your AD.

Do it for the experience - talk the talk and walk the walk - but don't go broke or homeless making a movie. Give yourself 3 to 5 years from idea to paid $. It took us 3 years to complete a $100,000K feature movie, from idea to production to postproduction to distribution deal to money $$ paid.

btw. I love the poster

A no budget feature - yeah, you're crazy. Even a no budget student short is gonna cost something. You gotta at least feed your cast & crew.

Doug's right - no budget doesn't mean no cost. Dan's right - don't go broke or get in a hurry. James is right - extensive pre-pro is the key.

My two cents' - two things to focus on: performances and sound.

Take the time to get the right actors in the right roles. Newbie or no, find people who can nail the characters.

Do what you have to (even spend a little money) to get high-quality set sound. Room tone, correct dialogue levels, multiple channels. Audiences will suffer through bad lighting, minimal coverage, even mediocre acting - IF they can hear the dialogue and that dialogue doesn't sound like it's coming from the bottom of a soup can.

I have come across no budget shorts. A bunch of friends etc. But even there, you will have some costs. Food, as mentioned, but other materials too, costumes, props or whatever.

I also know one guy who is shooting a "no budget' feature, but he has a rich wife, and has spent a couple of hundred grand so far.

There's nothing wrong with making a low or no budget feature - just be really clear on your expectations - are you doing this for experience and build a portfolio or are you doing this with a view to selling it. If you're doing this to sell it, you need to have a very clear roadmap of where and how you're going to do that. Otherwise, you run the risk of having something completed that is incredibly difficult to distribute. Understand the challenges distributors and sales agents have - and what you can do in pre-production to make your movie stand out and marketable. Wishing you the best.

...and for how long do you want to be busy with this production? There are some low budget productions that are going on for years because they are (indeed) dependable of funding. Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for their long term energy, but I think it is hard for crew and actors.

Good way to help get future funding

Usually from my experience, no budget looks and sounds "no budget" I think it would be a waste of time to put so much time and effort into something, and it turning out mediocre, but if someone can pull it off, go for it.

Rohit Kumar I hear you. I do think that if you are either the writer or director on a 'no budget' project, you have an absolute obligation to go out of your way to promote, support and inform everyone who made the project happen. Also, as I am contemplating making a short with an amazing DP friend, I think I would also factor in paying at least a symbolic fee to everyone involved.