Micro-Budget
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Independent Film: Hobby or Career? Kentucker Audley on the Eternal Question
Independent filmmaking: hobby or career? It is a question that has been on more than a few lips for years now. Though digital platforms have greatly democratized the distribution process, filmmakers are still reaping minimal financial returns on their work. Should the aspiring independent filmmaker pursue her passion wholeheartedly, or should she be pragmatic from the get go, making films as a hobby alongside a more lucrative career? Filmmaker spoke with Kentucker Audley, filmmaker, actor and proprietor of NoBudge, about the professional concerns of the modern moviemaker, and the benefits of having yet another passion project to keep you busy. […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 4, 2013 -
Six Essential Websites for the No-Budget Film Editor
Let’s face it. Being an independent filmmaker often means having to find unusual solutions to problems that most Hollywood filmmakers would just throw money at. You can’t turn around and hire a foley artist to replace those garbled or missing footsteps, or hire a 2nd unit cameraman to film a specific shot you missed, etc. In many cases, you are the one editing your film and so you’ve gotta figure out a way to make it right, and do it free or cheaply (and hopefully fast!) In my continuing quest to seek out the best resources for post-production goodies that […]
by Katie Carman-Lehach on Aug 21, 2013 -
Deadline Approaching for Biennale College – Cinema Microbudget Production Program
The deadline of October 22 is fast approaching for the Biennale College – Cinema, a new initiative open to first and second-time directors that will lead to the production of three micro-budget films. In a program led by the Venice Biennale in partnership with Gucci, 15 producer-director teams will take part in a ten-day filmmaking workshop, after which three projects will be selected for further development and production funding in the amount of €150,000. Projects must be able to developed, produced and edited within five months, and they will then premiere at the 2013 Venice Biennale. The Call for Application […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 9, 2012 -
Shooting With John: A Performance Behind The Lens
It was a hazy Saturday afternoon in Berne, New York, and a motley crew of filmmakers holding shotguns, aimed at the sky, surrounded me. My mouth was dry and I felt the mind’s eye going black while gripping my barrel. “What the hell am I doing here and who are these strangers?” Well, I was asked to join a small group of filmmakers to shoot skeet and talk shop (and sadly, not form a militia). This past year was a whirlwind tour with my first feature art/documentary, Convento, which premiered at SXSW, played a bunch of fests and was picked up […]
by Jarred Alterman on Aug 28, 2012 -
MARK RASO’S MICROBUDGET PRODUCTION DIARY: WRAP REFLECTIONS
Director Mark Raso, whose short film Under won a Student Academy Award earlier this year, is writing a series of blog entries about making his feature debut with a microbudget movie shot in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is his second dispatch. After starting principal photography on July 18th, I sat down every Sunday — our one off day per week — with the intention of writing an entry for this blog. It was not my plan to agree to do this and come up lame, but it seemed that despite my best efforts I just couldn’t finish one. Perhaps I was too […]
by Mark Raso on Aug 23, 2012 -
Shooting With John: Lest We Forget
Perhaps it was no coincidence, then, that on the morning of my return flight from LGA, my stomach peppered on too little bagel and too much coffee, I came across the tidbit of news that traffic would be jammed due to an animal convoy truck that had crashed wide open, spilling several cows to run rampant across Dallas-Fort Worth. Several had been killed in the wreckage, a few had laid down to rest, and yet an even bigger number had mustered their courage to brave the zig-zagging pattern of screeching 18-wheelers and high tail it to the fields that must […]
by Frank Mosley on Aug 14, 2012 -
MARK RASO’S MICROBUDGET PRODUCTION DIARY: PART 1
Director Mark Raso, whose short film Under won a Student Academy Award earlier this year, will be writing a series of blog entries about making his feature debut with a microbudget movie shot in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is his first dispatch. After watching an inspiring Q&A with director Mike Cahill at an IFP screening of Another Earth in February of this year, my colleague and the producer of our film Mauro Mueller turned to me and said, “Let’s do it, no matter what.” I agreed. Five months later, I find myself in Copenhagen, Denmark, two weeks out on principal photography on my […]
by Mark Raso on Jul 11, 2012 -
The Micro-Budget Conversation: The End
“Filmmaking is a visual medium. Is it a gimmick that I care about aesthetics in a visual medium? I think a well-shot film looks beautiful. I think well shot digital looks adequate. It’s simply a preference. Truth be told, I’ve always thought the idea of micro-filmmaking was something of a gimmick. How little someone spends on a project doesn’t interest me. Is The Blair Witch Project more enjoyable knowing they spent such a small amount? Should I not support the Batman movies because the budgets are excessive? I just don’t think it’s that important. The great thing about Kickstarter is […]
by John Yost on Apr 19, 2012 -
THE MICRO-BUDGET CONVERSATION: SXSW AND ITS EMOTIONAL TOLL
I am not cut out for big festivals…film or otherwise. Let’s take away the fact that large crowds disturb my calm, on top of that I am a person of extremes. I either jump in all the way, or abstain from the activity entirely. Take a person like that and just feed them beer and films…and you get the worn-out mess that is myself. Two days after the experience I’m still sick, tired, and working hard to gain a foothold on what the festival meant to me and what it means to our industry. Industry is a great place to […]
by John Yost on Mar 21, 2012 -
The Microbudget Conversation: SXSW #1
2,637. That’s the number of days it has been since I was in Austin, TX. My wife and I moved there right after working a full season at the Maine Workshops, and the moment we arrived we realized we absolutely loved the place…and there was no way we could stay. At the time (and until I’m dead it seems) I owed an incredible amount of money in school loans and 2004 seemed to be the year everyone decided to stay, or move to Austin…I considered working at Jamba Juice after two months without a job…I said “considered.” We were flat […]
by John Yost on Mar 8, 2012
