This excellent indie film related panel consisted of the following people:
- Meghan Scibona: a producer/director from Small Media Extra Large
- Jason Nunes: whom I recognized from a similar panel last year a wrtier at Small Media Extra Large.
- Felicia Day: the creator of the web series “The Guild”
- Kevin Sullivan: producer Asia Minor Productions
- Michael Nigro: writer/director Partially Submerged
Tips to go from no budget to low/high budget?
- Nigro-There’s no paradigm on how to get money. Networking is extremely important. There is money to be had, but you have to pound the pavement. Know the value of a good trailer, people want to see something that pops, they don’t want to listen, they want to see.
- Day-work begets work. People were willing to donate to her sho via a pay pal link, and eventually got approached by people who were willing to pay her to do the show
- Nunes-We have day jobs that make us money, but we do passion projects on the side. This is the reality of indie filmmaking,
- Day-You need sound people. Get a boom and someone who knows how to use it.
More tips on how to go from no budget to low budget?
- Sullivan-Get someone who knows how to frame a camera
- Nigro-Figure out what your weakest point is and find someone to fill that
- Nunes-be willing to let go and allow people to be part of the process, can be scary for auteurs
- Day-Kill the auteur, everyone’s contribution is important.
What’s a waste of money?
- Sullivan-Not planning, money will go flying out of your pocket.
- Nunes-If you’re not willing to put up with working in a different style.
- Day-Makeup artists. A dolly-no one knows how to set it up, no one knows how to do the shots.
Do you guys write for what you have?
- Nunes-If i’m actually gonna produce something you have to take into account what you have. Add that into your writing process.
- Sullivan-write the best story you wanna write and try to go find it.
Felicia Day, how did you get your show sponsored by Microsoft?
- Day-Its like building a community, tell people about show, soft sell, think as an audience member.
When do you turn down money?
- Nunes-Listen to your gut.
- Nigro-When you’re making a low budget film your goal is to make your next film.
- Nunes-You can do you’re passionate about
Define low budget
- Sullivan-At my day job-under 2 million, personal-half mill. Its all relative, $4,000 goes a lot farther in Austin than in LA or NYC.
- Nigro-Anything outside the studio system is low budget.
- Day-Web video is very low budget, its all about what story you want to tell.
On the new media landscape
- Day-Studios aren’t making money on Hulu. We’re in a weird transition phase, buts its also a very interesting time. The ad dollars haven’t caught up yet. Web video is growing because people want more control over their products.
- Nunes-The old way of media production doesn’t work anymore.
- Scibona-People approach me and say they’re creating just for the web
- Day-I’m inventing as I go along, experiment, tell the best story.
- Nunes-The internet now is like early tv was.
Marketing your film
- Nigro-A huge mistake people make is not putting marketing into the budget, and film festivals, etc.
- Scibona-Think of your film as a jar of spaghetti sauce
- Nunes-Think of hooks that can become marketing stratagies
On lighting
- Nigro-I shot a feature in black once.
- Sullivan-If you can’t afford real lights, go to home depot. Do whatever you can to add to your story.
- Day-the gaffer is always my best friend on my shoots.
Permalink
Really interesting post, especially the video on Day. She was so energetic and dynamic….definitely my panel favorite!
Permalink