Richard J. Johnson
Joystick Member
I don't know about all that. But I just watched your trailer and Gotdamn I miss my MPC2000!
It's possible...however, don't do it if you don't think you'll be able to compete with the 100K - 300K range films in terms of production quality as it sure won't garner much attention to your writing.
I began producing and directing films in order to create a career for myself as a screenwriter and the good news is it worked (I get work as a writer and have sold scripts, etc. but still have miles to go). Still most people in my area look at me as a Producer since I do now take gigs as one, my main goal is to still be a successful screenwriter.
However, for your writing ability to be properly evaluated, the film from your screenplay must be adequately presented with competent production value and performances. Otherwise, nobody will "see through" bad quality to your script.
I know from experience, anything amatuer about a project paints the entire project as amatuer. Bad sound, bad lighting, etc...easily invites critics to going further and criticizing the writing & acting (mostly if they were being honest, unfairly, in my opinion). Believe me, there's nothing worse than seeing someone trash a project you wrote because of terrible CGI and other technical issues that devolves into comments about hack writing and bad acting.
Therefore, from the outset, I caution you NOT to attempt it if you don't have the skill-set to pull it off very well. Especially if it's meant to be a showcase for you as a writer.
However, that said...yes, it can be done.
There's a ton of caveats though. The script DOES determine the budget. How many pages to shoot? How many locations to secure? How many actors to cast? How many stunts? How many props? All of it CAN translate to costs.
For instance, the food budgets being discussed here in this thread are not even CLOSE to the money we spent just on food for our recent Micro-Budget Feature film "Battle" (www.battle-movie.com check the trailer). Why? We hoped that having a bare-bones guerilla crew would help us out in that department ('cuz grips can eat), but we had a large cast (and extras eat too, and we don't treat 'em like 2nd class citizens on a set like the bigger shows do since we don't pay our extras) which were fed decently despite our miserly ways. So, the people talking 2K for catering and craft services for a FEATURE must be really cheap suckas
Some pay goes a long way. Again, we don't want to see a film that looks like 10K...it can cost that but don't let it look like 10K. And some key paychecks can upgrade your production value exponentially. So, find out who can do it and get them to sign on for a small token and some back-end.
Actors...be sure they're the best you can get...keep looking until you've got the right ones for all the roles. Don't cast on look, cast on talent (and charisma)...and again, you may need to give a little here too.
So, you see where this leads. More money, and it adds up quickly.
The best place to begin though goes back to the script. Is it shootable on a bare bones budget? If so, you've got a shot at it.
Do you have the knowledge to properly break down the script and schedule it accurately?
Don't get caught in the classic two scenarios.
1) The money goes THIS FAR...5 weekend shoots, 3 days each...and your script really needs 7 weekends, the last 2 can be 2 days each. You end up cutting things you wanted (and NEEDED) to shoot just to make it through the shoot in the finite time you have available. So your editor tries valiantly to piece a puzzle together without all the parts.
2) You shoot and shoot and shoot...run out of money...put it on hold to get more money, then shoot and shoot and shoot...each delay increasing the chances that something goes wrong with personnell not to mention the continuity is severely compromised, etc. Projects like this usually last way longer than the enthusiasm for them does.
So, keep evaluating it and be honest with yourself about the prospects.
Good luck,
Martin
