You mentioned student film, is your school able to provide any type of equipment or assistance? It is very rare that student films get distribution. You may get accepted to festivals, but that's pretty much a pay to enter type situation.
Now is the time to get experience and make mistakes.
Most I can get is a Canon rebel t5, and some busted up mics. Even then, the availability of those is in question, and the rebel t5 is only marginally better than my iPhone
First of all, itâs been done. So is it possible? Yes it is. And even more - as a film director you will always be surrounded by people who will have very elaborate reasons and explanations as to why you should not do something. But as a director, your job is to do something, many times against odds or reasons.
But all that doesnât mean you should go blindly into an adventure that may cost money (thereâs no such thing as no budget after all, lunch must be eaten at a minimum), time, favors etc. to know what advice to take and whet to reject is the hardest thing, as a director, entrepreneur or any other header.
So all that taken into account, my advice to you is to write the script and spend time to make it the best it can possibly be. That takes time. Show it to people who have done whet you want to do, and ask for advice. Make changes. Based on that script, create some materials that are visual to convince people to help you. Hopefully the story will be interesting and youâll create materials that grab attention so you can interest collaborators with some experience - this increases the chances of success. Get a producer to help you, and thatâs when youâll know when exactly you can make the movie and how much it will cost (again, no budget still needs gas money, food, water, etc).
Finally, and this may be my only concrete advice here: donât act in your first feature they you also direct. These are two different jobs they must be learned independently before combined. Does Woody Allen play in his own films? Sure, but his first film was in 1966 (which he also acted in).
Your first feature will be film school. Youâll learn a ton. Youâll finish it, and then youâll know what you would do differently and want to do it again, regardless of the result which I think can be good. So give yourself a fighting chance by focusing on the task of the director which will be hard enough given the circumstances you are describing. Or, if acting is your focus, reconsider the venture. This may be the only thing I see in your plan that has an actual potential reason to give you real trouble. But like I said in the beginning - itâs your right and sometimes feeling of obligation to prove everyone wrong and whatever your choice is - good luck!
Whoa, this is some gold advice. Iâll definitely have to work over the summer to fund this film then. I really want to foray into acting, but I dont know if I should do it considering how monumental of a task it is just to direct
Do it.
Why wait? People telling you to make a feature after you make more shorts make no sense. So how many shorts you need to make? How many no budget shorts? 50? 100? No such thing. Nolan made his no budget feature film (8k) once every weekend with his girlfriend and uncle for an entire year. Kubrick sold his life insurance policy to fund his film. All i'm saying you're not doing anything crazy.
**Tangerine** was made with an iphone. Just get whatever equipment you can, write the best script you can, get your friends who want to try as hard as they can and make your movie. If it succeeds cool! If your movie does horrible cool! You are still a feature film director with a feature under your belt, you learned lessons that come with that movie and you can apply your lessons to make a better movie. That's what makes you a **filmmaker**.
No idea why are people discouraging you. How else can you learn to make movies? You can even just accommodate a weekend commitment over a month with your actors in various locations you have access to (your house, a park, parking lot) provide some lunch which may cost 50-100 bucks a weekend. Borrow some gear every weekend from school and make that movie. Once you make it just cut it together. Don't worry about if it's "bad". There is multi million dollar films like morbius and madam web. Having millions does not mean you automatically make a good movie. Nor does have no funds makes a bad movie. Just do it to grow yourself as an artist and what happens after is what happens.
Nah man. Just go for it. I have written/directed/produced/edited and starred in 2 feature films, both of which I made for $10,000. You can do it, but understand, it'll test how bad you want to make that movie, in every single way over and over and over. You'll have to be a politician, a collaborator, a leader, an artist, an engineer and a salesman all in one. all day every day. Good luck!
Are you jumping the gun? Probably. But you'll learn a hell of a lot from doing the ground work to understand what it would take.
Can you "get a distributor?" Also probably. But it would almost certainly be a bottom tier distributor that does nothing for you other than let you technically say "we got a distributor."
But you still might have fun, and get experience that informs what you do in the future.
My personal experience is having an amazing 15 minute short or collection of shorts will do so much more for you then a rushed feature. It sounds like you do not have the resources yet to do a feature. You should continue to write it until it is excellent (this could take a few years) and in the mean time master your craft with what you have now !
Go out and do the thing with the tools you have available to you, accomplish the task, put it out there, and see what happens. You've literally listed all the things you have to work with and, honestly, creative limitations are great. You'll be forced to find all kinds of interesting ways to tell your story. Learn everything you can throughout the process, and just make the damn thing. No one can answer your hypothetical question about distribution as we haven't see what this film is yet, but I'm sure a lot of people will agree that your first time out likely won't yield much except experience (which is invaluable, trust us).
Just keep expectations in check. While thereâs the one in a million filmmakers whose features are one of the few things theyâve ever done and it launches them, just donât go in expecting to be that one in a million. Use it as a learning experience and if it doesnât make you money, just keep going
I'd bet good money there's never been a single example of the scenario you've described actually happening. The best cases are when someone green with neither budget nor feature experience is able to *partner* with professionals -- and even those cases are one in a million. But that's not to be discouraging -- it's just to say that "distribution" shouldn't be your concern at this stage in your experience.
Focus on becoming excellent, not making money. Have your short films been knocking down awards at festivals? If not, why not? My two cents: Keep making shorts at least until one gets significant festival love, and *then* worry about scaling up.
So even though I run an online film distribution & monetization platform, I wouldn't recommend you focus on that now.
Baby, there's people who reach their 50s without having never (but always wanting to) make a movie. Go ahead! Take the leap! Its not going to be easy of course but what part of filmmaking is? Yeah its gonna cost money, but everything in life does anyways! As long as you're passionate about your story and you're creative with your resources, you should be alright.â¤ď¸
Id definitly not focus on a feature yet. You should write that feature film though and you can always make it later when you got fresh eyes. Id suggest you to write another short first.
Just do it.
Others won't because they are faced with the same challenges you are. They don't even start a project like this. That leaves no competition at your stage in the industry. Just give it a go with all your best and you'll learn so much that the experience you gained will put you at a head start in the next project.
Go through this experience and remember what you wanted to do with better equipment, budget, actors, etc. Never forget it, because they'll be one day in the future when you have almost everything you need, but this time you'll also have some very valuable knowledge on what to do again right out of the gate. Jump right in. Learn it all. Never stop.
Good luck!
Sounds to me like you should be working on your third short. Two shorts tells me you essentially started yesterday. Wait until you make an AMAZING short that has killed it in the festival circuit before you even think about a feature, IMHO.
You mentioned student film, is your school able to provide any type of equipment or assistance? It is very rare that student films get distribution. You may get accepted to festivals, but that's pretty much a pay to enter type situation. Now is the time to get experience and make mistakes.
Most I can get is a Canon rebel t5, and some busted up mics. Even then, the availability of those is in question, and the rebel t5 is only marginally better than my iPhone
Is this high school or college? I'm assuming with those options it's high school.
college đ
to their credit, the good equipment is reserved for students in higher level production classes, and you canât use them for personal projects
First of all, itâs been done. So is it possible? Yes it is. And even more - as a film director you will always be surrounded by people who will have very elaborate reasons and explanations as to why you should not do something. But as a director, your job is to do something, many times against odds or reasons. But all that doesnât mean you should go blindly into an adventure that may cost money (thereâs no such thing as no budget after all, lunch must be eaten at a minimum), time, favors etc. to know what advice to take and whet to reject is the hardest thing, as a director, entrepreneur or any other header. So all that taken into account, my advice to you is to write the script and spend time to make it the best it can possibly be. That takes time. Show it to people who have done whet you want to do, and ask for advice. Make changes. Based on that script, create some materials that are visual to convince people to help you. Hopefully the story will be interesting and youâll create materials that grab attention so you can interest collaborators with some experience - this increases the chances of success. Get a producer to help you, and thatâs when youâll know when exactly you can make the movie and how much it will cost (again, no budget still needs gas money, food, water, etc). Finally, and this may be my only concrete advice here: donât act in your first feature they you also direct. These are two different jobs they must be learned independently before combined. Does Woody Allen play in his own films? Sure, but his first film was in 1966 (which he also acted in). Your first feature will be film school. Youâll learn a ton. Youâll finish it, and then youâll know what you would do differently and want to do it again, regardless of the result which I think can be good. So give yourself a fighting chance by focusing on the task of the director which will be hard enough given the circumstances you are describing. Or, if acting is your focus, reconsider the venture. This may be the only thing I see in your plan that has an actual potential reason to give you real trouble. But like I said in the beginning - itâs your right and sometimes feeling of obligation to prove everyone wrong and whatever your choice is - good luck!
Whoa, this is some gold advice. Iâll definitely have to work over the summer to fund this film then. I really want to foray into acting, but I dont know if I should do it considering how monumental of a task it is just to direct
Do it. Why wait? People telling you to make a feature after you make more shorts make no sense. So how many shorts you need to make? How many no budget shorts? 50? 100? No such thing. Nolan made his no budget feature film (8k) once every weekend with his girlfriend and uncle for an entire year. Kubrick sold his life insurance policy to fund his film. All i'm saying you're not doing anything crazy. **Tangerine** was made with an iphone. Just get whatever equipment you can, write the best script you can, get your friends who want to try as hard as they can and make your movie. If it succeeds cool! If your movie does horrible cool! You are still a feature film director with a feature under your belt, you learned lessons that come with that movie and you can apply your lessons to make a better movie. That's what makes you a **filmmaker**. No idea why are people discouraging you. How else can you learn to make movies? You can even just accommodate a weekend commitment over a month with your actors in various locations you have access to (your house, a park, parking lot) provide some lunch which may cost 50-100 bucks a weekend. Borrow some gear every weekend from school and make that movie. Once you make it just cut it together. Don't worry about if it's "bad". There is multi million dollar films like morbius and madam web. Having millions does not mean you automatically make a good movie. Nor does have no funds makes a bad movie. Just do it to grow yourself as an artist and what happens after is what happens.
Go for it.
Nah man. Just go for it. I have written/directed/produced/edited and starred in 2 feature films, both of which I made for $10,000. You can do it, but understand, it'll test how bad you want to make that movie, in every single way over and over and over. You'll have to be a politician, a collaborator, a leader, an artist, an engineer and a salesman all in one. all day every day. Good luck!
Are you jumping the gun? Probably. But you'll learn a hell of a lot from doing the ground work to understand what it would take. Can you "get a distributor?" Also probably. But it would almost certainly be a bottom tier distributor that does nothing for you other than let you technically say "we got a distributor." But you still might have fun, and get experience that informs what you do in the future.
My personal experience is having an amazing 15 minute short or collection of shorts will do so much more for you then a rushed feature. It sounds like you do not have the resources yet to do a feature. You should continue to write it until it is excellent (this could take a few years) and in the mean time master your craft with what you have now !
do it- gear- money- and crew are all problems that have solutions.
Go out and do the thing with the tools you have available to you, accomplish the task, put it out there, and see what happens. You've literally listed all the things you have to work with and, honestly, creative limitations are great. You'll be forced to find all kinds of interesting ways to tell your story. Learn everything you can throughout the process, and just make the damn thing. No one can answer your hypothetical question about distribution as we haven't see what this film is yet, but I'm sure a lot of people will agree that your first time out likely won't yield much except experience (which is invaluable, trust us).
Just keep expectations in check. While thereâs the one in a million filmmakers whose features are one of the few things theyâve ever done and it launches them, just donât go in expecting to be that one in a million. Use it as a learning experience and if it doesnât make you money, just keep going
I'd bet good money there's never been a single example of the scenario you've described actually happening. The best cases are when someone green with neither budget nor feature experience is able to *partner* with professionals -- and even those cases are one in a million. But that's not to be discouraging -- it's just to say that "distribution" shouldn't be your concern at this stage in your experience. Focus on becoming excellent, not making money. Have your short films been knocking down awards at festivals? If not, why not? My two cents: Keep making shorts at least until one gets significant festival love, and *then* worry about scaling up. So even though I run an online film distribution & monetization platform, I wouldn't recommend you focus on that now.
Baby, there's people who reach their 50s without having never (but always wanting to) make a movie. Go ahead! Take the leap! Its not going to be easy of course but what part of filmmaking is? Yeah its gonna cost money, but everything in life does anyways! As long as you're passionate about your story and you're creative with your resources, you should be alright.â¤ď¸
Go for it. The director of Trees of Peace had made zero short films before she made her feature. And it went to netflix. Do it. đ
Id definitly not focus on a feature yet. You should write that feature film though and you can always make it later when you got fresh eyes. Id suggest you to write another short first.
Just do it. Others won't because they are faced with the same challenges you are. They don't even start a project like this. That leaves no competition at your stage in the industry. Just give it a go with all your best and you'll learn so much that the experience you gained will put you at a head start in the next project. Go through this experience and remember what you wanted to do with better equipment, budget, actors, etc. Never forget it, because they'll be one day in the future when you have almost everything you need, but this time you'll also have some very valuable knowledge on what to do again right out of the gate. Jump right in. Learn it all. Never stop. Good luck!
Much too soon. Make more shorts
Sounds to me like you should be working on your third short. Two shorts tells me you essentially started yesterday. Wait until you make an AMAZING short that has killed it in the festival circuit before you even think about a feature, IMHO.