Are you curious about the wild difference money makes when shooting a feature film? Well, we’ve got the breakdowns for you! Whether you’re working with a $10K, $100K, or $500K budget, each comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities.
Let’s start with the $10K budget. This is as much as most people have in savings or could put on a credit card (although we don’t recommend the latter). With this budget, you’ll have to cut every corner you can and only use your budget to bail you out of an emergency. You’ll be working with non-union actors and crew, shooting in under two weeks, and choosing a script that’s very contained. But don’t worry, many filmmakers start with this budget and use it as a film school to hone their skills.
Moving up to a $100K budget, you’ll have some money to work with, but you still won’t be able to pay full price for everything. You’ll be able to hire SAG actors and pay everyone something, but you’ll still need to beg, borrow, and steal everything you can. By the time you write the script, cast it, find all the locations, shoot it, post-produce it, and find a buyer for the film, a year will have gone by. $100K is real money, and people expect a return, so you’ll need to sell that movie and get that money back.
Finally, with a $500K budget, you’ll be paying union rates for your sound mixers, transportation, union members, AC, post, etc. You’ll have a bit more money to work with, but there’s still very little money for visual effects or big-name actors. You’ll need to keep it very bare bones, but at $500K-$1 million, you’ll at least be able to pay for most of what you need.
So there you have it, the breakdowns for shooting a feature film on different budgets. No matter what your budget is, there are always challenges and opportunities to be had. So go out there and make your film dreams a reality!
Other Articles
Sigma Unveils 14-24mm f/2.8 Art Lens at NAB 2018
Aputure Enhances Popular 120d LED at NAB 2018
