Making profitable films doesn’t have to be an expensive enterprise – as a new generation of L.A. moviemakers is proving.
One such success story is director Antonio James, who shot his debut feature film, “Trey the Movie,” for less than $70 and saw it earn $150,000.
Advances in technology have seen reductions in budgets and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts has reacted to the trend by offering a class focused on making movies on microbudgets, which are defined in the industry as less than $250,000 but many go way lower.
The professor teaching it, Jason E. Squire, said, “The whole process is fascinating. You can make a film right away because of the digital tools available. You can shoot a movie on your iPhone and then do all the postproduction editing on your laptop.”
Such movies generally bypass theatrical release and instead generate revenue from being screened through video on demand, online and streaming services and are promoted via word of mouth and social media.
“This is the brand-new world of maintaining power of your content, which never happened before in the movie business,” said Squire.
His students share the dream of getting a foot in the Hollywood door by showing their low-budget films can make money and then getting hired for bigger projects.
Hollywood heroes
It used to be that aspiring moviemakers idolized directors such as Steven Spielberg, famous for his many hit blockbusters. But now harsh economic realities mean they are more likely to want to follow in the footsteps of the likes of “Sin City” director Robert Rodriquez, who put his body through medical testing to raise a budget of $7,000 for his 1992 debut film, “El Mariachi,” which went on to earn $2 million.
Further inspiration comes from huge 1999 hit “The Blair Witch Project,” which launched the careers of directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, who shot it for $60,000. It grossed more than $248 million worldwide. Staying in the supernatural realm, 2009’s “Paranormal Activity,” filmed by Oren Peli on a budget of $11,000, earned $193 million globally and launched a lucrative franchise.
Such stories had a big impact on James, 31, who decided to become a filmmaker while serving in the Air Force in Kuwait. He worked on scripts during his spare time, but upon leaving the military realized he didn’t have the funding to make his Hollywood dreams a reality. He needed some clever cost-cutting measures.
To ax costs on his horror thriller, 2013’s “Trey the Movie,” filmed on his own Sony XD Cam camera, he shot many of the scenes in his Sherman Oaks home as well as in the houses of friends across Los Angeles as well as on beaches and at public parks and other areas where he didn’t need expensive filming permits.
“Never underestimate the potential of your home. You can dress your house up in so many ways,” James said.
To save on the costs of a key prop, he bought a toy gun at Walmart and returned it for a refund after the scene was filmed. He even went as far as refusing to pay for lights, shooting only during the day.
The key factor in creating a microbudget movie, he said, is to find actors and crew members who are willing to work for free.
“You need dedicated people not looking for a return,” said James, who convinced about a hundred people to help him with the filming and postproduction. “Otherwise, they focus on money and not on something they want to create.”
He spent the total budget of $68 buying pizzas, ice cream and soda for the crew and cast.
He did much of his own marketing and distribution, and “Trey the Movie” wound up grossing $150,000 thanks to views on streaming services, video on demand, online, DVD and a limited theatrical release.
Since most of that money flowed back to him, he used it to buy a 2010 Mercedes-Benz and a 2008 BMW, and took a trip around the world. But he did give the actors and crew members some money and paid some to those who helped with distribution.
Now he is working on new film ideas and has extra funding to develop them.
Sundance kid
Hollywood producer Eric Fleischman will be screening his microbudget films “Carnage Park” and “Sleight” this month at America’s largest platform for independent movies, the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where he will be surrounded by many more moviemakers with big dreams but low budgets.
“Old Hollywood is not teaching young Hollywood how to make movies anymore. We do what we have the resources to do, which is microbudgeting,” said Fleischman, who would not disclose just how small his budget was.
But cost-cutting is just a means to an end. Fleischman, 26, added, “I have no intention to stay at this level for long.”
