Planning the Low-Budget Film

by Robert Latham Brown

Finalist, 2007 Benjamin Franklin Awards, for Best New Voice Nonfiction and Professional/Technical Novice and aspiring filmmakers seeking to learn how to develop a feature film will find a step-by-step blueprint in this guide. Drawing upon the more than 30-years experience of an industry professional, the book examines how to identify and break down shooting sequences in scripts, scout locations, create a production board and shooting schedule, deal with unions, budget a film, and rebound when it all goes wrong. Along the way, readers learn how to economize to get the most value from limited funds and what to look for in a prospective crew. To facilitate an understanding of the concepts, a real-life example of a complete budget and production board for an independent low-budget feature film,  The Anarchist Cookbook , is provided.  The guide’s concise list of contacts—film commissions in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and England; payroll companies; and vendors of supplies—along with a directory of unions and guides will simplify sourcing. Other supplementary aids include a complete glossary of industry terms, a list of all safety bulletins issued by the Industry Wide Labor/Management Safety committee, and a comprehensive index.

Genres: Film

432 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

Reviews

[Steev Hise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is title a bit misleadingly, relatively speaking - what I mean by that is that for the author, "Low Budget" is anything under 2 million bucks! This is not what most people think, probably, when they see the phrase "low budget film". Nevertheless, there is some invaluable guidance in the book about how to "line a script" and use it to creating a shooting schedule. The budget section offers a good glimpse into the way Hollywood works, but I think is pretty unrealistic for most non-union, truly low-budget independent films being made.

Like with most filmmaking books, this one is peppered with amusing anecdotes from Brown's days working on a variety of films, everything from huge blockbusters like Return of the Jedi to obscure indies like The Anarchist's Cookbook - by the way, in case his continuing use of the latter film as a case study tempts you to go out and rent it and watch it, I will warn you now - The Anarchist's Cookbook is a really crappy film! Brown's repeated mentions of this or that expert crew member giving him a good rate to work on the film because he or she "really believed in the film and liked the filmmaker" must be some kind of code for "somebody slept with somebody else", or something...

Anyway, it's a useful tool, but don't count on the book being exactly relevant to real situations, unless you're really in the Hollywood or pre-Hollywood track...

[Kate Ly Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert's such a clown, love the man