Web and Film Video Projects Can Be Done on Low to No Budget – The NEXT Wave

We at Greenlight360 are committed to creating great content on a super low budget…What is low budget when referring to a movie or a series?  Some would think for a movie maybe it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, for a web series maybe in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.  If you can’t do a low-budget project, try a NO-budget project….

At Greenlight360, we would like to follow the footsteps of some of these notable video projects which were created on zero to low budget.  We are about to “Change Television, One show at a Time.”

Colin, a zombie movie made for an unbelievable $70 where it was premiered and hailed at Cannes this year, was directed by a young Welshman, Marc Price.  Locations were shot in and around his London home.  He was able to leverage the social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, to find 50 volunteer zombies.  He also utilized Facebook to help generate buzz.  Make-up and make-up artists were inherited from Hollywood blockbusters, they came from a film crew website, and were promised they could do anything they wanted – one of the make-up persons came from X-Men3…imagine – some actors used the same latex that was used on Wolverine.

Price basically let everyone involved in the project know that he didn’t have money or equipment, so bring whatever equipment you own.

The story was uniquely told from the perspective of the zombie, which had never been done before.  Colin was filmed over 18-months all while Price worked nights, part-time as a booker (dispatcher) for a car service/limo company.  He shot in the mornings and on Sundays.

Besides being too costly – large, over-the-top effects seen in major Hollywood films are exciting but predictable and possibly becoming a bit mundane.  Price took a lesson from George A Romero’s (Dawn of the Dead), he felt that setting a zombie plague in the suburb was more effectual – the story takes place where most of us live.  Price pairs everyday life with the terrifying.

So where did Price spend the $70?

It was spent on a crowbar, digital videotapes for the camcorder he used, and small snacks for his 100- cast and crew.  Price was unable to afford location permits, so he chose to film in the backstreets of a sleepy town where he was able to create his desolate world with little interruption from cars and people.

No one was paid.

Everyone was asked to bring a weapon they could use when playing humans, and to bring old clothes when they played zombies.

Kaleidoscope, a distributor, has picked up Colin and will hit selected theaters in October 2009.

A labor of love, Malo Casa, is a web series that had no-budget, no crew, and received an “Official Honoree” distinction at the 12^th annual Webby awards (2008).  This distinction recognizes work that shows remarkable achievement, ingenuity, skill and vision of the creators.

In 2008, the Webbies received approximately 10,000 entries from the US and 60 countries, less than 15% receive get an Official Honoree.

Malo Casa is a thriller/drama web series about the Massey family that moves across the country from Ohio to San Diego, California.  They are escaping some events that occurred in Ohio with hopes of putting their lives back to normal, however, their new San Diego home has a dark past.

And of course, we can’t forget the one that started it all lonelygirl15 from 2006, about a young 16-year old video blogger, Bree, who blogs about typical teen issues and having a religious family.  Viewers are kept in the dark and are led to believe that Bree is a young video blogger, just like any other YouTuber.

But really it was the creation of co-creators Mesh Flinders, Miles Beckett, and husband and wife lawyers Greg and Amanda Goodfried.

How Lonelygirl15 initially built her YouTube audience – Lonelygirl15 posted her first video poking fun at a then popular video blogger, Emily, which tapped into her built-in audience; this resulted in many comments from Emily-followers to continue posting lonelygirl15 videos.

How Flinders and Beckett got actress Jessica Rose to play Bree

She met them thinking she was going to be in a feature film and after signing a nondisclosure agreement was told that they wanted her to play the lead in what will become “the future of entertainment” and they wanted her to do it for free.  She tuned out after that and heard something about the Internet and some a male actor to play “Daniel”.  It sounded all too shady.

She eventually gets convinced to sign on, and after about a month an episode shows a spike in viewership…and they’re on their way.  They found a topic that connected with the audience.  In 48 hours, this episode hits a half million views.  Successful cable shows gets 300,000 to 500,000 viewers…they just hit that mark so it seems they’re onto something.

The audience participates. Comments and theories left by viewers…some get incorporated into the story.

In need of money, Jessica Rose is about to take a waitressing job at TGI Fridays.  Beckett fearing the secret getting out, that Lonelygirl15 is not real, gets an investment from his father.  Rose is given $500 a week to play Bree and asked to stay indoors as much as possible.

Wandering the halls of CAA. Greg Goodfried got wife Amanda, who worked at CAA to let him in the door.  At that point, he literally walked the halls trying to catch the attention of someone and getting waved off by busy agents on the phone.  Goodfried managed to corner a couple in a hallway, and asked for 5-minutes.  They granted him 5-minutes, and an hour later they were still talking.

What it really comes down to is this…making no-budget video projects is the next wave of the future! Sundance Film Festival 2010 will have a new section called “Next” where the focus will be on 6-8 innovative, original zero to low budget films for the 2010 festival.  “Next” is designed to promote and discover new filmmakers whose vision might otherwise be hampered by lack of funds and/or investment dollars.

Blog post by Juliette Tai, Director of Research & Competitive Intelligence, Greenlight360

Retweet This Page