Pre-Production

Article: Being Broke

Imagine the pressure.  You're sitting at a shabby desk on a hot afternoon in Los Angeles.  Phones are constantly ringing and people are rushing around with paper getting shouted at.  You've got $100 million to spend on a movie.  You can make any movie...

Article: Filmmaking on $2,000 or Less

Film making is a craft that requires a great amount of dedication as well as support. It is an expensive art form that demands funding for equipment, talent, skilled labor and post production as well. So the burning question remains: What do I do when...

Article: Finding Your Crew on Craigslist - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It's fast, responses are almost immediate and it's free. It's Craigslist and it comes with a lot of category...

Article: From Concept to Screenplay: A Story Primer

So you're sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen.  The cursor blinks to remind you of everything...

Article: How To Write A Great Story

What do you really, really need for a good story?  A quirky robot scientist with a heart?  An old nurse who takes up ice hockey?  No.  YOU NEED AN OUTLINE.  I'm sorry if this is disturbing to you.  A lot of people think screenplays require some artis...

Article: Lawyer? I don't Need no Stinkin' Lawyer!

Making a film can be a blast, but there are some legal aspects that you must take care of before you even make your film. Even after making your film, you have to ensure that none of your activities can result in you being sued. So you need to make...

Article: Legal Tips For Indie Filmmaking

It's time to get legal baby.  Really legal.  Indie filmmakers tend to be pretty carefree with the law.  Ma...

Article: Need Help but Have no Film Making Cash? Get an Intern!

There is no doubt that film making is expensive and requires a lot of man power and hours. This is why as film makers, we have to carefully budget ourselves and find plenty of talent willing to take on more than one job at below-industry rates....

Article: Poor is Not an Option?

The first part to making an indie film on a budget is to think positive and to pace yourself. You don’t want t...

Article: Scheduling Your Indie Film

Scheduling the production of your indie film can be a bit tricky because you have a number of things working both for you and against you. Unfortunately, you have more things working against you, but there are ways for you to overcome those things....

Article: Set Ideas A-F

When you're Indie, money is a very serious subject matter that comes up often. The length of your film, how many crew members and actors you will need along with set pieces and wardrobe, all affect the cost of your film. And though filmmaking is...

Article: Set Ideas G-L

When it comes to filmmaking, one article is never enough resource. Here is the next installation of excellent...

Article: Set Ideas M-R

To further help you in your Indie filmmaking on rock bottom budgets, here is the third installation of set tips and suggestions. As mentioned, these are interesting ways to spice up your dialogue and/or other scenes that won't break the bank. The...

Article: Set Ideas S-Z

For the last installation of hints, tips and creative ways to spice up your scenes without breaking the bank, we will explore letters S thru Z. As with the previous articles, you can lift these ideas wholesale, if you find them to be useful, or simply...

Article: Storyboarding Tips to Make Your Shots go Smoothly

Gather round people.  Get yourself a nice cup of hot chocolate and sit down by the warm fire.  It's story time.  Well, actually it's storyboarding time, but you can still keep the hot chocolate.  Storyboarding your film is a personal choice as it can...

Article: The Heart and Soul of Production: How to find a crew

You are the controlling power over your indie film, but your crew is its heart and soul. That isn’t saying y...

Article: Understanding Your Protagonist and Antagonist

Life may be pain, but movies are all about conflict. If you don't have conflict built into your story, you are going to have a...