Hey out there. I am in pre-pro on my film I Like Clowns. While in this state of never ending storyboards and location scouting, I am trying to watch as many films as I can to psyche myself up. Now, I do have a specific type of film I'm looking for. I want no budget success stories. Recently, I bought Clerks on DVD, and I plan on buying El Mariachi and Slacker soon. I already have The Blair Witch Project.

Anyone know of any no budget movies that went on to land the director on the cinematic landscape? I know there has to be more, I'm just drawing a blank.

Also, I'd like some books to read. I read Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew", but I need more.

Poke

Reservoir Dogs,

Uh ... yeah ... uh, I just watched that. Can't believe I left it off my list.

In the Company of Men, Blood Simple, Eraserhead, Night of the Living Dead, Pi

Seriously, how could I forget these?

Who's That Knocking At My Door?, Stranger Than Paradise

Not familiar with these, but I'll check 'em out.

Roger & Me

Awww ... do I have to? Is Moore as preachy in this one as in Bowling for Columbine?

And thanks on the books, I'll definitely check 'em both out.

Poke

I've never actually seen Roger & Me so I can't say anything about it, but I figured it was worth mentioning. Who's That Knocking At My Door is Scorsese's first film (I believe it was his student film), and Stranger Than Paradise is early Jim Jarmusch (only his second film, I think) which was shot on a very low budget.

Another good Scorsese student film is "The Shave", and yes, Jarmusch's first film was "Permanent Vacation".

I would recommened "Down By Law" by Jarmusch also, but study Andy Warhol films if you want to see true low budget.

you also might want to check out Laws of Gravity directed by Nick Gomez and The BoonDock Saints directed by Troy Duffy. These are two very impressive first films.

I'm sorry, I just don't get the appeal of Boondock Saints. To me it is very poorly acted (way over the top) and the camera direction is way too Tarantino-wannabe for me, very derivative. But I have to say again, the acting really sucks. I blame the director for letting his actors go too far over the top... directing isn't all about "cool" camera shots.

- Mike.

It has its flaws and i do know that alot of people were put off by the "ultra-hipness" of it, a problem that a lot of movies have, but whether you like it or not you still have to admit that it was very successfull for a first time film. It's weird, my friend feels the same way that you do but just loves Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Can't figure it out. Ah well!

What would you guys say the average budget of these movies is? I know that Pi, for instance, cost somewhere above $100,000. I would really like to know of some "no-budget" (i.e. less than $50,000 budget) indies that hit big, since my flick will be around $10,000. I know there aren't a lot, but there ahs to be more than Clerks and El Mariachi.

Poke

i am pretty sure that laws of gravity was made for around 13,000

I just read that Duel has been pushed back another year again on dvd.

The Laws of Gravity took 12 days to shoot and the whole production cost was about $38,000 US.

How much a film is "made" for kind of depends on how you look at it. El Mariachi was shot on a budget of 7,000 bucks but before it was released, an additional 50 grand or so was put into it. I'm sure the same is true for Clerks.

It's made for what the filmmaker made it for. Anytime a studio or distributor picks up a film they have to spend money on it. They have to re-do the titles to include the new credits for the distributor, etc.., and in Clerks case, they sweetened the audio. $100,000 was spent on the audio in Clerks, but when you think about it, that's just a few days in the studio .. $100,000 is nothing. In other words, you don't need that added money to "make" your film, that's just icing on the cake :-)

Hey don't forget "She's Gotta Have It" by my man Spike Lee. $16,000 shot in Brooklyn, NYC ten days of shooting. Picked up by Island Films and you can't argue with the sucess of his career. In some ways even though he has worked with studios he is still very independent.

And I wouldn’t describe my film “Redemption” as a breakout hit, but we did shot with $124,000 and then we managed to raise the rest of the money and get a distributor based on the results of the shoot. I have to admit that in the back of my mind I hoped that it would make me right off the bat but even some of the names that have been mentioned took another few years after the films were released (It took Spike Four Years) to become Directors that get the big gigs or make another movie. I guess what I am saying is that on some levels “Instance Success” is a myth even for the people that are seen that way. I wish you luck and hope to hear all your good stories on the path to making a great film.

Peace,
Redemption

This site has some interesting stats on it, including a list of low-budget films that did well in the box office.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.html

Maybe find a movie or two to watch, there. :shock:

You know what's funny? I posted the original post close to a year ago, and I'm still raising money for ILC (I know, I know ... welcome to the club). Thanks for all the ideas guys, I've added a few of these to my Netflix account.

Poke