Holstering the gun + jacket means it won't have to actually be seen during the chase and hence not present. The script is good but it's not a feature length, do people really fund shorts ?
Yes, you can get crowd funding by internet panhandling, finding private investors is tricky but can be done. You probably don't need much to shoot a short.
say you did your shot in question in NYC on a street with one or two bodegas but no super recognizable businesses. Costs:
NYC Shoot Permit: $300 (covers entire production, not 'per day'
Production insurance increase $300 (guess)
NYPD assistance: free, but they'll help themselves to crafty and coffee.
3 PAs to control foot traffic: $60 in food cost (use buddies)
5 extras to run away/ generally be in the background: $50 in food costs (buddies).
If you can shoot it in under an hour and not really effect the business then you won't need to give them anything, yeah meeting with the cops before hand and jumping through hoops is a pain but I'm sure you can find $710 if the scene is worth it, its worth it.
Is this true for movies that use fake guns and computer graphics to simulate gunfire? There are no real guns or even blanks. I'm not talking about a chase, but on a set or private property.
The insurance company I personally use does not consider replica guns that cannot fire anything a weapon so they don't consider having/ using them on set a 'hazardous activity'. Other companies might. Also I wouldn't go waving anything that look remotely like a real weapon around on in public place without notifying the police and getting proper permits. They tend to frown on that sort of thing.
