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Newbie Question

Any ideas what it would roughly cost to make a full length low budget UK Gangster type movie? The type you see on London Live channel starring Danny Dyer, Tammer Hussan etc.... Is that something which would be achievable via kickstarter?
I have a story idea but feel it fits better as a film like the above rather than a book. Is it a long shot getting a film made or selling a screenplay? I can picture scenes and soundtrack in my head but struggle with how it could make it to film. I'm a noob and apologise for the finger in the air question but trying to gauge if I should stick to writing a book!
 
If you never made a video, nobody will back your kickstarter.
And if you have no script yet: write it first, otherwise it will just stay a dream.

In the mean time: make shorts to get some experience, so you know whether you want to commit to making a feature.
 
Making a film literally depends on how much money the producer wants to throw into the budget. A low budget can be from 0 to 1 million dollars. Making a film is way easier than selling a screenplay. If you are making it independently. What role are you going to play? You'll need to establish that first, Producer, Director, Writer?
 
Making a film literally depends on how much money the producer wants to throw into the budget. A low budget can be from 0 to 1 million dollars. Making a film is way easier than selling a screenplay. If you are making it independently. What role are you going to play? You'll need to establish that first, Producer, Director, Writer?

Both are hard.
Close to impossible without prior proven experience.
From that perspective selling your firtst screenplay is easier, because you can write it first and then hope to sell it.
To make the movie you need money upfront.

Would you offer a toddler 1 million dollar or pound to make their first drawing ever?
 
No need to apologize - this place is here for you, to answer your questions.
Any ideas what it would roughly cost to make a full length low budget UK Gangster type movie? The type you see on London Live channel starring Danny Dyer, Tammer Hussan etc.... Is that something which would be achievable via kickstarter?
It would roughly cost anywhere from £40,000 to £400,000. However
movies are made for less than £7,500 and (of course) much more.
Something like that is achievable via kickstarter. But it's not as if
people are throwing money at every projects listed. If you put together
a great team and got actors on board with a large fan following it
could be done.
Is it a long shot getting a film made or selling a screenplay?
Yes, it's a long shot. Both (getting a film made and selling a screenplay)
are difficult. Do you have a finished screenplay yet?
 
I would say write a book and then if someone loves it they can buy the movie rights from you
There's a lot of red tape to get a film made but people self publish books all the time.

If you make a film I invite you to consider all the factors that could go wrong.
Great script but... a bad director ruins it, bad music, bad acting, limited location availability and bad takes with no option for a reshoot, accident on set, various human resources hazards, etc

But if you really love movies then make a movie because life is short and most of us never make it big anyway.
 
You could make an entire movie that's set in only one room. The "gangster" aspect can come from costumes, props, set design, and dialogue.

Costumes and props can come from antique/thrift stores.
Set design could be a house built before 1930 with all modern furniture taken out.

You can make any almost any type of movie for almost any budget.
 
I wouldn't take other people's money if I had never made a film before or did not have above the line talent attached that had. It's like saying "I have this really great idea for BBQ sauce, but never made a sauce before. Please give me enough money to produce said sauce commercially."

Best of luck!
 
It doesn't have to cost a single penny if you own a camcorder, but at the same time, what noobs need to be reminded of is that they who are good at making movies, are a hundred times better at it than what it appears. If you want to make a movie without an impressive budget, you'd have to bring all the know how yourself. Book authors are even more skilled than movie makers. Therefore, - script.
 
If you want to make your script into a movie then the best way is to just go for it. You don’t need a massive budget to make your vision into a reality and honestly some of the best films ever made have been shot on a shoestring budget.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Simon West, the director of such films as Con Air and the Mechanic, and he told me that sometimes having a smaller budget can give you so much more control than the massive budgets used on major Hollywood blockbusters. In fact he bought the rights for the screenplay to his latest film ‘Gun Shy’ (which is 100% crowdfunded by fans by the way) for a bottle of Tequila. So you never know what the price of your script might go for.

If you want to read the full interview you can check it out here: https://filmdaily.co/craft/gun-shy-simon-west-interview/
 
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