The free stuff we got, 'cos we asked

Zensteve

Zensteve

Saw this neat quote in a different thread, and thought it would make a positive thread in its own right:

WheatGrinder said:
they are NOT the big city, they might actually think its "neat" that you want to make a movie there rather than see it as a revenue generating opportunity
Click to expand...

So share a story of something you got, for free, that normally should have cost a fair bit... just by asking!

In 2008, we were filming a weekend-long short film down near Temecula way. It was as lo-budget as you could get, down to cast & crew sleeping in tents on some spare acreage in the middle of some horse farms. We had a small gas BBQ to heat our water for coffee & oatmeal cups, and grill some hot-dogs for lunch - good times!

The (always broke) producer still managed to arrange us dinners where we dined like kings & queens! There was a small family-owned Italian restaurant at a town nearby, that the producer had visited the week before. He had walked in hoping to get a discount on 2 nights of food for a dozen people - he walked out with the entire thing for free. The owners were simply thrilled that a "glamorous" movie shoot was underway a few miles down the road... and their restaurant name could be in the credits!
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Massive trays of ziti, lasagna, garlic bread... endless bowls of salads, stacks of pizzas... it was literally hundreds of dollars of food that we scarfed down every night (and it was deeeeeee-licious, btw).

All because someone introduced themselves to the local businesses. Who'da thunk it?
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During pre-production, you gotta find (or create) the best opportunities.
 
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Great story Zensteve. I was a lowly college student trying to break into the industry. One of my professors was a producer on the side, which I knew. I simply asked for a job. A couple weeks later I was a production Assistant. And years later I am making a career in the industry. Could have went a whole different way but because I got up the courage to ask this is how I ended up.
 
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Weekend job renovating a post production building and i just thought to ask the owner if I could get a job and they said no.

Then her boss at a dinner during small talk found out I had played the guitar for 11 years and pulled me back in immediately and put me to work in audio.

Now, today, I'm doing pretty good at my job.

All because I asked "Hey, this place is kinda cool, can I work here?" No previous experience in film. Just a garden variety college student that didn't know what I wanted to do..
 
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Excellent topic, Zensteve. I gotta million of ‘em.

In Aberdeen OR. Needed a restaurant - DAY scene. Found a little
place with an atrium setting - big windows that curved over. They
blocked that entire area for us. We had big lights outside - the
allowed us to use their power. They provided coffee and sodas to
the cast and crew all day and fed us two meals. Cast of 2, 10
extras, crew of 20.

In Crestline, CA. I had decided to fake a cop car arriving at the
cabin in the woods. CU of tires, CU of the headlights, flashing
red lights of the rollbar on the cops as they walked up the
stairs. My first made a phone call to the local cops, told them we
would be firing a couple of blanks that night and asked if they
wanted to send a car up to check us out. This was a city that
didn’t require a permit. They sent the cop and car, he looked over
the guns we had, made sure we didn’t have any live ammo on set and
then asked about the scene. I told him how we were going to fake
the car arrival and he not only drove up - light rolling - but
instructed the actors on the proper way to exit the car and
approach the cabin.

Anaheim, CA. Went into a local pizza joint. Told them we needed a
few pizza boxes. If they had their logo on them we would show the
logo on screen and give them credit on the credit roll. They gave
us 10 large boxes. With pizzas in them.

Needed a couple of dozen beer cans and bottles - empty. Contacted
Coors, Miller and Bud to get permission. Miller sent over - all
full. The biggest challenge was we had to postpone that scene for
a couple of days so the crew could empty the cans and bottles.
Made a very nice wrap party at the end of the day.
 
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Our current story is about a hard-hearted bar owner and the lowly citizens he helps out by staying open when he clearly does no business.

We asked for and received the use of a vintage 1964 white Cadillac and a 45 minute helicopter ride to shoot the Cadillac from as it drove through the fabulous ruins of Detroit.

All for about a minute of opening title screen time. And all free.

Rental of the car would probably have run into the hundreds, and the chopper pilot (who takes insurance adjusters over factories and other large structures for filing claims) normally charges a base rate of $750 per hour, plus fuel.

It's not like the film couldn't be made without these things. Heavens no. We had every scene in the can before these gifts fell into our laps. But now instead of starting in the bar like so many other no-budget films, we start high in the sky and begin building our character (his choice of car, the evil neighborhood where the bar exists) before the character is even seen, much less heard. IT PAYS DIVIDENDS TO ASK!
 
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Uranium City said:
Our current story is about a hard-hearted bar owner and the lowly citizens he helps out by staying open when he clearly does no business.

We asked for and received the use of a vintage 1964 white Cadillac and a 45 minute helicopter ride to shoot the Cadillac from as it drove through the fabulous ruins of Detroit.

All for about a minute of opening title screen time. And all free.

Rental of the car would probably have run into the hundreds, and the chopper pilot (who takes insurance adjusters over factories and other large structures for filing claims) normally charges a base rate of $750 per hour, plus fuel.

It's not like the film couldn't be made without these things. Heavens no. We had every scene in the can before these gifts fell into our laps. But now instead of starting in the bar like so many other no-budget films, we start high in the sky and begin building our character (his choice of car, the evil neighborhood where the bar exists) before the character is even seen, much less heard. IT PAYS DIVIDENDS TO ASK!
Click to expand...

Mr Roger's Neighborhood didn't get that good of an intro. Right on!
 
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I just got back from a film session at an amusement park today. We sent a mail earlier to get permission to do the shoot and they said OK. We were let in through some secret door and guess what... We got free entry AND free ride bracelets for a 7 man crew, and we didnt even ask for it. All this because we gave them the heads up that we were going to shoot some scenes.

We were all pleasantly surpriced! We just saved $350!
 
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I got an Air-soft field for free, included trailers, RV, burnt out cars and trucks and a stripped down airplane. Much better than just having people running through random woods.
 
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Not really a 'asked and got it for free' story, but still a right place right time FREE story :D

Having little/no experience in film making, I've recently been tasked with the job of producing my brothers short film. He wants to film a scene with the actors firing blanks from their weapons.

After a few hours on google, I found out what we would need to do to accomplish this legally and safely in my local council. Needless to say, the cost of insurance and hiring an armorer are prohibitively expensive. Out of curiosity though, i thought i'd research whats involved to get a gun license in my state, with the idea of becoming qualified armorer myself (lol).

In my travels i ended up at the local paintball shop having a good old chin wag to the owner over how best to obtain a gun license (you need a license for paintball markers in Aus). Well it turns out that he himself is not only a qualified armorer , but that he also has a keen interest in low budget indie films, having shot some of his own in the past. He offered his services, as well as the use of his armory (he owns a gun shop) to us for free :D
 
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Great thread Zen!

So far my list consists of:

A western town
Horses
a man made lake
classic vehicles
a gas station
guns and props
catering
road safety from sheriff's dept.
and hundreds of acres
 
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Uranium City said:
Our current story is about a hard-hearted bar owner and the lowly citizens he helps out by staying open when he clearly does no business.

We asked for and received the use of a vintage 1964 white Cadillac and a 45 minute helicopter ride to shoot the Cadillac from as it drove through the fabulous ruins of Detroit.

All for about a minute of opening title screen time. And all free.

Rental of the car would probably have run into the hundreds, and the chopper pilot (who takes insurance adjusters over factories and other large structures for filing claims) normally charges a base rate of $750 per hour, plus fuel.

It's not like the film couldn't be made without these things. Heavens no. We had every scene in the can before these gifts fell into our laps. But now instead of starting in the bar like so many other no-budget films, we start high in the sky and begin building our character (his choice of car, the evil neighborhood where the bar exists) before the character is even seen, much less heard. IT PAYS DIVIDENDS TO ASK!
Click to expand...

Crazy lucky sonuvagun

We've been lucky to snag a few restaurants, bars etc. People are willing to help, you've just to put on the tie and ask, so true.
 
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you all inspired me. In preparing for my upcoming 48 hour film project, I stooped in at a Air soft arena\store just to ask rental prices, I then dropped the question.. "Do you want to be part of my movie?"

I now have free gear (prop guns, cammo costumes, etc) the huge(ish) indoor arena , offices etc at my disposal.

neato
 
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I wanted to do a Film on Motocross des Nations. It is like the Motocross World championships. I sent an email to Team Canada out lining my plan. I now have total access to the Team and the race and they are buying the finished DVD for fund raising.
All you got to do is ask. And it doesn't even cost 43 cents for a stamp.
 
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I had to add this, it just happened. This is me trading email with Letus corporation.

I wrote:

Hi Letus folks.
Iv recently become addicted to the wonder and beauty of the Letus extreme on my Canon viax HFS100.

I’m running an all volunteer team in the upcoming 48 hour film project here in Portland on the 7th of August. My teams camera op and DP has a Panasonic HMC150 which has a 72mm filter thread. My letus extreme is setup is for 58mm thread, so we cant use my nice Extreme and great lenses, without your help!

Would you be willing to lend me 72mm filter thread for a few days during the competition? If it matters, I could buy if you would let me return it for a full refund once the competition is done.

Also, do you recommend a different acromat for that camera?

I know its an odd request, and if I had any use for the 72mm filter thread beyond the competition Id already have bought one, but I cant burn $100 of budget on something that isn’t 100% necessary.

Sincerely
Dan Scott

To which the CEO replied

Sure Dan,

Drop by our office and pick it up. I already told my staff,

God bless,
Hien



hows that for cool
 
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Update on Letus.
So, I went by to pick up the loaner thread ring for my 35mm adapter, nobody new I was coming, but they helped me out anyway!. I got to see some of the new gear they are working on. Wow, some nice DSLR stuff. They have the most awesome looking DSLR loupe Iv ever seen. Carbon Fiber body, beautiful, big, optics and eye piece. Yes, this is a plug for Letus, they help me, they get my support!
 
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