Beginners Guide To Low Budget Filmmaking - Kim Adelman

I like this lady. I think she is the best guest on Film Courage

Beautiful

These Rock!

Thank you so much! Great essay.

Rodriguez shot and edited El Mariachi for $7K but the studio spent $250K on post. So, the completion budget was $257K. Paranormal Activity (2009) was made for $15K and also had additional post costs, it grossed $194 million. I would think she would be using this as an example. The Blair Witch Project was made for $22.5K and made $248 million. Open Water (2003) cost $130K and made $54 million. The list goes on. For an expert on low budget filmmaking she doesn't actually know that many successful low budget films.

This was thoroughly enjoyable and informative! I used a lot of these principles in making my first short film and will remember them onward! 🩷 🎬 !

Good advice hope to use some of it myself with my own ideas!

Ok, so spend 50k (or even "just" 20k) to make your awesome short. Great. So where TF do regular people find 50k (or "just" 20k) to spend on a project like this?

Such an engaging and joyful character. Always love these interviews but this was bursting with fun.

I ve bought her book, great eye opener... Great interviews by the way!! Thank you!

I make no budget films outta crap I find on the internet for my own amusement.

good interview and topic.

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🎬🌲✨ Greetings to y’all another day Mates in Film etc

Thank you for a great interview - Kim Adelman is amazing and your questions are spot on.

Tubi is my go-to streaming medium. I can't go on Netflix and choose from a 1000 new 'works'. The big lists in Tubi are from both centuries and mostly weed out irrelevant works.

If it is like she says, then Why The F would anyone ever want to make a film? Also, if the way she says is how it is done, it is no wonder that the majority of the films today suck. I would not spend 50K on a short film ever! That is just a waste of money

Wow! She totally ignores Spike Lee! He did his first film ("She's Gotta Have It") for $25K. If it wasn't for Spike Lee there would not have been Quinton Tarantino!

"Daughters of the Dust" by Julie Dash. was also a low budget film shot in one location. It was/is critically acclaimed, a first of it's kind and shot by a Black woman director.

She also missed Gordon Parks films.

There was also SamGreenlee's "The Spook Who Sat By the Door".

Without either, there'd be no Spike Lee, Robert Rodriguez or Tarantino...

👍 👍

I shot a full length feature on my phone during the pandemic and it became an award winning film. Don't let anything stop you from making your art. Just start....

There are plenty of people blowing people away telling stories on social media. They are just not making movies. I think this a reflection that the movie/main stream industry needs to reflect on.

The reality is that when you are in the begging of your movie making career, you just better do films from your own pocket. It doesn't matter how well planned, who you have in the team, when you're fresh, you don't get funding.

This is great!

$3.00 for a festival submission? Short films cost a lot more than that unless you sent it to scammy festivals…

Waiting on a new Tarantino but keep making woke garbage? How does that add up? Clearly they’re AFRAID of the next Tarantino.

“Film is forever.” 🖤

Great interview and thank you so much for the insight. I'm shooting my first feature next month. 3 locations (85% of the shoot is at 1) , 3 "on screen actors" (one of which has fewer lines than Michael Myers in Halloween) and 1 VO actress. I'll be housing everyone at my house, feeding them from my own kitchen. Due to the story, there are no costume changes either. Very little dialogue, so one boom mic and one lav mic should be more than enough. Shooting most of it outdoors so lighting will be key concern...but not as much as the WEATHER. That is my biggest worry at this moment. Wish I could pick your brains in person! Do you have a consulting site?

Kim was one of my instructors back in my days at UCLA in 2009. She was a wonderful teacher!

Primer was shot on film for $7k and is a better movie (and better looking) than most $35+ million films.

Gravesend was made for $5k on beta vhs w/film look process and Oliver Stone slapped his name on it after seeing it.

If you have $50 million budget and a bad script w/bad actors it will still suck.

…A great script with great actors for $7k -$25k budget will be more memorable and possibly still make more money.

Primer, El Marachi, Brothers McMullen and Blair Witch are examples.