I've said it before -- and I meant it: No Budget Cinema will return.
For a variety of reasons we won't go into on this blog, it looks like the US economy is going to come back strong. If that indeed happens, there may be more disposable income in people's hands and bank accounts. It is disposable income upon which ventures like this depend and thrive. It really is a lack of money holding back our productions, though I have shot a horror film that is sitting in post so it's not like I haven't tried since finishing the silent film. Should the money come back, the films will continue.
One of the issues is actors. No Budget Cinema cannot afford to pay actors so I'm reliant upon performers looking for exposure and willing to appear in anything. When I do pay actors, it's usually for nudity and that ain't cheap. It's a cheap thrill, but it costs a few bucks. What this can often mean is actors who aren't. That's another big reason why I want to do another silent film. I can draw a great performance from a non-actor if they don't have to talk. Not to slight them, it's just logical and true. It is therefore a very good thing that I sincerely love doing silent movies.
Another issue making money vital is that I like using locations and striking visuals to make up for a low budget. Going to the mountains or the desert or a century old train station dresses your film up. Such visuals pretty much cost me only the gasoline to get there and back. Gasoline made up about half of the Hell's Bells budget, I think (without pulling out the production book). We filmed in Yucca Valley, Cajon Pass, the desert beyond Baker, and around the Inland Empire. More than once in some of those locations.
Costumes aren't the challenge they could be. I first raid closets at home and what those don't provide I obtain from second-hand shops and then discount stores like TJ Maxx or Burlington or WalMart. My costuming budget is lower than you might think, considering I like to do period pieces. It also helps to have a family member working at a costume shop, though ironically on Hell's Bells the only piece I used from there was a white dinner jacket I wore to the premier. I include props here because I do much the same thing: use stuff around the house or used items that I can get cheap.
Still, keeping it as cheap as possible, I prefer to produce my films out of pocket. When people give you their money, you rightfully must answer to them. HB cost me less than a thousand dollars to produce. It may not seem like much but I haven't had a spare 'less than a thousand dollars' that I could spend on a movie since HB. The horror film cost maybe three hundred and fifty bucks and 200 of that was for tits in one scene. Crowd-funding provided the fee for the boobs but that is the only real success I've had with that process (go figure). However, if the economy does rebound, crowd-funding might become a lot easier. Still, I would probably prefer to limit it to raising funds for a single element of a film, a special effect or more boobs, of course.
Anyway, I wanted to drop in to let anyone who might still be reading this blog know that I haven't given up. I've simply been doing other important things. Since finishing HB in 2012, I've written and published 10 books with another almost finished as I write this. I've also been on two television shows and continue to be a guest on several podcasts and radio shows. It has been a very productive period for my writing, both nonfiction and fiction -- but I really want to do another film.
Naturally I'll announce when the horror film is finally done and where it can be viewed. In the meantime, you check in once in a while because I may just surprise you and actually get another film started.
For a variety of reasons we won't go into on this blog, it looks like the US economy is going to come back strong. If that indeed happens, there may be more disposable income in people's hands and bank accounts. It is disposable income upon which ventures like this depend and thrive. It really is a lack of money holding back our productions, though I have shot a horror film that is sitting in post so it's not like I haven't tried since finishing the silent film. Should the money come back, the films will continue.
One of the issues is actors. No Budget Cinema cannot afford to pay actors so I'm reliant upon performers looking for exposure and willing to appear in anything. When I do pay actors, it's usually for nudity and that ain't cheap. It's a cheap thrill, but it costs a few bucks. What this can often mean is actors who aren't. That's another big reason why I want to do another silent film. I can draw a great performance from a non-actor if they don't have to talk. Not to slight them, it's just logical and true. It is therefore a very good thing that I sincerely love doing silent movies.
Another issue making money vital is that I like using locations and striking visuals to make up for a low budget. Going to the mountains or the desert or a century old train station dresses your film up. Such visuals pretty much cost me only the gasoline to get there and back. Gasoline made up about half of the Hell's Bells budget, I think (without pulling out the production book). We filmed in Yucca Valley, Cajon Pass, the desert beyond Baker, and around the Inland Empire. More than once in some of those locations.
Costumes aren't the challenge they could be. I first raid closets at home and what those don't provide I obtain from second-hand shops and then discount stores like TJ Maxx or Burlington or WalMart. My costuming budget is lower than you might think, considering I like to do period pieces. It also helps to have a family member working at a costume shop, though ironically on Hell's Bells the only piece I used from there was a white dinner jacket I wore to the premier. I include props here because I do much the same thing: use stuff around the house or used items that I can get cheap.
Still, keeping it as cheap as possible, I prefer to produce my films out of pocket. When people give you their money, you rightfully must answer to them. HB cost me less than a thousand dollars to produce. It may not seem like much but I haven't had a spare 'less than a thousand dollars' that I could spend on a movie since HB. The horror film cost maybe three hundred and fifty bucks and 200 of that was for tits in one scene. Crowd-funding provided the fee for the boobs but that is the only real success I've had with that process (go figure). However, if the economy does rebound, crowd-funding might become a lot easier. Still, I would probably prefer to limit it to raising funds for a single element of a film, a special effect or more boobs, of course.
Anyway, I wanted to drop in to let anyone who might still be reading this blog know that I haven't given up. I've simply been doing other important things. Since finishing HB in 2012, I've written and published 10 books with another almost finished as I write this. I've also been on two television shows and continue to be a guest on several podcasts and radio shows. It has been a very productive period for my writing, both nonfiction and fiction -- but I really want to do another film.
Naturally I'll announce when the horror film is finally done and where it can be viewed. In the meantime, you check in once in a while because I may just surprise you and actually get another film started.
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