How I Made My First Indie Movie: Dollars, Doubts, and Dreams

I knew it was almost impossible to get a high-profile role in a cinema production immediately after graduating. Therefore, I worked for over 5 years as a PA once my school years in the USC School of Cinematic Arts were over. During this period, I realized I really want to make my own movie. However, I started thinking about it only after I figured out what I wanted to say to the world. And once the idea was fully formed, I used the knowledge gained over years of working in the industry to make it a reality. Below, I’ll tell you how it was, with approximate costs, major considerations, and recommendations.

Development

Many people blur the line between development and pre-production. In fact, pre-production only starts when you know where your money is coming from. Everything that happened before is development. So the first and most obvious step of development is a script.

I started with writing a script as a story first, then turning it into the appropriate format. At this stage, one of my seasoned friends, Peter, advised me to switch to a script-writing software from the simple Google Doc I used. After thorough research, I chose Fade In. Over time, I really thanked Peter for it, since this move helped me with production breakdowns, while my art and camera departments were able to access the script and get everything they needed from it quickly.

Once my script was ready, I gave it to my girlfriend and a few more friends so they could read it and give me some advice. Then, I started to look for a producer. Luckily, I had several useful contacts in my cell phone after years in the industry, so I reached the right person in only two weeks through just a few intermediaries. She helped me establish the rest of the team, create a realistic budget, and plan the financing of this project based on this budget. By doing this, I could sound more convincing when I launched my fundraising campaign.

Jumping a bit ahead, the project was funded through both the campaign and borrowed funds. Anyway, by the time we needed to begin pre-production, a portion of the needed amount had already been locked and was ready to be spent.

Budget Spent

The movie budget was set at $20,000 at the development stage. Initially, I planned to raise this entire amount through GoFundMe, but along the way, I realized that this process is quite unpredictable. Relying solely on independent investors meant the process would slow down, while the chances of my film never seeing the light of day increased.

I managed to raise a little over $11,000, but it was not enough to cover all the costs, especially after the projected cost got beyond the estimates we had made after a few adjustments we made while planning. While I brought ambition and creativity to the table, I still had to find the funds. I carried the financial weight until the end, that’s why it’s important for newbie directors to believe in their dreams. My belief in the project was so strong that I took charge of funding it through the post-production stage. After weighing several possibilities, my first approach was to a close friend, Daniel, requesting $10,000. I offered to pay them back within a year – all in vain.

I did not stop continuing research, and my girlfriend created a Google spreadsheet to compare loan options from banks & digital lenders. After weighing interest rates based on needed funds for the movie, I found this website to be the best fit for my particular financial goals. Through the process, I found how good their support was, helping me to save money during the post-production. Throughout the process, Ashley Bennett from the lending organization also offered valuable guidance. We received plenty of recommendations, but three of her tips stuck with us from start to finish:

• Book accommodations only when necessary. We held off on reserving locations and hostels until the schedule was locked in.
• Group scenes by location. We shot everything at a given spot in one go, rather than returning multiple times.
• Keep a small emergency fund. We set aside $1,000 for genuine problems only, and it spared us a lot of stress.

Pre-Production

Your steps and moves at the pre-production stage highly depend on your budget. When you know the numbers, you can better understand how much you are ready to spend on locations, cameras, actors, crew, transportation, food, and other stuff.

Your major goal here is to prepare everything properly for future production. First of all, I started conversations with locations to find out when they are available and whether they are accommodating for the process. Of course, there’s never a 100% perfect fit, but at least you can get things ready in advance and set general shooting dates once you book an appropriate place for the shooting process.

The next thing was finding people for all the roles in the film. I was running casting sessions along with a producer to find actors, which was a lot of fun, but still a time-consuming part of the process. My producer also advised me to let department leads be a huge part of the selection process so that they can decide on who will work under them. This was a great experience, as people who match perfectly can be more effective during the process and work much faster.

Finally, I made a shortlist of the scenes we are going to shoot by day, along with the order of these scenes and when we change the location. This step helped me make my schedule a lot.

Production

Production is a lot of fun, but it also comes with multiple things you need to control. Each shooting day started with preparing three major documents. First is a call sheet that contains every individual’s call time, location, and all the important information about the shooting place and key people involved in the process. Next goes a short list. It shows what’s coming up next with the description of each shot. Finally, I prepared a schedule to better understand what the shooting day is going to look like.

When I got to the location, I always set up a specific area for each department to store equipment, costumes, and other stuff. I also made sure catering would be there on time. I gave preference to healthy food since I wanted everyone to be energetic and feel good after lunch. Once every detail was checked, the shooting day began.

Post-Production

This phase includes things that happen to your film once shooting is over. It’s quite easy to get stuck here, so I prepared thoroughly for this to take care of all the management of the post. It was really a lot of work, with things like ensuring that everyone is on the same page about file formats, what was shot on it, and making schedules for people involved.

I was very busy back then, collaborating with the team on proxies, editing, cutting, music, sound edits, effects, color correction, and other things. I strongly believe that finding the right team is important, which means the results of post-production highly depend on the work you have done during pre-prod.

Film Distribution

This stage was about licensing, marketing, and delivering the film to the audience. As an indie movie usually has limited financing and little recognition, I chose to distribute it through a mix of film festivals and DIY self-distribution on iTunes and Amazon Prime. I also understood that I’m not a huge name in the industry and have no experience in marketing and promotions, so I hired a distributor for marketing purposes and an aggregator to help me get onto these platforms.