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Oh, the stress of being an artist in an ego driven medium. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all want to be famous directors. The thing is, we all need to be working directors. What to do? The first step to achieving either goal is to get your material made. Last week Professor Julian Grant gave a great workshop on how to make big movies with little money. Obviously I can’t reveal all of his secrets, but I can give you a few snippets of what he told us.[flickr id=”8677392844″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”true” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]

It was a terrific event with a solid turnover. Here’s the first thing you should know: Keep your project simple. Don’t write something with a cast of thousands. Write for a cast of one. Think it can’t be done? Does the movie Buried ring a bell? When thinking of budget, focus on what you can spend not on what you want to spend. It’s all about discipline. Limited resources force you to be creative. We have to remember that a great story makes a great movie. If you can come up with a story that is simple with relatable characters, you are in better shape than 95% of the writers/directors out there.

Simplicity is the foundation for making an affordable movie on a micro budget. We’re talking out of pocket movies. $10,000, $5000, $250. It can be done. You just have to be creative, and stubborn, and willing to put your ego aside and ask for help any way you can.

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Julian also gave us some affordable resources to get a low budget movie distributed. However, I’ll save those hints for Julian. What I can say, is that going to see Julian was inspiring because it made me feel like I could make an actual feature length movie. We don’t have to be limited to five to twenty minutes.