David completely and thoroughly thought out his debt-to-profit ratio before shooting one frame. It is much easier to recoup your investment on an $8000 film than a $80,000 film. How did he manage his budget? Easy — he didn’t have the luxury of a fat bank account, so he relied on his resourcefulness and creativity.

People have remarked that my film, “Broken Hearts Club” looks as though it was shot for twice or 3x what I made it for. And you know what I say? I say I wish I’d shot it for half of what it cost me. And I could have done that with a little more time in pre-production.

Indie filmmakers must think about their budgets from a realistic standpoint. If you’re a no-name filmmaker and you manage to make a film for $150,000 of course you’re going to want some studio to buy it — because you’re desperate! But if you’ve made it for $15,000 and you have DVD, disc-on-demand, VOD, downloads etc available to you you’ll give the studios the finger because you don’t need them or their one-sided distribution contracts.

Great job David! I wanna be like you when I grow up and become a filmmaker! :-)

In response to the kind comments. Self distribution is not an overnight thing. Its definately a 3/5 year plan. In a society that wants “overnight”, I can see how that will not be attractive for a lot of people. But with 98% of filmmakers not really getting out there, getting inside the system, making a living from it, then what do we have to lose!

I am not anti Hollywood. I love Hollywood. I felt like it was my home when I was there, and I see no reason why we all cant aim for the self and conventional model. I think both should go side by side. Create your smaller self owned projects, and if the big ones get stuck in development, or you cant agree on a deal, or can’t get in that door, just go and keep making smaller ones. grow that fan base.

Guys like George Clooney or Steve Buscemi do studio work to then suppliment smaller indie projects. I am just out to do the same on a smaller scale. But one day filmmakers could have big enough fanbases to be completely self sufficient. Thats my goal. And the main source of revenue will potentially come from so many other sources outside the actual film itself. Filmmakers have to wake up to that.

Thanks again for the posts guys and for the very kind comments.

cheers

David

What you’re talking about is also happening in the publishing industry. There are those who felt ‘self-publishing’ was something to be frowned upon, that you weren’t really an ‘author’ if you self published. Now, it’s taken a 190 degree turn and there are many that are selling large units. It’s similar with e-publishers. People are realizing the power of ‘viral’ and of the benefits of maintaining the rights to their material, as well as a direct line to the people who purchase their products..

With the technology advancing – those who are familiar with it and using it for distribution and marketing will succeed.

Congratulations on your film and I wish you terrific success.

Did I get the concept right?

how exactly will you earn bucks of money with this type of film distribution? but then i like the idea. :D