How NOT to Shoot a $50,000 Short Film
So as filmmakers we all want to make the best films we can. Sometimes filmmakers think that a bigger budget is the answer, that bigger is better. This is what I thought when I went down the road and create my short film Red Princess Blues. After going down this road once before with my first short film BROKEN, I thought bigger had to be better. If $8000 was good (budget of BROKEN) then with $50,000 I could blow everyone away.
BROKEN opened a ton of doors for me as a filmmaker. I was contacted by studios, executives, producers, agent, you name it. BROKEN was an ambitious short film, to say the least. You can listen to that story here: How I Made Over $90,000 Selling my Short Film + Video Tutorials.
In this episode, I discuss the mistakes I made when I made a $50,000+ short film. Mistakes with
Budget
Crew Choices
Size of Crew and Cast
Production Design
Distribution Plan
ROI (Return on Investment)
Who is the end user (audience I'm trying to reach)
Here's more on the short film:
ZOE, a young teenage girl, is lured into an after hours carnival tent by the sleazy rock n roll carnie RIMO, and gets more then she bargained for. It's up to the mysterious PRINCESS, star of the new knife show, to pull her out of the wolf's den.
Check out the trailer below.
This is not the first short film I made based on my feature film screenplay. I co-directed, with my brother in arms Dan Cregan, a traditional Japanese Anime Prequel called Red Princess Blues: Genesis starring the legendary Lance Henriksen. Check out that trialer below:
I was a bit ahead of the curve on the distribution of Red Princess Blues. I was the first short film to be distributed exclusively on an iPhone app. Streaming was not a thing yet. I go over what happen with that in the episode as well. Check out this promo I made for the app.
It's not all doom and gloom. Many amazing opportunities were generated from RPB, I just wish it wouldn't have cost me as much. = ) These are some interviews and red carpet moments from Red Princess Blues' World Premiere at the HollyShorts! Film Festival.
You can see how large of a production this short film was in this video below.
I hope you find some words of wisdom in this episode and that you can learn a few lessons that cost me a bunch of $$$ to learn. Enjoy!
Right click here to download the MP3Download on iTunes DirectWatch on IFH YouTube Channel
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Red Princess Blues - Watch on Amazon Prime
Red Princess Blues: Genesis - Watch on Amazon Prime
This is Meg - Cinequest Tickets
This is Meg - Official Site