That’s the big question. How do you make a movie when you’re broke?
The simple answer? Just don't do it—it'll save you a lot of trouble. But if you're here, it's because you want to make movies, with or without money. (Especially without.)
So, what do we do?
Even before you start, you have to plan your film based on your budget, your ability to scrape together a little nest egg, and your ability to bring together a team that will stick with you throughout this somewhat crazy journey.
Similarly, we think about the decorations we can find that will stay within our budget—in our case, nonexistent —and the same goes for costumes, props, and anything else that might require spending cash. Since we don’t have any money, let’s not create situations where it would be necessary; let’s keep it simple.
Yeah, sure, but what are we supposed to do without any money?
Not much.
Let’s be honest: in this industry, you can’t do anything without money. To film, you need a camera, and even if you settle for the one built into your phone, someone had to pay for that phone. It’s the same with sound, which is essential. It’s the highest expense. You can always work something out with a friend of a friend who’s in a band and makes music, but you require a mic—otherwise, it’s a lost cause.
You can always shoot a short clip without sound—typically a silent film. If you have a state-of-the-art phone, a DSLR, a mirrorless camera, or any other recent model, you can always try to make do with the built-in microphones—which I don’t recommend, but we’re on a tight budget for the purposes of this article.
Now you need a team. You could always ask two or three friends to come help out in exchange for, say, a hot meal. But who pays for the hot meal?
In the end, we still had to find a way to put the money somewhere.
You can shoot a few scenes on a shoestring budget—skits or very short films—to get some practice; it’s perfectly possible. But unless you have a thousand friends on hand who’ll repost your videos on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook, your videos will get ten views, and it won’t be worth the effort.
Faire connaître son film, promouvoir son film, distribuer son film, ça requiert une fois de plus un investissement. Il faut pouvoir imprimer des affiches et les placarder le plus possible, il faut promouvoir sa bande-annonce avec des liens sponsorisés, ou accepter de rester dans les oubliettes de YouTube, classé quelque part entre les vidéos de chats et celles de Minecraft.
That's part of the game.
So, how do we manage with just a little money?
Because that’s the real question. It’s not enough to to just grab something that can film to make a movie.
In fact, you’ll need a small initial investment to get started and build your film around that. You’ll need to find early supporters and contributors who are willing to provide you with some equipment or a little money—even if it’s just for food during filming (such an essential expense) and to fund the promotion of your project.
Because to make a good movie, you don’t need millions of euros (or whatever your currency is)—just a good story that fits within the initial budget. Few locations, but plenty of outdoor scenes. Be sure to obtain the necessary filming permits for outdoor shooting.
Few actors, otherwise… well, you'll need a miracle.
The simple recipe is:
A good story, in few places, with four actors maximum, on a very tight schedule.
Use the money you have left to fund festival entries or promote your film.
Another tip? Write some bombastic articles and promote your film in them, kind of like we’re doing here. You can check out our very short film VALENTIN Produced with a budgetfor equipment and editing software
This article is the first in a long series focused on the A-to-Z production of a film, web series, or audiovisual project.
Valentin, our very short film about sexual violence.
The page about the film on the author's portfolio.
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