How to make a movie when you're broke.

Thinking ahead will prevent you from making a million compromises later.

In last week’s episode of IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast, Ari Aster talks about his writing process, especially when working on his recent film “Beau is Afraid.” As he’s writing his screenplay, Ari doesn’t allow himself to be limited in any way. He doesn’t think about how he’s going to make something. He’ll worry about that after he hands the script to a producer and the team at A24.

I bring this up because most interviews with directors, indie filmmaking books, and online courses—including the Directing Your First Feature class I took with Sundance Co//ab—say that the first step to making a movie is starting with a great screenplay. Unfortunately, starting the process of production AFTER you've penned your million-dollar screenplay only works if you're independently wealthy or well-connected.

In other words: this step one doesn’t make any sense if you’re broke, and that was sort of hard for me to come to terms with for a while. I don’t like limitations or rules or strict guidelines, but here’s a stupid analogy that finally helped me: 

For most of my life until the past few years, I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. When I was a kid, my mom calculated the cost of every meal and couponed out of necessity. So when I was on a tight budget as an adult, it never occurred to me to plan an elaborate caviar and lobster dinner with $10 in my bank account. Instead I gathered the ramen noodles, limes, chile flakes, peanut butter, and scallions that I already had or could actually afford. Then, thanks to YouTube and basic cooking skills, instead of feeling panicked/sad/in debt from lobster, I had tasty noodles.

This is how we need to think about making no budget film. Instead of starting with a the-limit-does-not-exist screenplay, and then spending months making a series of painful compromises that chip away at everything that was exciting about your idea in the first place, take a look at what you actually have to work with.

Step 1: Make a List of Your Ingredients.

Think about the things in your life that could affect the story you’re going to write.

• Genre.

  • What kind of movie do you want to make?

• Money.

  • What is your budget? Not the one you maybe have, but the number you have right now?

• Actors that could influence the type of story you make.

  • Can you act?

  • Is there someone in your life who you could write a character for?

  • Do you live in a city with an arts scene or liberal arts college that might influence the type of characters, age, etc. of the actors available to you? 

• Locations.

  • Where, geographically, do you live?

  • What’s your housing situation?

  • Do you have reliable access to any special locations? Bowling alleys, bars, barns, restaurants, studios, nail salons, cabins, public/private land?

• Personal Expertise.

  • Hobbies, skills, and interests. Basically, if you had to give an hour long talk to a group of strangers RIGHT NOW, what would you talk about?

  • Some random ideas: dating weirdos, martial arts, bird watching, fixing cars, rock climbing, teen parenthood.

• Filmmaking Expertise.

  • Do you have any gear that might inform the way you tell your story?

  • List anything you know how to do that might impact the story itself (such as animation, gore makeup, stunts, lighting, camera movement, set building, costume design, VFX, etc.)

This process isn’t just tactically advantageous, it’s also psychologically beneficial. By focusing on what you have instead of what you don’t, the writing and ideation process will feel like building instead a series of sad compromises.

Next week, we’ll get into how I approach coming up with my story ideas—a skill which has not-so-coincidentally been my main source of income for the past twelve years.

Thanks for reading this week’s Cheap Thrill. Share it with friends, leave a comment, ask a question, and I’ll see you next week.

A note on the WGA strike: If you are an aspiring writer and are not yet in the WGA, take some time to read about the strike and familiarize yourself with rules. If you live in NY or LA, consider joining the picket line. 

Today’s debut feature rec:

Microhabitat directed by Jeon Go-woon