I decided to fund the making of my first short film. Not because I was determined to join Sydney's homeless, but because I wanted to avoid having to go through the lengthy film funding process that would have been my only alternative. Unfortunately I didn't have any rich relatives or friends anxious to throw money at me for the launching of my film making career.
In four months from the time I finished my script and first began thinking about how I could get it made, I had a completed edited film, plus final dubs and around 6 film festival ready DVD's. And it cost me $1400, most of which was a legitimate tax deduction.
I hope that by explaining the process I went through, it may help you get your first short film made, and entered into a film festival without leaving too big a hole in your pocket.
Keep Your Short Film Simple
It's probably stating the obvious but if you are planning to fund your own short film, it's a good idea to avoid a script that calls for elaborate sets, tricky locations, long distance travel, and hundreds of extras.
My film was all shot in one interior location with only three actors which helped to keep the costs down.
The location was the house where one of the actors lived, so I didn't have to get any official council permission for shooting in public places, or face the heightened expense of public liability insurance to cover the possibility of some passerby gawking so hard at the film crew that they manage to trip over a film lead and break a leg.
Write a Good Script
Of course writing a good short film can be quite a challenge. Make sure that before you start planning your production, that you do in fact have a story that people will want to watch. You don't want to throw away your hard earned money on getting your short film made and then not getting it into any festivals.
If you're new to script writing, there is a lot of helpful information on how to write a good short film on the internet. Screen Australia also offers some very useful advice for film makers, and if down the track you are lucky enough to get your short film accepted by one of the larger international film festivals, you may be eligible to apply for a travel grant.
Once you have written your short film, and feel it is ready to go, make sure you show it to an experienced script editor before spending money on the pre-production. Even if you have to pay a professional to read your script, it would be money well spent in ensuring that you have a good short film script.
Finding the Actors
To my pleasant surprise I found I had no trouble at all in finding talented actors who were prepared to work for no payment at all. It seemed that they were all anxious to get some further exposure, and they all seemed to appreciate that independent film festivals was a good place for that. I contacted Auditions Australia by email and soon found that I had so many actors emailing me, it was hard to keep up with the responses. Some of them were highly experienced, even with major parts in feature length movies.
I also found the lighting guy from heaven, who emailed me to ask if he could do the lighting for my film. We arranged to meet and he explained that this was a hobby of his that he liked to do on weekends. I could tell from talking to him that he had a sound knowledge of film lighting, and he turned out to not only have an exceptional electrical collection, including barn doors, red heads and everything you could possibly need on a short film set, but he had lots of other film making goodies such as sound blankets, a boom mike and additional equipment for external recording of sound.
Be Clear About the Payment Arrangement
If you are not in a position to pay your actors and crew at industry rates, it's a good idea to be very clear what the arrangement will be in the first email you send out. That way you have it in writing. I made it clear in my initial request for actors and crew, that I was not in a position to pay anyone for their services, as I was funding the film with my own money. I included a clause in the release forms that my cast and crew all signed, stating something to the effect that should the film ever receive any remuneration, they would each be paid an equal amount at the discrimination of the producer. And if the remuneration from the short film was ever sufficient to do so, that they would each receive industry rates for their services.
I sought the advice of the Arts Law Centre of Australia for the actual legal wording that I put into their release forms. And that brings me to the next point.
Forget the Release Forms and Your Film Could Become a Big Expense
Make absolutely certain that you have a legally worded, signed and dated Release Form for every single member of your cast and crew, and for contributors such as writers, animators, musicians, editors, in fact anyone who is making an artistic contribution to your film, and whose work you intend to reproduce. And don't forget those who may be providing you with the locations. Without these forms in place you have no legal rights to use anyone's performances or services, and could be getting yourself into a sticky legal stew if anyone decided to object in any way in the future. There are excellent sites for royalty free music and special effects and I took advantage of those in my film.
The Arts Law Centre of Australia were again very helpful in providing me with some legal advice on how to word the release form, and also on checking the contract I had received for the royalty free music and digital effects to make sure everything was fine with that.
I paid a small amount to join their organisation, and for that I received a lengthy phone call with a specialist lawyer, and was able to ask any legal questions I wanted at that phone session.
Once I had a draft of a release form, with a small amount of tweaking, I was able to use the same form for all my contributors. I made sure I had a release form for the use of my chosen location which was where one of the actor's lived.
Working with a Minimal Crew
I worked with a very basic crew to keep my costs to a minimum. Even if people are not getting paid, there are still hidden costs such as photocopying, catering and possible travel costs to consider. And the smaller the crew, the smaller the cost. My leading actress lived in Canberra and I needed her in Sydney for rehearsals and the filming. So it didn't seem fair to expect her to pay for her train trip when she wasn't getting paid anything to be in the film. And if you have an enormous crew, plus actors and equipment, you are going to need an enormous shooting space, and that may mean finding the right locations more difficult and more costly.
My crew consisted of a Director of Photography, who doubled up as my editor, my heavenly lighting man, and someone to do sound. I wrote the script, produced and directed the film, and did my own shot listing, and all the crew kept an eye on continuity. The leading actress organised her own make up.
I would thoroughly recommend as many full rehearsals as you can manage and afford. I did two camera rehearsals and spent quite a bit of time working privately with the main actress who was a friend of mine.
We shot the eight minute short film in one day from 10am with a wrap at 6pm. We had an hour for lunch. I was very glad that we only had the one location as it did save a lot on costs and in how quickly we could get the film finished. The film was edited in one day and final dubs made a week later at a professional lab
Use a Professional Lab for Post Production
It is worth spending a bit of money on a professional film and video lab for all your post production needs Including the DVD copies. Apart form ensuring that your DVDs are of film festival quality, the lab will also put very professional labels on them, and keep your original film or video rushes safely stored away. And when you're overseas and need more DVD's, it's easy to email them and get stuff mailed to you when they have an account with you.
Entering Your Short Film into Festivals
By far the easiest way to do this is via Withoutabox. This is a professional website for film makers where you can create a very professional looking profile about yourself and include everything that anyone will ever want to know about your films. And the beauty of this is that you never need to provide this information again to the festivals as they can access everything they need via the special Withoutabox number you provide to them when you enter a particular film festival. And that makes entering your film into festivals a breeze. They will also send you regular emails about up and coming festivals that may be of interest to you. You can also upload DVD's directly to the festival you wish to enter. Although this was not possible in Australia and New Zealand at the time when I was entering the festivals.
Well that's about it from me. I won't go on about what international festivals accepted my short film as the purpose of this article is hopefully to help you see that you can get a film made without it leaving you on a permanent run from your bank manager. I have to say the process for me was absolutely thrilling and could not have been smoother if I had designed it in heaven. I hope it will be same for you.
Maggie Lawrence - Maggie is an award winning copywriter, screenwriter and film maker. She has also written sitcoms and a children's book.
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