Tricks To Writing For A Micro Budget

by ASHLEY SCOTT MEYERS

This article was written by By Darren Coyle.

I have written and directed a bunch of short films, and Ive even gotten
them into a few festivals where they received some awards. I enjoyed
working on short films but I wanted to write and direct a feature. I felt
like I had graduated to that level. The problem is, features are
expensive and I dont have connections or know any rich people. So, I
thought I would make the feature myself using the resources I have:
time, friends, and talent. Fortune favors the bold, I kept telling
myself.
I began by breaking the whole process down to the bare bones, asking
what NEEDS to go into a movie? Answer: people, places and
words. Thats the bare minimum. You dont need stunts, special
effects, Hollywood stars, or rows and rows of trailers. These things are
nice, but not necessary. I decided that my film would focus on two
main characters, that I would keep the story simple and keep it to a
minimum of locations, most of which can be friends houses, a public
park, etc. Having decided on those parameters, I simplified things even
further: everything would take place during the day! No need for lots
of lights and fancy, expensive grip trucks, and all that. I could use the
sun and a couple of lights here and there.
A couple of notes about producing that writers may or may not be aware
of. First, if you keep your crew and cast minimal, you can get away with
a lot of guerilla style shooting that larger productions cannot do. For
instance, if youre shooting in a public park or on the street down the
block from your house, you can probably avoid paying for a shooting
permit, which can be expensive, especially in Los Angeles or New York.
As long as your crew is not obtrusive and you only take a couple of
hours to shoot your scene you can get away with it. Second, in public
places, you dont need to get a signed release from strangers in the
background as long as youre not focusing on their faces. (And why
would you? Youve got actors for that!)
One major rule of thumb: the more people you involve in your film, the
more money it will cost, unless youve miraculously convinced your cast
and crew to work for free. And if you have, you still have a problem on
your hands because theres always a chance theyll jump ship if a paying
job comes along. Also, even if they are working for free, you still have

to feed them! Producing a micro budget film involves a TON of begging,

borrowing and stealing on your part as the director/producer, but you do
need to pay key people like your DP and audio engineer. This is money
well spent.
I decided on the production parameters. Next came the script
itself. Here I broke it down mathematically. A small, indie film will more
than likely be around 90 minutes. If each scene is on the average 5
pages long, thats roughly 18 scenes to write. If I write two scenes per
day, I can be done with the first draft in roughly two weeks time. That
translates to six scenes for each act, using a three-act structure. Once
youve got that structure, you can break it down and simply attack each
scene one by one, and not be daunted by the project as a whole.
Since the film is going to rely pretty much on the two main characters to
draw in and engage the audience, I felt comedy would be the best genre
to choose. Films like Midnight Run and Planes, Trains and
Automobiles are entertaining and engaging because the two main
characters adversarial relationship make the movie. If you can create
the right characters, you can write a whole scene about them making a
sandwich and it can be hilarious. (And cheap!) I came up with a premise
where my two main characters didnt get along but were forced to be in
a car together for a day. They have a goal and a focused objective, but
the real amusement comes from them butting heads the whole time.
(Other scenarios in which mismatched people are forced to interact with
each other: bachelor party, coaching kids sports team, office job, and
next-door neighbors.)
I showed the script to an actor friend of mine, whom I thought would be
great for one of the leads, and she loved it. Well, she had notes;
everyone has NOTES. She got some actor friends together and we did a
table read . . . and THEY had notes. I learned a LOT. Feedback is always
good. You cannot put a price on it! Even things you DONT want to hear
are good to hear. Nine months and eight drafts later, we are raising
money to produce it on a minimal micro budget of $25,000. It may or
may not be the next Sundance darling, but were making it and not
asking for someone elses permission to do what we love. Take THAT,
Hollywood!
Darren Coyle is an independent filmmaker living in Los Angeles. You
can visit his website www.darrencoyle.com or follow him on
Twitter @darrencoyle0626 and also visit his crowdfunding campaign
at www.seedandspark.com/fund/the-hunt