Guerrilla Film-Making: Budgets
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The script is the most important element.
If it's a comedy, the script had better have you laughing out loud.
If it's horror, reading the script must scare you.
If you can find your own money to make a movie, then a large reason for your production company to sign the guild contracts just went away.
But often, you are getting money to make the movie from a bank or a pre-sale financier or a major studio that wants your production company to sign with the guilds as a condition on the "loan."
Actors will not get kicked out of SAG for working on your non guild project.
Directors will direct it even if it's not a DGA script.
They will direct for the price of a cheap used car per week.
Especially if they don't have an opening title credit on a known film.
Look for good directors of music videos commercials, and industrials.
Just tell them DGA money is not in the budget.
Writers can turn out a good script for $4000 and up. WGA minimum is not the minimum it takes to get a good script.
Very important to have a name actor.
If you can pay the writer the price of a decent used car per week, do.
ACTORS
Raise your pay up to $400/day if you can.
Get a marquee name if you can.
Availabilities and Pay or Play.
Don't say that an actor is "interested."
Every actor is interested.
Letters of intent from actors mean nothing.
You need a "Firm Commitment."
The name actor wants 50% down.
They might go as low as 20% down to book.
If you have the money, put aside $25,000 and start shooting.
Call the talent agencies on the day of shooting, and tell them you have $25000 for a "name" actor to come act for the day.
They will send a name actor.
But if you wanted to book the same actor for the whole shoot it might cost you a million or more dollars, because they would have to blow off all of other offers for the duration of your shoot.
There are only a few actors on earth who won't take the price of a new car to do one day's acting work.
The longer the shoot is, the harder is it to get the good crew.
Less than 3 weeks, easy to get good crew.
A month or more, hard, because they may have to turn down good paying work.
In a 5 week shoot, you can actually let the actors act.
You can ask the actors for their input.
You can give them another take or two or 3.
3 takes are about all you need.
The 3rd take is the golden take.
The 1st take is often nice.
Option news stories if you want to use some free publicity.
Consider runaway production.
