| | | | Engaged In Vegas
Live Discussion/Q&A June 7, 2021
I'm excited to announce my next No Budget Film Club event, the virtual screening and live discussion/Q&A of the new micro-budget comedy, Engaged In Vegas, written, directed, produced by and starring Abe Schwartz. The virtual screening window runs from June 3rd to June 7th, and our live discussion is on June 7th at 6pm PDT. For the discussion/Q&A, Abe will be joined by his co-star and co-producer Jennifer Daley, his DP (and sometimes actor) Petur Magnusson, and his producer Kenny Harrison. |
| | | A Tiny Movie, Starring Las Vegas...
Engaged In Vegas represents one of my favorite types of micro-budget productions: the fiction film shot in a non-fiction environment. People will tell you that the only way to make a no-budget film is to shoot in one location with like 2-3 actors, and while I did that exact thing recently (in Las Vegas, no less), this One Location template can be limiting. And worse still, when people teach you to make no-budget films this way, they're mistakenly assuming that the only way to make a film for no money is to make it very small, when in fact, the opposite is true. When you apply the Non-Fiction Environment technique, your tiny-budget film can be very BIG. You'll likely be telling a small story on a big canvas, and your film will definitely not look like it was made for no-money. Another benefit is the bigger the canvas, the smaller you should probably be so as to blend in, which means this method encourages you to spend less money.
This kind of filmmaking has been done many times in the past and I've written about a few of them: Conventioneers, Red Flag, and most recently, Fame-ish. When Abe Schwartz wanted to finally follow up his first feature Bad Batch with a new one, he didn't want to wait around for money, and he didn't want to be restricted to one location (his previous short film was set entirely in a car, so he was definitely ready to spread out!). |
| | He teamed up with his friend actress/filmmaker Jennifer Daley and they concocted a story that could be done very small cast- and crew-wise, but would be big in every other way. He enlisted his long-time buddies Petur Magnusson and Kenny Harrison to join the team, and after writing a scriptment (essentially an outline of the whole movie that included all the beats, but little actual dialogue, which was mostly improvised), the group (which also included co-producer Joyce Wu and sound mixer TJ Yoshizaki) hopped in a car with some gear Abe already owned and headed to Vegas.
In our live event, we'll break down how they went about planning their shoot, how they shot in the middle of crowded casinos and hotels and out on the Strip, how they incorporated real people into the story, and ultimately how they sold the film to Random Media, who released it on VOD beginning May 4th. We'll also show behind the scenes stills and clips, and of course include other fun activities, like our fantabulous Trivia Contest and networking after the event.
As a No Budget Film Club Member (or No Budget Film School Subscriber), you're entitled to our special Early Bird Club price of $5, which includes the opportunity to watch the film during the screening window and admission to the live virtual event. Just use the Promo Code SUBS (the Register buttons already include the discount).
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| | | | | "Mare Of Easttown" Now Playing on HBO
I don't generally plug shows on HBO for the simple reason that they're made for millions of dollars, and that's clearly not my deal! But I wanted to point out this new limited series starring Kate Winslet as a small town police detective trying to solve a brutal murder as the rest of her world falls apart around her.
I knew very little about the show when I watched the first episode--I had barely paid attention to the trailer they were running and even thought it was set in England, rather than Delaware County, Pennsylvania. As I watched that first hour, I was struck by how well crafted it was, how rich the characters were, how subtly and skillfully they disseminated information. It felt like a great independent film, rather than some kind of sensationalized crime thriller. When the episode ended and the credits ran, I was eager to learn who was behind it, and was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar name pop up first--Directed by Craig Zobel. |
| | Craig Zobel lecturing in my August 2007 class
Many of you may not be familiar with Craig's name, though he has made several excellent indie features. I first met Craig at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival after I saw his hilarious no-budget feature Great World Of Sound. A few months later I invited him to speak in my two-day "Art & Science of No-Budget Filmmaking" class, where he revealed many of the clever techniques they employed in the making of the film, which included mixing seasoned actors with unsuspecting amateurs.
The point of mentioning all of this of course is to reinforce the idea that making "successful" no-budget features can lead to successful careers, even if those initial films don't become household titles or make anyone a lot of money. More than anything, you should hope your no-budget film is a stepping stone to the next thing. And if you've got the goods (or by practicing, you develop the goods), people will eventually take notice. |
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