Having written and produced a few low-budget features, I’ve become hyper-aware of the effect my writing has on production. Seemingly innocent little references have had a considerable impact on logistics and, by extension, costs, while other writing choices have helped make a production feel like we had ten times the budget.
Therefore, my one rule when writing for independent film is simply this: “always consider production value.”
It’s important to remember that, conceptually, this isn’t just about saving cost, it’s also about maximising what’s available. Look, things are tough right now, really tough. Investors, who’ve rarely ever wanted to throw money at film productions anyway, have watched the box-office and long-tail returns on film change radically over the past twenty years from a marketplace where an indie film could find a cult audience during its theatrical run and make massive returns via home video to one where you may be going to Netflix cap in hand after expiring all other avenues and looking to reduce losses. It’s a dire scenario exasperated by the saturated media world of the twenty-first century, and sadly, accessibility to cheaper production equipment barely compensates.
When we talk about low-budget films, you probably reflect on darlings from the nineties indie revolution like Reservoir Dogs. Limited locations, with no huge names, virtually no costume department, and an unproven writer-director, Dogs boasted a budget of around $1.5m in 1991, which was considered shoestring for the time. Adjusted for inflation, that’s the best part of $3m in today’s money. Thankfully, Miramax, for all their concerns over the ear-slicing scene, saw potential in the project, and the subsequent box-office draw turned a profit double the costs, with domestic home video alone bringing in ten times that. This was a time when Sundance domination got everyone’s attention, and the movie-theatre-going public were sitting at home so bored they were singing into desk fans for entertainment. Tarantino himself took pride in being a filmmaker who was doing a lot with very little, and actors in that era understood that small vanity projects came with significant pay cuts. Nearly thirty years later, the landscape has completely changed, and a production like Dogs would be a very tough sell and well outside the remit of 99% of independent filmmakers. In fact, legendary indie producer Ted Hope was pleading for us to wake up and smell the coffee over ten years ago.
We have to adopt a new mindset as screenwriters and accept that the producers we are likely to collaborate with, particularly when breaking in, are going to have overall budgets that would barely cover the permit fees for the low-budget films we love from the past. It’s time to get real, adjust our expectations, and think about how we can deliver what independent filmmakers need to balance the books.
Again, I have to reiterate, this isn’t about jumping through hoops to meet some sort of criteria; it’s about adopting a mindset that lends itself to lean filmmaking. The hope is that more producers feel our spec scripts are well within their range to make, and that we’re the kind of writers they can look to for great material with budget in mind.
So how can we “always consider production value” when a clear chicken and egg scenario exists – surely to write with budget in mind, we have to have experience of budget in practice? That goes without question, and I’m certainly aware that I opened this referencing my own experience. However, I was a reasonably accomplished low-budget-focused writer before I saw my first feature production due to two reasons; firstly, I wrote a lot of short scripts and gave them away, meaning I collaborated with near zero-budget filmmakers and secondly, I read everything I could get my hands on about filmmaking history, meaning I learned about case study after case study that punched above its financial weight. That helped me get my first job and turn in an assignment that could be delivered within budget.
Now, am I expecting you to spend five years in the trenches writing shorts for free, reading dozens of books on film history while honing your craft, producing spec script after spec script, discovering your inner artist, and networking like crazy? Actually, I am, LOL! I expect that, as a bare minimum, from anyone who claims this is their dream and wants to break in despite all the odds against them. That said, to give you a head start and pass the knowledge on, I would like to share with you some of the budget-saving tips I’ve picked up and will always consider when I’m writing.
Concept is still king, with a few other considerations: Typically, I see this axiom applied to studio movies, but I think that era has long gone. Intellectual Property (IP) is the new king of the blockbuster, and a concept-focused mindset has naturally trickled down into a marketplace that’s become increasingly saturated, with audiences bombarded by more and more media sources competing for their attention. Concept is critical when it comes to marketing an indie film now, but that can still be a radical premise that targets a chosen niche. What’s exciting here is the opportunity we have to embrace our favourite subcultures and push them in new directions. We simply have to ask ourselves, is that niche a sizeable market and will our concept stand out within it?
Sex does indeed sell: Consumers will always lean towards the fantasies they’re attracted to, and we live within a highly materialistic culture obsessed with superficiality, status, and materialism. Once you add a degree of hedonism and escapism to that, it’s obvious what kind of movies solicit the most attention. I’m not saying sex itself needs to be a key part of our scripts, but that our scripts themselves need to be as sexy as possible to maximise investor appeal. This means considering glamorous locations, sophisticated situations, and high-profile stakes to set our story within.
Fewer locations simplify everything: Setting your story in only a few places streamlines production, and the logistical benefits are obvious. No time-consuming company moves, ongoing familiarity for crew, and perhaps even the option to leave equipment setup between shooting days are just some of the bonuses. This said, the choice of a location can make a huge difference, as can the time of day. For example, choosing a business location during their peak hours is far from prudent, as is choosing a high-security location. Is there adequate parking and room for production vehicles? Is there power? The interior is always going to be more private and less prone to weather problems than the exterior. Night is easy to work with at any time of day, thanks to blacking out material – the sun is far harder to replicate on demand.
Time shifts mean a change of shifts: The impact of having to shoot exterior scenes both day and night should not be underestimated. Cast and crew need around twelve hours of rest between shooting days, so shifting from day to night can mean that large gaps of downtime are created. Finishing at 6pm on Monday and moving onto a night shoot could mean the next call time is set to 6pm Wednesday, losing a shooting day within the schedule and another day when switching back to daylight hours. The answer is to either pick day or night and stick with it, or set all scenes within an internal environment that can be manipulated to look like either. Sunrises and sunsets are even less flexible, particularly in areas such as LA, where they are relatively brief.
Every line is a little more time: There’s a general rule that you can only expect to shoot around five pages a day, and every take is a race against the clock. Each line extends every take that little bit more, creating an additional beat that can cause an actor to fumble or an external force to trigger a cut. While we should always write as efficiently as possible, scripts for independent productions need to be as lean as possible.
More people, more problems: Similar to the above, every additional character in a scene adds time to the shoot because each performance must be captured from multiple angles and in relation to their interactions with other characters. These are also additional bodies on the call sheet who need hair, makeup, costuming, feeding, and trailer space during the day.
The power of props: Generally speaking, props are a very cost-effective way to raise the production value at a low cost, since even the most expensive items we can imagine are available in some sort of cheap form that will pass when used in film. Most common types of guns can be bought as an airsoft model with a realistic blowback cycling action. Large sums of cash have to be sourced from official suppliers, but they're still not costly to rent. However, avoid naming specific brands if possible to avoid licensing issues.
The value of vehicles: Modern mainstream cars are cheap to hire and easy to obtain on demand, especially within big cities. Performance and prestige cars are always going to be harder and more expensive to source. Something really hard to control is colour and specification. Where it gets particularly tricky is with older cars, which can suffer mechanical issues and be impossible to replace like-for-like on short notice. This is before even getting into the potential cost to repair classics damaged during shooting.
Water, water everywhere, it’ll put you on the brink: While boats and bikinis are indeed sexy and raise production value dramatically, they can take just as much back out in terms of logistics. Permits can be hard to obtain, loading equipment onto the boats can take hours, there’s hardly enough room to operate, and half the crew will get sick. If you want boats, set them in a port, and if you want swimwear, put your characters on a beach. Treat filming underwater with the same trepidation you would filming in outer space.
Never write in children and animals: Well okay, never say never, but the old adage proves mostly true. Having children on set brings about a whole host of issues, some of which you cannot control because they’re external to your production. The cut-off age is around mid-teens, where young-looking adult actors can play the part. As for animals, they have genetically evolved to sabotage any film production they’re part of. You have to always ask yourself whether these elements add enough production value to justify the complexities of working with them.
Equipment and set demands: This is a tricky one to keep in mind unless you’ve been on set and watched what the crew needs to get the job done. Some stuff is more obvious, such as knowing that the need for a gigantic green screen will put you at the mercy of the wind outdoors or require a massive soundstage indoors. Some stuff, like knowing a specialised lens is going to be needed to capture the action you’ve outlined, isn’t so obvious. Just try to think about what it may technically entail when you do something like set a scene in the rain, even down to considering the $80-a-piece luxury bathrobes and heat packs each actor will need between takes.
Company moves on the company dime: A producer ideally wants to set shooting locations in and around an area where the cast and crew can easily commute back and forth. Every company move that’s beyond trolley-pushing distance is an upheaval, as everything needed to shoot is packed up and “flown” elsewhere. This is mostly unavoidable on anything but a single-location film. The most extreme is a full-company move that requires food and board for all cast and crew every night in a remote location. Consider all those hotel room costs if you’re writing a script that’s set in two completely different regions.
Blowing up the budget: Stunts are surprisingly cost-effective when it comes to production value, providing they aren’t too extreme. Pretty much anything is going to require a performer and a coordinator at least, and the expense can escalate dramatically with the number of stunt performers needed as body doubles. Pyrotechnics are best avoided, especially given how well effects like muzzle flash can be digitally reproduced. All said, it’s best not to get too attached to action scenes as the stunt team on the day will take over for safety reasons and do the best job they can, sometimes exceeding expectations. All that really matters from the writer’s perspective is maintaining continuity and the emotional beats.
Hook big fish with actor bait: Star power is the raw muscle behind a movie’s commercial appeal, from funding to theatre tickets, so attracting big names can be critical. A tried-and-tested route to securing high-profile attachments is to create roles that give actors an opportunity to really stand out with a low time commitment (known as "day players"). Having a supporting character play a key part of the plot or say something profound can be a huge pull, especially if there’s a powerful monologue in there or a strong presence that will really show off their skills.
Page count really counts: A lot of fuss is made about page count, with many writers feeling they have to hit some magic number. The theoretical answer to page count will always be that you require the minimum pages you need to tell the story in an entertaining fashion. The reality is far more complicated: a 120pp script can cost half as much as an 80pp script. However, keep this in mind, many indie distribution strategies mean screenings can't be longer than 90 minutes.
So there we have my reasoning and some factors I think are worth considering. The important thing is not to compromise a script's entertainment value too much while avoiding blowing the budget for superficial gains. Finding the balance is always hard, but please consider this: you can always rewrite to take advantage of a higher spend, while a shoestring-budget version of a script will likely attract the most attention. Are there any firm rules here? No, but having an appreciation for budget will always be a valuable skill set to gain and expand in this business.