Ano-budget film is afilm made with very little or no money. Actors and technicians are often employed in these films withoutremuneration. A no-budget film is typically made at the beginning of a filmmaker's career, with the intention of either exploring creative ideas, testing their filmmaking abilities, or for use as a professional "calling card" when seeking creative employment. No-budget films are commonly submitted to film festivals, the intention being to raise widespread interest in the film.
No-budget films are financed out-of-pocket by thedirector, who typically takes on multiple roles, or else uses a crew of volunteers.
In 1960,Ron Rice releasedThe Flower Thief, starringTaylor Mead, to positive reception. The film was produced for less than $1,000[1] using black-and-white16 mm 50' film cartridges left over from aerial gunnery equipment used duringWorld War II.[2] In the early 1960s, filmmakerJack Smith used discarded color-reversal film stock to filmFlaming Creatures.[3]John Waters' 1964black-and-white filmHag in a Black Leather Jacket reportedly cost $30 to make, though Waters has said that he stole the film stock.[4]Craig Baldwin'sFlick Skin is entirely made from discarded film, or "found footage", retrieved from a projectionist's booth.[5] TheNo Wave Cinema movement of the late 1970s, represented by filmmakers such asVivienne Dick, produced many notable no-budget films shot on Super 8,[6] such asBeauty Becomes The Beast. In 1996,Sarah Jacobson's first feature film,Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, was made with "one camera, one tape recorder, one mic and, like, four lights".[7]G. B. Jones took 13 years to film, direct and edit onSuper 8 film the feature filmThe Lollipop Generation (2008), which was filmed whenever she could afford to buy a roll of film.[8] In 2012, first-time director Shawn Holmes shot his debut filmMemory Lane with non-professional actors and a budget of less than $300.[9] In the same year,Goodbye Promise became the first film distributed online directly to its audience via acrowdfunding platform.[10] The 2013 sci-fiHyperfutura byJames O'Brien employed found footage married to a live action narrative to create a dystopian future on an inventive no-budget scale.[11] The budget forBrian Patrick Butler’s black comedyFriend of the World was so small that it was said to cost less than a monthly spend on coffee, relying on itsblack and white images and stage play setup.[12]
Footage for no-budget films is often shoton location, either with permission, or without permission (i.e. "guerrilla filmmaking"), using sites such as the filmmaker's home, backyard, or local neighborhood. Jonás Cuarón spent a year taking photographs of his friends and family which he then compiled into his fictional filmYear of the Nail (2007).
No-budget films have often been made in the past using Super 8 film orvideo, but recent films have taken advantage of low-cost digital cameras and editing programs. A notable example of this could be found in the work ofASS Studios, a no-budget film studio founded in 2011 by Courtney Fathom Sell andJen Miller on theLower East Side ofNew York City.[13][14]
No-budget films can be distributed at film festivals that focus onindependent andexperimental films,[15] such as theFlicker Film Festival[16] and No Budget Film Festival[17] inLos Angeles, The 8 Fest inToronto, and theTrasharama A-Go-Go festival inAustralia.[18] ThePolish brothers distributed their no-budget filmFor Lovers Only on iTunes and relied onsocial media to publicize it.[19]
Examples of well-received no-budget films areKevin Smith'sClerks,[20]Christopher Nolan'sFollowing,[21]Jafar Panahi'sTaxi,[22]Shane Carruth'sPrimer,Robert Rodriguez'sEl Mariachi,Bruno Stagnaro &Israel Adrián Caetano'sPizza, birra, faso,Nabwana I.G.G.'sWho Killed Captain Alex?,Jörg Buttgereit’sNekromantik, andCyrus Frisch'sWhy Didn't Anybody Tell Me It Would Become This Bad in Afghanistan.
