It’s almost a month into post-production, and I’m realizing that I haven’t covered the actual filming process. At all. I’m sure folks may be wondering how I did it, why I did it, and what the whole situation ended up being like. With me now being a pretty lightly-fried and seasoned producer person, I have a good sense of how to take a show on the road. There are things that I totally do and do NOT recommend you do, if you’re a filmmaker interested in having a smooth, “off-site”, no-budget film shoot.
Before we begin, though, let me be clear in saying that “no-budget” in film speak means you probably have $5k or less to get a project done. No-budget films usually come out of the pockets of the creators or from a very small and tight-knit crowdfunding effort. (them feels) is currently a no-budget project, though we do hope to get the funding necessary to finish the season. The tips below are still very doable from a Broke Phi Broke standpoint. You just have to be tenacious, transparent, and resourceful.
1. Have an On-Site Location Scout
I figured that it would be easy-peasy for me to find all the the locations I needed, because I’m a Detroiter, born and raised. I know everything and every whereabout in the city, right?
Wrong.
First of all, Detroit has changed SO MUCH in the past few years. New spaces are popping up, old spaces are getting torn down. There’s no way to really know what’s what if you don’t have someone based right in the middle of it. And, since I’m back and forth a lot, that ain’t me, y’all. If you have it in your budget, I encourage you to hire someone (professional and) based local to the shoot to do the legwork, tour the spaces, and report back with rates and pictures and all that good stuff until the final decisions are made. It’ll make for a huge peace-of-mind when it’s finally time to fly out and get cameras rolling.
Another thing, always, ALWAYS get location contracts signed. I don’t care if it’s your cousin’nem’s house or the next door neighbor’s. Get. Them. Signed. Periodt.
2. Get Familiar with Local Filming Regulations
My team and I were pretty good about making sure we knew the ins and outs of laws for filming in Michigan, but, during the process, I realized that a lot of people probably don’t even think to iron out those specifics.
Just because you’re an independent filmmaker doesn’t mean somebody won’t try to sue you, if they feel like you’re an easy ticket. With Detroit getting more and more “popular”, I really suggest keeping an eye on laws as they apply to filmmakers. You never know where you’ll get caught up, so it’s always good to have permits (and contracts) in place before you start filming.
3. Be Generous with Your Stay
Since this was a no-budget shoot, I had to make sure me and the small team I brought out from NYC stayed in Detroit long enough to finish the shoot but left with enough time to get back to work before our wallets ran too dry. It was an ideal schedule for all of us, financially, but, for the sake of the final product, I do wish we could have stayed to work a couple of days more.
You should always have a travel budget set in place acting as a cushion in and of itself. You and your team’s stay should probably be two to three days longer than you originally planned for, simply because every aspect of media production is so, terribly unpredictable. There may be actor conflicts, weather might be bad, or, if you’re like us, you may lose a location 12 hours before you’re supposed to film. If I had a budget that allowed for a longer stay, I absolutely would’ve used it.
4. Hire Local As Often As Possible
This sort of ties in with my first point, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to have even the smallest of teams based on-location. Though I’m sure this is a no-brainer for folks with big industry credits, this is something that not enough no-budget filmmakers know.
The bottom line is that you can’t be everywhere at once, you’re not God or Big Brother. You need eyes on the ground to ensure you have a safe landing from wherever you’re coming from. And if you don’t think you have the funds to pay people to do this work for you, get creative with what you can offer. While I am a huge advocate of offering monetary pay people for their labor, I am also someone who understand what it’s like to have to beg for favors. Barter when you can, feed as often as possible - even if you have to cook yourself - just do what you can to make sure you secure a quality team that’s going to help things run as smoothly as possible on that site. As much as you don’t want to admit it, you’re up to your eyelashes in administrative stuff that needs to be handled yesterday. You simply do not have the bandwidth to get caught up in too much of the “away” business, so, find yourself a couple of folks who do.
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So, now, I’m calling on my fellow, lightly-fried and seasoned indie filmmakers to lend some tips on taking films to specific, ‘away’ locations. What were some challenges or accidental successes you faced? Leave them in the comments!