in the trenches outside of Hollywood I think a smaller budget movie that can land a straight-to-DVD or video-on-demand release is a success story. A lot of smaller budget film shoots fail at different stages. I always try to avoid using the term “independent film” because some movies made for a million or more are considered independent in some industry circles. I prefer using “smaller budget film.” The smaller budget film community who make movies on budgets from ,000 to a 0,000 is where making that first movie can be disastrous. It’s usually due to a lack of experience, money, time, or unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved with limited resources.
Before making my first movie Consignment I thought I knew what to expect from reading well known books. I learned the hard way that I knew a fraction of what it takes to make a smaller budget movie