It's a real bummer when a first time filmmaker cannot get a movie off the ground because they are working with an unrealistic "dream budget." My take on a "dream budget" is a budget created on what a filmmaker wants to spend in contrast to what they can really afford to spend to make a movie.
"Dream budgets" from an indie movie view, are not grounded in firm economic reality. If you do not have access to a helicopter for a daring rescue scene then why have a helicopter scene in your film? If you cannot afford to block off a downtown street for a wild shootout scene, then why have that scene in your screenplay? Those type of high cost scenes should be left out of an indie screenplay and budget.
It's a real long shot to find a major movie studio, producer, or production company to put up big money for an independent film. Especially with a first time filmmaker unknown in the business running the show.
It's even more of a stretch to find investors not in the media industry to cover a movie budget that has a big price tag. Striving to secure a sizable amount of production cash as an indie filmmaker takes sweat equity, marketing know how and good fortune from the universe.
But it does happen. If you do find big dollar film financing then the sky is the limit, but if it that doesn't happen you're stuck playing the waiting game for money to shoot. That's a mental drag. You want to be able to come up with an indie movie budget that works.
This dramatically boosts the chances of securing funding you need to make your film now, not later on. On lower budget movies it is always better to have a budget based on indie resources, not a "dream budget" stuffed with elements that will not be realistic to include in an indie movie. The saying "champagne taste on a beer budget" fits well here.
If you are producing your own movie then you have an idea of how much money you can raise through family, friends, and your personal wealth. That's a great starting point for mapping out a sensible and workable budget.
A indie film budget that works is based on a cash you can secure to finish a movie. The tremendous benefit of having a workable budget is it spells out in hard numbers the amount of money you can spend to make your movie allowing you to schedule a successful movie shoot. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing CUT TO.
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