An issue-oriented short movie is one that has a theme of social relevance at it's core. Drug abuse, poverty, the environment, homelessness ... these are all examples of a short film with a socially relevant style. This is considerable as it is A LOT EASIER to get contributions of time, equipment and supplies when there is a "source" behind the movie.
In the mid 90's I was able to get a 12 minute 35mm movie produced for under a thousand dollars, a definitely unusual amount. Catering, areas, movie stock and processing, misc supplies, devices - practically everything was covered with generous donations due to the fact that the film had two major social issues as the primary themes - child abuse and it's resultant connection to drug abuse later in life.
The approach? Experience production directories and cold call until you cannot talk any longer. A typical pitch went like this: "we're working on a film that handles some lovely extreme social issues and we're questioning if there's somebody we can talk to about making a contribution of ..." It takes a great deal of calls, however it works.
Getting contributions is in one sense rather simple as many manufacturing companies are willing to contribute. The difficulty that comes from this option to short film financing is in the additional coordination efforts needed, for you'll should adjust your schedule to the contributors. An example of this is that we had to cancel a film shoot two weekends in a row due to the fact that the 35mm camera that was being donated to us became unavailable as it was booked out on a paid shoot (a truth that needs to be accepted taking this approach). But as soon as the rental business's schedule cleared, the camera was ours and we were able to shoot, saving hundreds of dollars in rental charges.
Another problem with taking this course is manufacturer sychronisation. It's much better if you have an unique manufacturer working on getting donations as it's a full time task in and of itself. It's best to have one producer to manage shooting logistics and another to handle donations. In the end, while our group was able to complete a lot with very little funds, the film suffered due to the fact that the director/producer (myself) was exhausted with managing logistics and had less time to invest on imaginative shots, acting, etc. Having an unique manufacturer to manage contributions will resolve that trouble!
In the mid 90's I was able to get a 12 minute 35mm movie produced for under a thousand dollars, a definitely unusual amount. Catering, areas, movie stock and processing, misc supplies, devices - practically everything was covered with generous donations due to the fact that the film had two major social issues as the primary themes - child abuse and it's resultant connection to drug abuse later in life.
The approach? Experience production directories and cold call until you cannot talk any longer. A typical pitch went like this: "we're working on a film that handles some lovely extreme social issues and we're questioning if there's somebody we can talk to about making a contribution of ..." It takes a great deal of calls, however it works.
Getting contributions is in one sense rather simple as many manufacturing companies are willing to contribute. The difficulty that comes from this option to short film financing is in the additional coordination efforts needed, for you'll should adjust your schedule to the contributors. An example of this is that we had to cancel a film shoot two weekends in a row due to the fact that the 35mm camera that was being donated to us became unavailable as it was booked out on a paid shoot (a truth that needs to be accepted taking this approach). But as soon as the rental business's schedule cleared, the camera was ours and we were able to shoot, saving hundreds of dollars in rental charges.
Another problem with taking this course is manufacturer sychronisation. It's much better if you have an unique manufacturer working on getting donations as it's a full time task in and of itself. It's best to have one producer to manage shooting logistics and another to handle donations. In the end, while our group was able to complete a lot with very little funds, the film suffered due to the fact that the director/producer (myself) was exhausted with managing logistics and had less time to invest on imaginative shots, acting, etc. Having an unique manufacturer to manage contributions will resolve that trouble!
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