The Coen Brother’s Micro-Budget Short Film: World Cinema

The Coen Brother’s Micro-Budget Short Film: World Cinema Commissioned by the Cannes Film Festival, the Coen Brothers wrote, produced, and directed the short film “World Cinema.” The film stars Josh Brolin dressed like his character in No Country For Old Men and going by the name Dan. He debates with the theater’s ticket taker (Grant…

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Tim Burton’s First Short Films: Vincent and Frankenweenie

Tim Burton’s Micro-Budget First Short Films: Vincent and Frankenweenie While at Disney in 1982, Burton made his first short, Vincent, a six-minute black-and-white stop motion film based on a poem written by the filmmaker, and depicting a young boy who fantasizes that he is his hero Vincent Price, with Price himself providing narration. The film…

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The Meditating Filmmaker – How to Be More Creative

The Meditating Filmmaker – How to Be More Creative Over the years I have mentioned my meditation practice and how important it is in my daily routine on the show. Many of the #IFHTribe have asked me to do an entire episode on meditation and the importance it has in the creative process. Today is that…

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Close Captioning Your Indie Film for $1/Minute

Close Captioning Your Indie Film for $1/Minute As any filmmaker who has ever delivered a film or video to distribution knows Close Captioning is a big and expensive pain in the butt. The process is convoluted, confusing and most of all  PRICEY. The cost to have close captioning created for your movie, television series, web series or…

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What Filmmakers Can Do If They Have No Money

What Filmmakers Can Do If They Have No Money I refuse to accept that all we need is money to solve our problems and I have come up with a way to work “the money problem”. As an indie film coach, I generally focus on the business side of filmmaking, but when one over-emphasizes this…

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Filmtrepreneur Breakdown: Before the Dark – $15k Budget

Filmtrepreneur Breakdown: Before the Dark The journey of our feature film “Before The Dark” begins with a phone call from my good friend Benny Oliveri, Benny and I met at Film School and had stayed in touch ever since. A few years after Film School we both found ourselves living in sunny Los Angeles, my…

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Steven Spielberg’s Early War Film: Escape from Nowhere

Steven Spielberg’s Micro-Budget Short Film: Escape from Nowhere As a teenager, Steven Speilberg was already making films. One of his first was Escape from Nowhere. A war movie inspired by the stories of his family’s experience in World War II. Listen to Speilberg explain it below.  Download Steven Spielberg’s Screenplay Collection in PDF <span…

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Spike Jonze’s Short Film: I’m Here

Spike Jonze’s Short Film: I’m Here I’m Here is a 2010 sci-fi romance short film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The film is a love story about two robots living in Los Angeles where humans and robots co-exist. The plot is based on The Giving Tree, and the main character is named after Shel…

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Steven Spielberg’s Micro-Budget 1st Feature Film: Firelight

Steven Spielberg’s Micro-Budget 1st Feature Film: Firelight The most complete version of Steven Spielberg’s 1964 first independent film. The full movie is 140 minutes in length but has never been seen by the public. Firelight is a 1964 science fiction adventure film written and directed by Steven Spielberg at the age of 17. Made on…

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Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Short Film: Tramwaj

Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Short Film: Tramwaj Tramway (Polish: Tramwaj) is a 1966 short silent film by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski, produced while he was a student at the Łódź Film School. The film is included as an extra feature on the American and Artificial Eye Region 2 DVD releases of Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Love.…

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