A year before the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Quincenera didn't exist. It's pretty amazing what can happen in one year! Now a Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award winner, this small feature film makes it's theatrical release in August thanks to Sony Classic Pictures! See the highlights below from a recent article by Peter Bowen in IFP's Filmmaker Magazine about how Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland made Quincenera.Info shared by the film's producer Anne Clements is also included. (Todd Haynes is Exec Producer by the way). All involved are experienced filmmakers who wanted to break-out and do their own indie film.
For all indie filmmakers seeking to bring-in a low-budget film shot on HD, take a look at the full article or read through the entire Spring magazine. The cover feature interview with Robert Altman is great and Altman shot A Prairie Home Companion using 3 HD cameras.
Since I am doing some early PR/communications work for filmmakers of a low-budget indie film being shot on HD with 2 cameras, I just heard about some of the behind-the-scenes production-related panic around filming in HD---the early raw footage of this particular film shoot is gorgeous, I attribute this to the cinematographer and the HD experience even though not much about HD is standard at the moment. I thought the info below might be of interest to others in your quest to make a low-budget feature under $1M.
Here's some keypoints on the filmmakers' approach to Quincenera & their production budget:
- developed a film style and language appropriate to the story & budget
- thought of movie as a doc with scripted performances
- mimicked a real home video of a quincenera shot-for-shot
- used the British "Kitchen Sink" drama model (poetic realism) and influence of Ozu's style
- wanted to shoot film fast and light with some improvisation
- made it very local - shot on location "under the radar" in Echo Park
- used non-union/non-professional actors, friends of cast were extras
- experienced the "makings" of a Quincenera through their neighbors in Echo Park
- knew investors who were likely to fund their movie - (immigrants, made their fortunes, into the family aspects of the story)
- got a handshake deal without a script ($300K)
- shooting budget $38oK
- wrote the script in 3 weeks
- completed within 1 year
- overall budget after: postproduction/film transfer, Sundance/Berlin festival expenses (w/cast travel) landed at $700K
- 60-person crew (everyone Clement's "adored") - non-union/union working outside normal classifications ---> gave more responsibility --- it was a 'young' crew
- Fed them well/threw great kick-off party and wrap party
- Everyone worked for $100 - $150/day
- Long shoot-days: 6-day weeks for 3 weeks
- Crew and non-Sag Actors interview process: "If you don't like the script, don't do the movie."
- Major problems/reworks with HD postproduction workflow -- find a house that has mastered the HD workflow process
- Distributors at Sundance: did not know how to market/position the film - 3 weeks after Sundance, Sony Pictures Classics bought it
- If their next film does not bring a large enough budget for them to live on, the filmmakers will probably be back making another "Kitchen Sink" movie
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