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Low Budget Screenplays: From the Blank Screen to the Silver Screen

It may be a cliché, but it remains true that the mother of invention is necessity. Strict parameters sharpen the creative process, and the most fundamental parameter of all is not having money. That’s the situation for most aspiring filmmakers when they sit down to write a script that can be shot on a goodwill budget and a small loan. Typical examples of this type of writing are ‘El Mariachi’, ‘Clerks’, ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘London to Brighton’ and ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’. ‘Clerks’ is reported to have had a budget of $28,000 (1994) and ‘Blair Witch’ had a budget of about $60,000 (1999). Of course, this is the point where reality becomes fiction. Everyone who worked on ‘Blair Witch’ may have given their services for nothing, but that’s still a cost. It’s also true, I think, that to make ‘Blair Witch’ fit for the big screen, the distributor spent about $250,000 in post-production costs. The figures may or may not be exactly correct but, despite generally good intentions, if a film is going to have any chance in the market, there are fixed costs for which a budget must be found and being scored and adjusted. the image and hit the sound, including music.

In my opinion and experience, the minimum budget for a film that has a great script and can work in a few locations is £300k / $500k. With that level of budget, it’s possible to produce a movie that has professional production values ​​and has a real chance in the marketplace, but only if the script is good. The script, at that level of budget, is more important than for a movie with a budget of 50 million dollars because it has to be a compelling story without special effects, because there are crashes, explosions and genuine stars. Ironically, it’s only when he writes a script on a $500k budget that the screenwriter gets the satisfaction of seeing most of what he wrote make it to the big screen, especially if the writer is also the director. That rarely happens with studio images. Most scripts, even when commissioned, rarely see the light of a projector lamp. There are screenwriters in Hollywood who make a very good living rewriting other screenwriters’ scripts, which are permanently “in development.” As fun as it is to make good money typing away on a laptop, many Hollywood writers secretly yearn to make their own low-budget movie where the words they put into their characters’ mouths actually make it into the final cut.

Once you’ve decided to write a brilliant, low-budget script, there are a few techniques that can really push the odds a little higher in your favor. Deciding on the genre of your script is key and this is where most low budget filmmakers go wrong. Audiences are very happy to see a low-budget independent film if it says something different to the studios. To some extent, studios have broken through the indy mindset and produced studio movies that have a strong indie feel but, in general, it’s smarter to go for a non-mainstream genre. In other words, don’t try to make a shoestring budget action/adventure movie, or a rock-bottom romantic comedy. Those genres are staples of Hollywood and shouldn’t be questioned. The most profitable area for an independent film is the horror or suspense thriller. Hollywood movies in those genres that could have been made for $500k include ‘The Others’ and ‘The Strangers’. Although they are very different, i.e. ‘The Others’ is a terrifying ghost story and ‘The Strangers’ is a suspenseful thriller/horror, both movies take place in remote locations, have small casts and are perfect examples of the type of movie which can be ultra low budget and effective.

There are many writers who have enjoyed a certain amount of success writing script assignments, but are frustrated when their scripts never make it to production. Several years ago, I wrote a script set in a girls’ boarding school in a remote part of the English countryside. I decided to create a story that takes place during the mid-term break so that all the students are out of school. My genre was suspense thriller and my main characters were women. Everyone I showed the script to immediately saw its appeal: a large, deserted, terrifying building; a beautiful 18-year-old girl in peril and some very sinister goings-on, complete with some unexpected plot twists. The eventual film, ‘Out of Bounds,’ cost £500,000 ($800,000) and was released without fanfare or promotion, but has done well. Why? I think it’s because the location of the remote boarding school immediately adds atmosphere to the story; the characters are strong and well drawn and, most important of all, the acting is superb.

Without quality, professional acting, a low-budget movie will remain a vanity project. But, with the right script, a good location, and a talented cast, the funding will roll in and the market will buy as long as the story holds on.