Be the New Gorilla!

Yes. No better time. The price of film equipment is at an all time low - from DSLR's to portable sound recorders. Not to mention how much easier and cheaper it is to edit now - Final Cut is so affordable. So here's the deal - for all you filmmakers out there - BE ACTIVE.

Don't get in the mind set of wanting to make a feature that costs a lot of money - and you end up spending years raising funds, and everything spins out of control because it got too big. Keep it simple. Lean. Tight.

In the book, I talk about THE IDEA is the house you build your foundation on. Everything starts with a good idea, and an idea that's right for a low-budget feature. Not all ideas can be filmed for 25K or 50K, or for 100K for that matter.

It must have the least amount of characters and locations as possible. Specifically, you don't want more than two or three main characters, and ideally, one major location is best. Take for example, Roman Polanski's first feature - KNIFE IN THE WATER. One major location - the boat, and only three characters.

Next entry I'll take a step back and talk about short films. Making your own short film, making and making them until one is really good. Then I'll get back on the indie feature train. In the mean time, watch as many debut films of directors as you can - Indie ones, that is, and you'll see what I mean about less is more.