The movie COLIN was made for 70 pounds... yeah right!!

Link to the imdb page for COLIN: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278322/

I'm not saying that the makers of this film should not be proud of their efforts but to say they spent70 pounds on it is ridiculous. Great publicity stunt but ridiculous. I would love to have been part of it. But here's what bothers me when things like this pops up in the media:

People think anyone is able to do this and they start to complain about the big budgets of movies. They think that all movies can be made for less than 500$. That it's just greedy people who want money to act in them. It makes me really frustrated.

Why is it that people think this is how film should be done? That Hollywood budgets are ridiculous? (Sure the amount of money wasted on stuff is sometimes extreme but that budget however high is returned to the investors most of the time (And that's the bottom line goal for most business.)

What if I started a factory. I started it in a rundown abandoned warehouse. I got 100 of my friends and friends friends to work for free and all the material costs I took out of my own pocket and didn't include into a budget. I asked all people to bring their own food and pay for their own transport themselves to and from the factory. I wouldn't bother insuring the factory or the workers so if anyone got hurt or died there would be manslaughter charges or huge penalties. How many people would say GREAT JOB!! and THIS IS HOW A FACTORY SHOULD BE RUN!! THE BIG FACTORIES OF THE WORLD ARE HAVING TOO HUGE BUDGETS!! ... I mean aren't the workers deserving of a salary and safety while they work??? COME ON!!

So why is it that when making a movie everyone is expected to work for free? They are all worthy of a salary because they dedicate their time and effort. They all deserve to get fed (And feeding 100 people for 18 months isn't cheap, paying hourly rates for 100 people for 18 months is sertainly not cheap).

And also you need editing facilities, a camera, props, permits etc etc ... if your going to make a small film with some friends you might have these things already but if your actually PRODUCING a movie this all are included in the budget.

Making a film is just as any other job except it's usually more time consuming and tougher than a lot of other jobs. What makes it less salary worthy??

If your actually going to make a proper film and pay people accordingly you going to have to work really hard to keep the budget below 2-3 million dollars. It's just a fact.

I'm not saying people shouldn't do indy films and work for free if they want to but I'm saying the public should realize that this is not a business model that would work on most productions. The film people needs a salary to pay for their mortgage, kids and food just like everyone else.

Truth is Subjective!!

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