How much does it cost on average to make a good film?

Six+Plus Productions

LOL, this is a subjective question, but a neccessary one. Its really very relative. Some say "Clerks" and "El Mariachi" were good films. $30,000, and $7,000. Others might like "Waterworld" 200 mill!
A good movie isnt dictated by how much you spend, but rather, how good your story, and storytelling are, and how creative you allow yourself to be.

Examples:
A short I recently watched cost $200,000 to make.(shot on 35mm film) The general concensius is that is WAY to much to spend on a short, because you never really see a cash return. The film has won several film festivals. Another film I know of, by an FSU film student cost $15,000 to make (shot on 35mm) it won atleast 12 festivals, was accepted at the Cannes film festival in their proffessional short film competition, and started a studio bidding war over the director, Eduardo Rodriguez, which Dimension films won with a 3 picture deal. Some might say, "The one that cost more is better." Well, it won a few festivals, the other won many festivals, and got the director a studio job writting, and directing feature films. One, was more creative.

In my own experience. I just won 1st place at a film festival. My short cost just under $100 to make (shot on MiniDV) the third place film cost almost $5,000 to make (shot on 16mm film). Now, many film festivals will pick anything shot on film, over something shot on video, and with a lower budget. This one did not. Why? I assume, they liked my story better.

The lesson... money dosent make a better movie, creativity, and originality do. I assume you ask because you want to know how much you should spend to make a good movie. It depends on many things. If you have a video camera, it can cost next to nothing. If you shoot on film, there are cost involved (purchasing, processing, transfer, ect..) A more specific question will help my self (and others here) give more advice based on your needs.

I have just one quick bit of advice, to help you get going, and keep costs down. Use what you have. Write stories based around things you already have access to. Thats how my now award winning short started. I had an apartment, and 2 actors. I just asked myself what I could do, that I would actually want to watch. Two guys in an apartment isnt exactly exciting.... or is it? All depends on what you do. Have a nice car? Put it in a short. Have a crappy car? Write it its own short. Come up with simple, original, short stories, consisting of things you already have. This makes it more likley to be completed, and you learn best by doing. So DO! Anything else, just ask, and welcome aboard.
R. Michael

And you shall know us by the trail of dead.

if your creative enough and have some good dv equipment $500 should do it........just spend it wisely

Yes, the above is all true. But that's assuming you own most, if not all the equipment you plan to use. A more appropriate question is, what does a budget look like for a good short? How much and where does it go? Well.... Do you have a camera? a tri pod? lights? sound equipment? makeup? costumes? sets/location? talent? NLEing computer? Software? If you don't own this stuff, you'd have to rent or buy (or borrow). Both are going to cost you more than five hundred. But if you buy, you'll be ab le to spread the cost over several projects because you can reuse much of the equipment. With respect to the equipment that I own, I try to include 10% of the total equipment cost in each large project's budget--sort of renting it to myself.

Otherwise, assuming you don't need to rent buy equipment, have free locations/cast/crew and can beg/borrow/steal costumes and makeup, the most expensive thing, generally, is feeding your crew. Don't underestimate how important a P, B+J sandwich and a generic so da can be to people that are working for free 6-16 hours a day for you. Other expenses I can think of are petrol (for transportation and generators), gaffing disposables (gaffer's tape, black wrap, spike tape, bulbs), props (depending on script, could b e a little or a lot), Video tape, office stuff (photocopying scripts, envelopes, postage), Batteries. These are normal-for-me expenses off the top of my head. Obviously, each project is very different.

Hope this helps
jorenn

Good points by Jorenn. Allow me to breakdown my expenses on the $100 short.

Ok, Wardrobe, and props. I hit a Goodwill, and bought two shirts, and a small tray table. Total cost $6, and change. (Normally, I wouldnt buy clothes for parts, I would use clothes owned by the talent, but this movie required some bleeding on the talents part, and I didnt want to ruin anyones clothes, so I bought shirts. I had traytables, but the one needed to take a beating, and my wife would kill me if I broke ours.)
Makeup. This required some makeup effects, but I really had nothing. I have since built up my collection, but at that point, I didnt know where to start. I went to a dollar store, and picked up a ton of makeup for $6. I used different eye shadows for the bruises (see below still) and had some fake blood ($1). I also used some cheap base makeup to take the shine off the actors.

Lights. I bought some Halogen bulbs, and some domed lamps. The bulbs register white on video, and the domes lamps work great. (I did already own several lamps though.) This was the most expensive of my costs, at $30.
I have spent $43 so far. The camera, mic, mixer, and tapes came from my school, as did diffusion, and gels for the lights (although wax paper makes great diffusion) I was ready to shoot.
My only cost now is food for the crew. I didnt have a set amount I was going to spend, but I do like to have descent food. I contacted my Producer, who is Venezualan, and asked if his cousin would make us some food for our first night. She is an insane cook, and being true to her heritage, made TONS of food. The crew was very happy, good food, good times. The next few nights I had a pretty trimmed down crew (3 in total, including talent AND crew) so it was easy. We got more done, and for food, I would hit my cupon drawer, and order some great greek food, or italian, some wings, whatever i had deals on. I also made sure I had plenty of cheap grocery brand soda, and coffee in the house. In the end, the one meal cost me nothing, and the others cost less than $50. Thats it.
The editing was at my school, although my home omputer can do it as well. The tapes for the final dub cost nothing, but I dont factor Festival fees into the budget. Those tend to be seperate to me. Although my festival fees on this have been $25 so far.

Thats the breakdown of what I spent. I used stuff I had, looked for the cheapest deals on things I didnt, and tried to provide good food for a dedicated, and free, cast and crew. Hope this helps you.
R. Michael
P.S.
Drink tip. I have done this on bigger shoots. McDonalds has these 5 gallon coolers, and a gallon of Orange drink concentrate they will let you borrow, and have for free, as long as you leave like an $80 deposit. Return it at the end of the day (you will have tons of orange concentrate left for other shooting days) and you get your check back. Total cost, just your time, and effort. Just tell them its for a birthday party.

And you shall know us by the trail of dead.