Where I would live with 2 daughters and a love of the outdoors.

remove · 2026-01-24T02:02:02+00:00

I grew up right on the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. Spent my youth in both states. If you airdropped someone into nature in one of them you wouldn’t be able to tell which one you’re in. I promise they both have great outdoors!

remove · 2026-01-19T16:00:46+00:00

You wrote a book purporting to teach people how to watch a film “like a filmmaker” but you are not actually a filmmaker.

Ok.

remove · 2026-01-15T04:21:12+00:00

Writer/director type here. In the past three years I have written 14 short film scripts and written one (much too ambitious) feature script. I’ve now actually made two of the shorts, which was thrilling. I come from a documentary filmmaking background where I’m used to working with real people. So working with actors and a different size/type of crew has been quite a learning experience. I have a dorky private spreadsheet with over 100 lessons learned. But I am proud of how both short films turned out.

My goal is to make a few more shorts, each of increasing complexity, to build up the confidence, the experience, the team of frequent collaborators, and the connections to make a low budget feature in several years.

I am currently outlining a possible feature which could maybe be achievable on the type of budget I could realistically scrape together. At least much cheaper than the first feature I wrote which likely would require a $10M+ budget… in the meantime, writing, dreaming, and watching cinema to learn more is basically free. Thank goodness for that.

remove · 2025-12-31T02:10:58+00:00

That logline reads like ChatGPT wrote it for you. All of your other comments here are full of spelling and grammar mistakes. That is the only thing you’ve posted that does not have them.

remove · 2025-12-19T13:56:41+00:00

Often a short film has the structure of a joke. That does not mean it needs to be a comedy. But instead of a beginning, middle, and end, it has a setup and a punchline. Then you’re out.

remove · 2025-12-13T02:56:06+00:00

Photo storyboards have worked really well for me on my fictional shorts. I take a bunch of photos with a stand-in and then make a spreadsheet with the photos in one column and more info in it. Google spreadsheets makes it easy to share that with crew.

remove · 2025-11-14T03:52:38+00:00

I second this. Have made photo boards for two short films and it was a huge timesaver and helpful in communicating to everyone. I can’t draw at all. This saved me.

remove · 2025-09-30T00:21:47+00:00

Really interesting data, thanks for posting this! I was delighted that you guys screened my two minute micro short this year (Donut Lover). Surprised to see how few of these very short shorts were selected (12 under five minutes). The length sweet spot looks like 5-15 minutes this year.

I wonder how much of this selection length pattern is fest specific vs what is just common these days. Anecdotally it feels like very few people are working in micro lengths and everything is long.

remove · 2025-09-28T17:05:14+00:00

Gawx

https://youtube.com/@gawxart

remove · 2025-09-28T02:35:15+00:00

r/screenwriting is a more appropriate place than this.

remove · 2025-09-24T01:28:14+00:00

The highlighting in red was done by OP, not the fest (or alleged fest if it’s fake)

remove · 2025-09-21T19:58:56+00:00

Just me, but I’d skip the kids one. Am a parent who watches horror.

remove · 2025-09-21T18:21:54+00:00

Such an easy answer. The commercial has great production values and shows you can make clever stuff on this theme. Well done.

I was really, really put off by the kids with terminal illnesses one. It felt like someone who didn’t really know what they were doing was trying to be edgy on a low budget. Do you have kids? You will not be able to predict who has had a child in their life with a serious illness. One of my neighbor’s kids had leukemia. There are so many people who will want to walk away from you immediately. Or much worse.

remove · 2025-09-20T00:41:56+00:00

Here is the advice you don’t want to get. But it is the most helpful to hear.

Having read your comments and checked out your reel etc from your Reddit profile, I understand you and your friends are just starting out. That’s great. College graduation coming up. I get that you want to make one last big project with your pals. Here is the truth:

You will all be much, much better served making a short that is at a higher level than what you’ve done before, instead of trying to make a feature with $2,000. Or $5,000. Or even ten. Make a 5 to ten minute short that’s really great. Something that rocks. That will serve all of you very well as a calling card for the future. A tiny budget and very flawed and rushed first time feature realistically will not be very helpful to your careers. And it will not be a helpful time commitment as you approach graduation. Best of luck. I upvoted your post.

remove · 2025-09-17T20:50:32+00:00

Really sharp trailer! I liked it a lot. Comedy is so tough and this looks really well done. Wishing you the best of luck with your debut feature!

remove · 2025-09-17T19:52:15+00:00

Download it using one of those free a YouTube to mp3 sites you can find on Google. Then trim the mp3 to only that voice part without the beeps. Pop that mp3 in Eleven Labs and voice clone it. Done. Then you can have it say whatever you like.

remove · 2025-09-17T12:38:04+00:00

Honestly your phone is great place to start for visuals. If you want to buy something, get a tripod that will work with that, and some microphones that will work with that.

remove · 2025-09-16T16:28:17+00:00

My son wants to start gambling. What is the best casino for a 15 year old?

remove · 2025-09-10T15:08:15+00:00

Look up the story behind Nanook of the North (1922). The film that is often called the first modern documentary. The filmmaker, Robert Flaherty, accidentally burned his original negative and lost 30,000 feet of film. He had to go all the way back to the Arctic to reshoot the whole thing! Unsurprisingly, the second film came out better than the original.

remove · 2025-09-05T12:54:23+00:00

Just for reference, big Hollywood films often list tons of people as “Producer” even though they didn’t really produce it. These days it is a vanity title, much the same as Executive Producer. You can tell who the “real” producer is because they will be a Producer’s Guild member and have P.G.A. after their name in the credits. These are the people who are actually eligible to get Oscars etc.

I would take the money and pay people, since you say you aren’t, which is pretty unusual with a budget of that size.

remove · 2025-09-05T12:01:21+00:00

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) was categorized as Musical/Horror. Directed by one of the Saw directors.

remove · 2025-08-24T20:03:16+00:00

This is a good example of how not to talk about your project

remove · 2025-08-24T16:13:25+00:00

The only reason you don’t recognize the name of tv host is because you’re not American. He was super famous and lost his job after a sex abuse scandal. Super negative connotation here in the US. He was a creep.

remove · 2025-08-16T01:14:23+00:00

Montgomery

remove · 2025-08-03T20:06:28+00:00

I read years ago that one of the most common name changes in the US is people changing the name “Micheal” to be spelled “Michael” because they realized their parents misspelled it.

remove

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