85 Year Old Oscar-Winner Makes His No-Budget Feature after 45 Years

In the 12 years since founding No Budget Film Schooll, I've taught hundreds and hundreds of filmmakers. All ages, all types of experience. Famous people. Unknowns. Talented and less-so. But former student Terry Sanders is unique. When the now-85 year old filmmaker took my class over 2 years ago, he had already had a legendary career. Over 80 films produced and 2 Academy Awards, along with a host of other awards. Why was Terry Sanders taking my class? What did I have to offer someone of his caliber?

Turns out, the same thing I've offered most of my students. A little bit of knowledge and a little bit of inspiration. Or more to the point, the kick in the pants they needed to feel confident moving forward with their dream.

In the case of Terry, the dream was a persistent one. You see, Terry has been making movies a long time--63 years to be precise--since his first job on the 1954 cult hit Night Of The Hunter. But most of his career has been spent making documentaries. In the 1960's he wrote a narrative feature that he planned to make then, but things happened and that film ended up on the shelf. A lot of filmmakers come to my class with a script on the shelf. I very much enjoy helping people take that script off the shelf, dusting it off, and making it viable for today's new micro-budget reality.

So, after over 45 years and then taking my class, Terry felt like it was the right time to bring his dream project to life. The result is the now-complete Liza, Liza Skies Are Grey, currently playing theatrically in New York and Los Angeles. Set in 1966 and made for under $200,000, Liza is not your typical one-location, 2-actor, no-budget film. The film was shot in 30 locations with over 40 speaking parts, and did I mention it's set in 1966?!? Period pieces are brutally hard to do on a micro-budget, but not impossible, as Liza illustrates.

One thing I don't teach in my classes is a template. In fact, I ask you to throw out whatever templates you've heard of for shooting no-budget films, and figure out the methodology that works best for you and your particular, unique situation. That might be a one-location shoot in 10 days (whew, though I would recommend against that!), or it might be shooting on Saturdays for a year all over town. In the case of Terry, with his particular resources, it meant shooting for 25 days over a 6 week period. It also meant wearing a lot of familiar hats--writing, directing, producing and editing.

I encourage you to read Terry's account of the making of the film in a recent MovieMaker article. It's inspiring and edifying, just like I always hope my classes are. And if you're in LA or NYC, please try to see the film. It's playing through Thursday at the Laemmle Monica in LA and the Cinema Village in NYC.

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© 2017 Mark Stolaroff