Shooting A $6,300 ComConRomCom: The Wiz Bang Story of Filming "Fame-Ish"

I have been teaching my No Budget Film School class for nearly 14 years. While some of what I teach has changed or evolved over those years, most of the core ideas are just as important today as they were in 2005. The corest of these core ideas are:

1. Embrace Your Limitations
2. Work Within the Framework of Available Resources

I spend a good deal of time discussing these two crucial principles and at the end of this section of my class, I finish with my micro-budget piece de resistance—the idea that before you write a script, you should make a list of your Limitations (and turn them into Rules to make your movie by), and a list of your Resources (all the things you have available to you to make a movie with—locations, props, costumes, set dressing, actors, crew, equipment, etc.). I then explain that it’s from the melding or merging of these two lists that a unique, one-of-a-kind movie exists. I caution that you can’t make every kind of movie this way, but rather, that you’re looking for the one unique movie that your specific circumstances provides you. There are two huge benefits from working this way:

1. You can make a movie that literally (or nearly literally) costs you nothing
2. You’ll end up with something completely unique, because no two people will have the same lists. I further explain that Uniqueness is the #1 quality you’re going for in an independent film

For many people who take my class, this whole first part of Day 1, culminating with my Two Lists, is positively mind-altering. It’s the Ah-Hah Moment, and I can sometimes hear that “ah hah” when I get there. For other attendees, this revelation is a bummer. They’ve brought their already-written scripts with them and they want me to teach them how to make those for no-money. I assure these people that I will get to how they can make their already-written scripts for less money, mostly in Day 2 of my weekend, and I ask them to put those scripts on the shelf for just a few hours. I call working from the Two Lists the purest form of micro-budget filmmaking. In fact, most people won’t be working in this absolute way; they’ll use some of those ideas and add money to the mix and do some kind of hybrid micro-budget film. None of the films I’ve made with Henry Barrial, for instance, have been Two List films, except for maybe the first one, Some Body.

But then…

Homework

A few years ago, to encourage even further the idea of working this way, I began assigning my one and only bit of homework: I asked students to go home and create their lists, and then start thinking of what kind of movie might come from those lists. And then on Day 2, I ask a couple of brave souls to come up and share with the class their lists and story ideas. 

Jeff Nimoy (left) with Me in my No Budget Film School Class Feb 2015

Back in February 2015, a student named Jeff Nimoy, a friend of a friend who took my class to figure out how to make a script he’d been working on for some time, came up and told the class his resources and limitations. Some of his free assets resembled those of anyone who might take my class--“My Apartment,” “My Friends’ Houses,” etc. But Jeff is a unique guy. He’s been in the film business for a quarter century. He’s written 14 screenplays (4 were produced). He’s produced for two decades. But more than anything, he’s a superstar in the Anime world. In fact, as he describes it, he’s the Brad Pitt of Anime. His resource list included “My celebrity at anime conventions” and “My celebrity as a draw for anime fans who are also camera people, sound people, industry people, etc.” And of course, his ability as a long-time producer to ask his buddies for favors, not even counting his own expertise in a number of areas of filmmaking. 

I was kinda blown away. Somehow, it never occurred to Jeff to make a movie using these elements, but to me, it was a no-brainer. I got immediately excited for him and told him he should definitely work on a story that would incorporate all these amazing, unique resources. He did. Kind of. He went home that night and immediately started working on a new script set at an anime convention, starring someone like Jeff, a star director and voice actor in that world. He wrote 25 pages of that script and starting talking to people about being in it, but then realized he wasn’t getting invited to conventions anymore. He had been moving on from anime for several years and apparently, anime had moved on too. So, he put the script away.

Bucket List

Then three things happened that changed everything. First, in May 2017, he was diagnosed with a ping pong ball-sized brain tumor. The prognosis was chilling and a week later, he was having brain surgery. Fortunately for Jeff, the tumor was benign and he had a new lease on life. Second, as “luck” would have it, he lost his job weeks later. The owner of the company he was working for had embezzled all the company’s money and now everyone was out of work. Then third, one of Jeff’s biggest anime hits, Digimon, celebrated its 15 year anniversary and they started making new ones, so now he was back on the convention guest list. 

Jeff has been producing, acting, writing and voice directing for years, and has been successful doing it. But he’s never directed his own feature film, something he’s wanted to do since coming out to LA all those many years ago. He’d written several scripts for himself to direct, but he’d never been able to secure the financing. With his near-death experience behind him, it was time to move Directing A Movie up on his bucket list. He reached out to friends and colleagues with the following pitch, “I have no money, I can’t guarantee anyone will ever see this movie, and I can’t guarantee this movie will even be good, but I’m tired of asking for permission to make a movie, and if you’re tired too, please join me.” And many people did. He took a year off to make the movie that became Fame-Ish and here’s how he did it…

King of the Cons

It turns out that being the Brad Pitt of Anime is pretty helpful in getting free stuff. The way a lot of these cons work is they fly in their big guests, put them up for free in a hotel, pay for all their meals, pay them a not-unsubstantial attendance fee, and even give them specific timeslots to sign autographs (for money) and sell merch. Jeff decided to write a “traditional” romcom (Romantic Comedy), using all the conventions (no pun intended) of a romcom (“know your genre,” he says), but he set most of it in a weekend at an anime convention, and cast many his anime actor friends—stars in that world. He also applied another very important, but difficult rule to abide by from my class—Refuse to Spend Money. His goal was to shoot the movie for free and he almost did that. 

He contacted Geek.Kon in Madison Wisconsin and made the film with their complete cooperation. He negotiated a deal where they would pay to fly out eight of his name anime actors, put them up in a hotel, and pay their per diem and food and drinks for 6 days. Jeff used his appearance fee to cover the travel for his DP (a recent USC grad) and other actors who weren’t in the anime world. Jeff was able to more or less take over the convention, creating panels for the movie and asking participants to be in the film as, well, participants. The Marriott, where everyone was staying, rolled out the red carpet. The general manager literally told them that the hotel was at their disposal, and they shot all over it. In fact, they managed to shoot 80 of the 104 page script in 71 hours over the 6 day period. They even shot at the airport, with their complete cooperation, too. They gave Jeff his own private terminal! 

Now, I should point out another essential skill to have—the ability to tell your story to get things for free. In my class, I call this knowing your Currency. Your currency are those special qualities you have or your project has that get people excited about your film. You use your currency when you’re trying to get friends to work for free, talking to an anime convention, or writing to an airport. They called Jeff “The Closer,” because he was able to talk anyone into helping just by telling them his story. If you’re going to go through all the hell of brain surgery, you might as well use it to your advantage. 

Jeff crewed up the film using recent students from the University of Madison, as well as local anime fans. He’d made a deal to get free equipment in Madison, but that fell through at the last minute, which means he had to rent cameras (two Sony A7s’) and sound gear (a recorder, boom pole, and four wireless lavalieres). The shooting was so run and gun, they didn’t light anything, and they needed two cameras to get all the coverage required, in a short amount of time. The lavs were needed because the ambient noise of the convention was so loud the boom mic (which Jeff owned) often was ineffective.

Job One: Learn All The Other Jobs

Jeff leaned on his prior production experience by wearing multiple hats—besides writing, directing, producing and starring in the film, he was also the casting director, location scout, wardrobe department, art department, production coordinator, 1st and 2nd AD, and many other positions. His crew in Madison was his DP/Camera A Operator, Camera B operator, sound guy, an EP who ran the slate and script supervised, a makeup person, and various PA’s who helped keep people from walking into their shots. Because the crew was so green, Jeff had to micro-manage everyone initially until they all got up to speed. He did a lot of online research, for instance, on how to hide a lav mic. It’s important to note that while the crew lacked experience, there was no shortage of enthusiasm. They were thrilled to be working on a feature film with an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker from Los Angeles, and the experience they gained was incredibly valuable to them. 

Back in LA, Jeff shot the rest of the 24 pages in six days over the course of 8 months, at friends’ houses, his apartment, a convention in Ontario, and a hotel room in Woodland Hills. To edit the film, Jeff enlisted a poker buddy who was a full-time editor, but who had never done a feature. Sam Mollo and Jeff worked nights and weekends on the cut, and eventually Sam did all the finishing, too, (motion graphics, color correction, and online). Post sound was handled by Joshua Manley, the husband of a friend. Jeff sent it to Joshua to get notes on the cut and Joshua insisted on doing the sound.

Jeff came up with an innovative way to compensate the cast and crew. No one who worked on the film was paid cash. Everyone, 25-30 people, worked for points in the venture. Jeff himself still retains a majority of points. So when the film eventually makes money, everyone will participate in the revenues based on their contribution to the production. 

So how much did Jeff spend to make his dream come true? To shoot the film, he spent $6,300 total. This went to camera and sound equipment rental, and the hotel room in Woodland Hills. He spent additional money in post, mainly for music—there is a ton of music in the film and it really adds to the overall experience. He also rented a theater at The Landmark for a cast and crew screening that I was fortunate enough to attend. It was a rousing success, to say the least. There is no doubt this film will be a smash at anime conventions, where he plans to screen it after playing in a few film festivals. 

Ask Your Doctor If Having a Brain Tumor is Right For You!

In the Q&A after the screening, I was heartened to hear Jeff say that he was thoroughly fulfilled by making the film. No matter how successful it turns out for him either monetarily or career-wise, he was over the moon that he accomplished his dream. He told me the following:

“I feel like my whole life I thought I could write a movie, direct a movie, produce a movie, and even star in a good movie. But I didn’t KNOW for sure. And now that I did all four things (coincidentally in the same movie), I feel like I KNOW I can do it all, and do it well. It’s easy to produce a movie with millions, but to do it with $6,300 takes skill to make it look good! And I feel like I did that, and now, I have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone anymore. I could drop out of show biz if that’s what awaits me, and I will have no regrets. I did what I came to Hollywood to do, make a good movie. And now, all the ambition that has driven me mad my whole career, has lifted off my shoulders and given me a peace of mind I’ve never experienced before. Number one on my bucket list can finally be crossed off.”

For me, this is also incredibly gratifying. I have taught hundreds of filmmakers the fine art of micro-budget filmmaking over the years. Many, many of them went on to make feature films and some of them were very successful. But Jeff is perhaps the first person to take my Two Lists exercise and apply it completely. The results speak for themselves. With nothing more than a bucket list, a list of resources, a lot of friends, and years of experience, he made a funny, heartwarming, and accomplished feature that shows off all of what Jeff can do. I’m very excited about the prospects for Fame-Ish and for Jeff’s future projects.

I say to anyone reading this, you all have some unique thing you do well. You all have some list of stuff that could be incorporated completely into a story and turned into a film. If you or I had tried to make Fame-Ish, it would have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. Find your Fame-Ish. Tell your unique story. Don’t wait for permission to do it. 

Wait! You have MY permission to do it. Now go make your movie!

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© 2019 Mark Stolaroff