Microbudget Filmmakers Are Not Okay

The Austin Club, where the Austin Film Festival press team set me up to record a podcast, was decadent and formal, but the vibe in the room could not have been chill.

As I set up podcast gear, the guests — filmmakers from five different micro-budget movies screening at the fest— instantly connected with each other. At one point, Craig Mazin walked in to sign festival posters. He didn’t catch my podcast joke.

That episode is now live and worth a listen. It was such an easy-flowing conversation, I think because all these people were emerging from the trenches of making their own films, which is a pretty lonely experience.

This room in the Austin Club was one of the few spaces where other people truly understood how hard it was to finish their microbudget movies. Listen to hear what they took away from the experience:

_{Featured Filmmakers & Their Movies:}

• _{Sisters — Sarah Khasrovi (Story By, Lead), Susie Yankou (Writer/Director, Lead)}

• _{Lady Parts — Screenwriter and Executive Producer Bonnie Gross, Editor Edith Belmont}

• _{Young King — Writer/Director Bryant T. Griffin, Producer Selena Leoni, p.g.a.}

• _{Crossword — Co-writer, Director, Producer, and Actor Michael Vlamis}

• _{The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia — Producer Travis White, Lead/Producer Jo Schaeffer}

I’ve been reflecting on the micro-budget filmmaking process these last few months as I emerge from my own trenches with I Really Love My Husband. Somehow, the final push on the film — the sound mix and festival submissions — has felt like a different kind of struggle, like moving through glue. There’s no high of finishing yet.

Looking back at these last months, and the entire process, I want to figure out how I can approach this in a sustainable way to avoid burnout so that I can keep making movies. Watch this space because I have thoughts — most of which will be zeroing in on how we as filmmakers can greenlight our own projects, as the consolidating industry presents few opportunities for new filmmakers, which means now is the time for the microbudget and indie renaissance.

One last thing: I’m going to be sharing interviews with micro-budget filmmakers who are currently in the thick of making their films. We usually only hear from these folks once they’re done, but what about while they’re still in the middle of it?

What’s keeping them up at night? What can we learn from where they’re at right now, before their narratives are sanitized by time and distance from the chaos of production?

I realized that the title of this newsletter fits perfectly into this idea.

If you’re in the middle of your micro-budget, hit me up.

xxGG