All Volunteer & Debt Free Filmmaking & Distribution may be a good replacement for Independent Film - 13 quick notes about the idea

It may be possible to do the following or this probably has already been done many times under many names or under no formal name but the practice does not have the name recognition that "Independent Film" has & perhaps we should develop this brand of filmmaking & distribution, raise its profile, for our (filmmakers & audiences who like art/indie/foreign type movies, new voices, unusual & Off-Hollywood movies) own good.  Anyway, here goes:

1.  Independent Film originally meant independence from Hollywood, big budgets, Hollywood control, movie stars, etc.

2.  Independent Film became popular, driven, in part, among filmmakers, by the chance to get famous, make money, get a job in Hollywood.

3.  Hollywood assimilated Independent Film, entities such as Warner Independent were born.

4.  One of the foundational ideas of Independent Film consisted of being comfortable with the accumulation of debt, or, in a way, borrowing against future, hoped-for earnings or profits.

5.  The above mentioned practice left a lot of filmmakers with a lot of debt.

6.  2011 - the middle class of filmmaking - indie/Independent or otherwise - has disappeared.  No budget films get made, and large budget (over $100K in cash let's say) films get made & distributed, and of course studio movies get made & distributed.

7.  The act of making a movie, and distributing a movie, has a value to the individuals involved, a value that is outside of financial considerations.

8.  There are a lot of people, talented & driven people, who are interested in making movies - cast & crew.

9.  It is possible to organize a feature film production, of any scale, with the explicit statement that the film is an "all volunteer" project, and perhaps we should also add to it that the project will be a "debt free" project - meaning things such as deferred pay, borrowing against possible future earnings, using credit cards, or any practice that creates debt for the filmmakers or anyone involved with the project will not be used.

10.  Once all labor becomes volunteer - for production & distribution, the actual costs of producing the movie - the hard, unavoidable material costs - cameras, food, etc - should be kept to an absolute minimum - under $10K - $50K if possible, maybe even under $1K, & depending on the project, perhaps even at the cost of $0/nothing (donated food, using cameras & other gear already owned, free locations, etc.)

11.  Use donations, sites such as Kickstarter or Indie Go Go, & any other available means (that do not produce debt) to raise the money necessary to make the movie.

12.  Treat the cast & crew & all involved very well, finish the film, promote it well, & make copies of the movie available to all who worked on it (something i myself have not yet done for some projects, definitely a habit to break).  OF COURSE if you make any money/profit from the movie, share it with the volunteers even though you do not have to/everyone knew going in that the project was an All Volunteer project.

13.  Get the film out to the world by all available means.  Feel free to use volunteers to distribute & promote the film.  Repeat All Volunteer Filmmaking with another project, either forever or until you get a LOT of money from some source (maybe a well paid directing gig, a day job gig) so that you can pay all the volunteers well or from time to time, as the available amount of money dictates.  Also be on the lookout for ways to get out of the world of All Volunteer filmmaking - perhaps eventually working in Hollywood for a paycheck - if that option becomes available - may be alright for you - look into it.  But feel free to use the All Volunteer method when you must make your own movie - an art movie, a personal movie, a kind of movie that used to be known as Independent back in the day.

I think that covers the basics of All Volunteer & Debt Free Filmmaking & Distribution.  Go out & make your movie for no money, make it well, create a happy community of volunteers out of each project, & also develop this new strain of indie film/possible replacement for Independent Film as we know it/this new brand, well.  I am going to try this approach on my next movie (if I have to, most likely I will) - The Real Ben Stiller.

- Sujewa

P.S. - Special thanks to the idea of using a lot of volunteer labor to complete massive projects - an idea that comes from the ancient human past in many lands, also more recently, to me, from Sri Lanka's Sarvodaya Shramadana movement - they have used the practice well, to help thousands of poor people.