Update: Writing a screenplay with budget in mind

In comments from this post yesterday re things to consider when writing a screenplay with a low-budget in mind, screenwriter William Martell weighed in with solid advice:

You’ll want a centralized location, limited cast, and things like confined cameos so that you can hire a name for a day or two.

A million dollar film may shoot in as few as 12 days — many made for cable movies shoot with schedules like that — and DUEL was shot in 12 days. You may go up to 18 days — which is standard MOW schedule.

You want all of the money on the screen — and that means cast. Better to spend money on a star than on a leisurely schedule or an unplanned shoot.

Other stuff:
http://www.scriptsecrets.net/articles/indcormn.htm

Another element is what I call “dog juice” — you need the same entertainment value as that $100m film. So you do not want a bland script. Spanish films like REC and TIMECRIMES show you how to get a bunch of entertainment with central location and limited cast.

Martell has one of the long-time and excellent screenwriting blogs Sex in a Submarine which I’ve linked to in my blogroll since just about Day 1.

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