I’m currently working as Producer on an independent film shoot in Big Bear. The film is a drama called Jess Meyer’s Tale of a Weekend Suicide for Reel Gem Films and Shae St. Films. I am literally locked on this shoot for 8 days straight. Working on this film in the middle of the mountains has made me realize how viable my laptop, mobile phone, and car are as tools for filmmaking. More specifically, my Macbook, Blackberry, and Honda Accord have literally saved me on this project. Trust me, this isn’t product placement. This is just my recounting of how these tools aided my ability to produce low budget films. Maybe this may be helpful to other independent filmmakers out there.
My MacBook is definitely something I would never go to a shoot without. Going to a shoot without it is like going to a gunfight armed with only a knife. It has given me the ability to write thank you letters to the community for their hospitality, send important e-mails, import the dailies directly into Final Cut Pro, and write articles like this one during my downtime, among many other things.
My Blackberry has really proven its worth to me. Thanks to the GPS, I can actually find my way around this mountain region. I’m able to consistently communicate with my crew via calls, text messages, and e-mails. The best part about having both my MacBook and Blackberry on this shoot is the ability to tether the Internet service from my Blackberry. So instead of having to pay for WIFI somewhere, I can get Internet on my laptop by stealing it from my mobile phone. This service has save me more than anything else on this shoot.
Last and not least, I have to mention my Honda Accord. I’ve literally owned this car since 1996 and it’s still running very well. My car is very economical, which has been a huge plus since I’ve been shuttling crew back and forward all over this town. I’ve made trips picking up equipment from Los Angeles, Van Nuys, Burbank, Pasadena, Fullerton, Irvine, and taking it all the way back over to Big Bear. I’ve had to fill up my gas tank every other day, but thank goodness it only costs roughly $26 every time.
Before going to this shoot and being secluded out here, I never really realized how valuable these tools were to my profession. Like some of you who may be reading this article, I am a filmmaker on a tight budget. These cheap solutions have strongly aided my ability to produce a low budget feature film on the fly. Isn’t one of the things filmmakers are supposed to is find are ways to get their films made with the most bang to their buck?
Victor Phan
Torture Chamber Productions
August 23, 2009