I recently came across this story in the New York Times. Basically, it’s the story of how some filmmakers managed to make a feature film for around $15,000. It opens Friday on IFC and video on demand.

Yes, $15,000 is on the high end, of what we talk about here, but this is a feature and that includes equipment (apparently).

What caught my eye about this story were the elements that would sound familiar to someone making a short for $200:

• Filmmakers playing lead roles
• Filmmakers making food for cast and crew
• Crew from Craigslist
• Crew working for free
• PVC track camera dolly
• Shot on video
• Actors/actresses doing their own makeup and hair

You’ve got that, right? Everyone can scrounge up everything on this list. So why is this film getting distribution? Well, here are some things you might not have in your pocket that they did:

• DP with inheritance money to buy nice equipment
• Known, award-winning actors willing to work for SAG daily minimum
• Insurance to piggy back off of
• Shot in New York City

The film doesn’t sound that appealing to me but I’m not really a romantic comedy fan, and the thought of spending a few hours watching two twenty-something jewish kids work out their relationship problems in hilarious ways doesn’t exactly make me want to change my mind, but that’s not the point.

The dude from the IFC sums it all up here:

If this were just friends and family, that would be one thing. But they’ve got some very distinguished actors, and it looks great. So it’s incredible that they spent so little out of pocket.

It looks great and they’ve got some great people. Hmm. Well, with work DiY Filmmakers can make what they shoot look great.

The thing that gets me is the emphasis on the people they have in the movie. It’s not “the story was so compelling, that I can’t believe they spent so little.”, it’s about the fact they got some names in there (in small parts, mind you), that are recognizable to some.

When you go to the article, take a look at the slideshow. It’s just a bunch of kids making a movie on video – you’ll see shades of yourself in there, but they’re being profiled in the New York Times and got slipped $40,000 by IFC to promote it – almost triple the original budget.

So is there anything to learn from this?

I think there is. When you take a look at your resources as a DiY Filmmaker, try and push them a little bit farther, outside of your comfort zone.

We all can come up with everything from list A. We all don’t need everything from list B, but we need to be able to find things to go in list B that give us the extra edge. Here are some suggestions:

• Find out if there are some well-known people around your area, and if there are, find out if they’d do a small part in your film. If you present yourself as someone making a great little project that they could be a part of, then you never know, they could bite. The worst thing they can do is say no. No one likes to hear “no”, but you can chin up and take it.
• Call around to your friends and see if they know someone or something interesting or notable you could somehow work into your film. Maybe your friend has access to a vintage car collection. Maybe they know someone famous who can be cajoled into a role.
• Think of the ideal location for a scene in your film. Then, call up the people who manage that location, and ask if you can shoot there. Who knows – you could be shooting a scene in a dream location instead of at the park down the street.

I’m sure you guys can come up with some more. The idea is getting to the starting line (the first list), and pushing yourself a little farther (the second list). Don’t limit yourself to just what is within arms reach, and who knows, one of those things you pushed yourself for could be the stand-out thing that gets you noticed by a distributor.