For those who didn't hear this news back in May, I thought it was definitely worth mentioning here where we talk about making independent films and doing them on our own dime. Mark Price shot a film(on digital video) in London called COLIN that created quite a buzz at the Cannes film festival in May. It was a zombie movie he shot with friends that created quite a stir. The film was recently acquired for release by Kaleidescope Entertainment. The most surprising fact of this tale is that Price quoted the entire budget of the film as being $7o (U.S. funds)!
Now, to be honest, there has been endless web speculation about whether it was really that cheap to shoot, but the fact of the matter is, even if it cost more than that, it was cheap. It was not millions, or hundreds of thousands, or probably even tens of thousands.
Mark worked at a private taxi firm for 18 months while he put his film together. How in the world can you make a film for $70? Price uses the Robert Rodriguez approach and gets all of his friends together to support the film in whatever way they can, and only pulls out his wallet when it's absolutely necessary.
He used web social networking sites (which here in the states would be Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to recruit actors and crew and asked everyone to bring what they needed to the shoot.
The plot of COLIN centers around a man who is bitten by someone, dies, then rises from the dead. Price said he was inspired by DAWN OF THE DEAD, but wanted to tell the story from the zombie's point of view. He told all his friends he would make this film, and do it with almost no budget.
As for what he spent $70 on to make the film, Price's answer is a crowbar, video tapes, and coffee and tea for the crew.
