SpiritEUR DIAry

First you need the script. Then you need to find a director/dp with a camera. Then you need the actors. Then you need the locations. Then you need the money.

In the old days you needed A LOT of money. Film - physical film - is crazy expensive and the equipment you need for it is crazy expensive, and you need a huge crew to help you manipulate that equipment, and you need to feed them, and you need insurance, and since this is all such a circus you need to get permits and pay for EVERYTHING.

In these modern times you don't need film anymore, and it's simply crazy to me that people still shoot with the sorts of budgets which were created by that physical film. It's like the difference between an orchestra and synthesizer. Now imagine trying to play that one synthesizer using an entire orchestra, and with all the expenditures that would come with that. Ridiculous. Screw that.

The rules of guerrilla moviemaking, which I think are pretty good, stipulate that you spend money on feeding people. Period. There's a certain respect/professionalism/human decency thing with that, and it's good. It makes sense on a basic realistic level.

Our guerrilla endeavors have been backed so far by the cool writer Niall Lynch. The budget for Spiriteur ended up being $800, which was what I thought we'd need for food for the estimated eight day shoot. I also liked the sound of that, making a movie in eight days for eight hundred dollars. Steve Mooser, another very cool writer, kicked in another $120, which really came in handy because as it turns out I'm not very good at estimating food costs.

With the money and locations in place all I had to do next was finalize the production schedule and come up with all the props we might need. After that, we would be totally good to go.