The big five needed to gain "Indie" status.

So boys and girls, let me tell you about a little thing called Sundance. What is there to tell though, you all probably know. But for those three who don't... Sundance is an international film festival which hosts movies lacking major distributors. Usually these filmes have been made with the change from under the sofa but alot of the times, this is where the best stuff is produced. This year, we got stuff like (500) Days of Summer, Black Dynamite and Spread. And now for all those aspiring film makers out there, who know that they won't instantly make a movie with the budget of Transformers or the star power of Oceans 11, here are five pieces of advice for getting your film "Indie" status.

NUMBER 1
Dirt cheap budget.

So next week when your mother gives you that 10 dollars to buy baseball cards, put it away. And after a few weeks, take out the camcorder and film away. Now it doesn't always have to be a cheap budget, but it helps. You never want to be the guy who spent 50 million on his movie only to find it sitting in 15th place on its opening weekend. So make your movie as cheap as possible, limit you SFX, hire some unknowns or day labourers and pay your crew in gumballs.

NUMBER 2
The acoustic guitar

Juno, Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, the teens love movies like that. Feel they can relate to the three chords being strummed over and over again. And it's always good to have a Lilly Allen sounding voice backing the guitar, or a high male voice, Michael Cera will suffice.

NUMBER 3
Have a comedian doing something weird and dramatic.

"Haha, how funny was 40 Year Old Virgin! Oh cool a new Steve Carrel movie, oh there's a new one coming out where he's like suicidal or something, that'll be good tom see." Yes there are morons like this in real life. I'm using Steve Carrel in another example as he seems to be the most prominant in things like this. This is always an attention grabber though, make this one a necessary.

NUMBER 4
Make it as raunchy as possible.

Now raunch may not mean sex. Fill it with violence, drugs, cursing and yes the odd sex scene are two. Movies about people addictied to any kind of drug usually raise a few eye brows. Requiem for a Dream anyone. And guys, this is your chance to have that girl on girl scene that would normally be too filthy. Just make it between two friends, slp on some acoustic tunes and your good to go.

NUMBER 5
A weird title.

Welcome to the Dollhouse, Spanking the Monkeys. El Mariachi. If you're sick of seeing "Revenge" and "Rise" in your movie titles then Indie is the place for you. Make sure that the title is intruiging. I mean, who doesn't want to watch a movie called Sex, lies and a videotape.

I hope you've all taken something from this lesson. Now go out and make the movies of tomorrow...today!!

-Ciao