Filmmaker on microbudget uses persistence, help of friends

Ed Glaser takes a winding-road approach to filmmaking.

He didn't pack all his belongings in his back seat and head to Hollywood. Instead, the "Press Start" director made his own luck, becoming a maven of movies on a microbudget – something he says anyone with a passion for a movie project can do.

He lives in Champaign, works at the University of Illinois, and makes movies around town – movies which then get watched by thousands of people around the world.

"Microbudget is sort of the nice way of saying we have no money," Glaser said, adding that his film releases – like the April release of a redubbed, rescored Turkish version of "Rambo" called "Rampage" – are made for "chump change for anyone in Hollywood."

Here – between chatting over his lunch hour at the UI to shooting a scene for his newest movie one May night in an alley behind Dallas and Co. – Glaser gives the rundown on what it takes to make your own movie and get it seen:

1. Get – or become – a talented writer, who writes a script that's mindful of budget, possible locations and actors. "I am not much of a writer," Glaser said. So he asked a friend who was – fellow UI grad Kevin Folliard. Folliard wrote "Press Start" in the summer after his college graduation. "It was just tremendous," Glaser said.

But it couldn't be tremendously expensive or complicated, and it couldn't be unrealistic. "If you don't know any adults, don't make a film about them," Glaser said. "Keep your limits and your strengths very much in mind.

"You don't want to see a ninja or something driving around in a Chevy Aveo."

2. Cast your friends, cast your friends' friends. "Money is nowhere close as important as friends," said Al Morrison of Savoy, a veteran of "Press Start" who "volunteered to volunteer" to act in Glaser's latest production. "Friends are your biggest resource."

Magician Andy Dallas, another actor in Glaser productions, volunteered his warehouse space for shoots.

Josh Stafford, a friend of Glaser's from back when he attended Champaign Centennial High School, trained in martial arts, so he's the fight choreographer and an actor in Glaser's next movie. Glaser's wife, Meagan, helps with production design, makeup and occasional acting and voice work.

3. Then start asking everyone else. Glaser put together a Web site, www.darkmaze.com, and took photos of his existing cast in character to show "that we were really striving to make a real-looking fantasy movie," he said. "You can see that we're not just goofing around."

That's how he got video game voice actors to star in "Press Start." He also went to UI acting classes and e-mailed colleagues asking for help. For special effects, Glaser got a friend to post his request for help on a professional listserv, which hooked him up with effects specialist Rod Contreras.

"I was amazed with how well asking worked," Glaser said. "We managed to get some people that we really didn't deserve to get."

4. Do a cost-benefit analysis. "You want to make sure that you really need what you're going to be getting," Glaser said. He shot "Press Start" on a budget in the "low four figures," he said, not enough money to buy props that might not get used. "It's gonna start sounding businessy, a little less artsy, but it's important."

He'll also think about what special effects he wants, what's necessary and what he's capable of doing himself. He also tries to have backup plans, so if he can't get an element right, he can tell his story another way.

5. Know your technological limitations. Glaser's movies were edited on his home computer, an eMachine he bought at Circuit City in 2006, and he's now shooting on a Canon HD camera he said costs about $500. Most computers come with some kind of editing equipment, from Windows Movie Maker to Apple's iMovie.

Expensive equipment's great if you've got it, but not necessary, Glaser said. "Those little flip cameras are what, 100 bucks?" he said. "It's not going to be crystal clear, but it will be a movie."

6.Bring out the calendar. Since you're probably not paying your cast or crew, there's a good chance they've got jobs and other priorities. "Scheduling is your next big hurdle – that's the thing that always killed me," he said.

At a Thursday night shoot, Dominique Worsley, a UI drama student playing a boxer in Glaser's upcoming film, fit in his scenes before he took off for a study trip to Peru. Iain Carpenter, a 10-year-old from Mahomet playing a paperboy, had to work around school as well.

Sometimes, the crazy scheduling calls for what Glaser calls "creative solutions," like filming one character in a scene one day, and the character talking to him on another day, then splicing footage.

7. Find any great musicians? If you do, ask one to help with the movie's score. Glaser found a composer, Jake Kaufman, who was a friend of a friend. "Music is one that you will need," Glaser said. If you can't find a composer, look for music that's in the Creative Commons, or get the rights to ready-made music.

8. Release to the masses. If you want your movie to be free, Glaser recommends posting it on YouTube or a like site. But if you'd like to potentially make money off your work, he recommends going through a site like CreateSpace. The latter works with Amazon, so DVDs made on demand at CreateSpace can be bought at Amazon.com. On your Web site, "you just link to the sales pages, and you're done."

9. Let the masses know your movie's out. "The sad truth is that if you build it does not necessarily mean they will come," Glaser said. Because "Press Start" had a video game theme, he sent the movie and press releases out to video game publications, among others. "That worked out great, actually," he said. Now he's using the money the first movie made to finance "Rampage" and his next production.

10. Go forth and conquer. "When it seems like it's impossible, just hit the gas and get going," said Meagan Glaser. "You pretty much have to get over your fear of accomplishing something unlikely."

Glaser is currently making "an adventure movie about two people with very, very different backgrounds who have to save the world from an evil corporation." The movie's shooting around Champaign, so if you see a guy with a camera, a boxer and a paperboy, consider yourself warned.

Want to learn more about making your own movies?

Champaign-based filmmaker Ed Glaser recommends Robert Rodriguez's "Rebel Without a Crew," "The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook" by Genevieve Jolliffe and Chris Jones, and "The Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint" by Chris Jones, Jonathan Newman and Cara Williams, although Glaser says he has never seen a guide for quite the kind of microbudget moviemaking he does.

See 'Press Start'

Want to see more? Glaser posts new animated "Press Start Adventures" episodes regularly on his Web site, www.darkmaze.com.

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