"Paradise" - The Microbudget Epic

Paradise logo.

Of all the microbudget movies I’ve produced in my life (and there have been hundreds) one project stands out above the others. That was a movie called Paradise that we shot in 2002. The budget was around $1,500, about $5,000 less than my first stage play had cost to produce in 1978. What makes Paradise stand out, however, is not the small size of the budget but the large scale of the undertaking.

Paradise is the story of two British naval officers who are shipwrecked on a desolate island in 1841. They eventually encounter a group of other marooned Europeans who have been living on the island for a dozen years in sort of a primitive commune. In time the officers discover that the idyllic appearance of the commune is masking some terrible dark secrets and the stage is set for an apocalyptic showdown.

The challenge was to shoot a professional quality feature that had a period setting and exotic locales without leaving the Greater Los Angeles area or spending a penny more than absolutely necessary. Without the extensive experience and resources accumulated during my many years of production the project would have been even more difficult, if not impossible and there are many useful insights that were gleaned during the making of this movie that I would like to share with other video makers who might be contemplating a microbudget movie of their own.

MONEY OR THE LACK THEREOF

For a long time my business partner, Robert Walling and I held off on the idea of shooting a feature because we didn't feel that my single-chip Sony Digital 8 camcorder was up to the task but a 3-chip model like a Canon XL-1 or Sony VX2000 always seemed to be just out of our grasp. We had successfully shot a number of television commercials on Digital 8 and finally decided that rather than wait for the ideal camera we should just dive in and make the best of it. We had a decent but not spectacular computer that would handle the editing chores and had recently added some nice low-cost upgrades from ADS Technologies like the Pyro Pro DV capture card and external "Fire Wire" hot-swappable drive bay. We also had the luxury of a modest costume and prop collection that had grown over the years. Without these pre-existing resources our budget would have been closer to $5,000 which is certainly not a fortune, but the lesson here is to build a production around the things that you already have.

One of the biggest mistakes I made early in my producing career was to listen to the advice of "experts" who claimed that professional results can only be achieved by spending large sums of money. In time I came to learn that creativity and careful planning could often substitute for a large bankroll. Because I knew what we could and could not do I wrote the screenplay accordingly. The worst thing you can do is paint yourself into a corner by writing scenes that you can’t pull off on your shoestring budget. If you need a car chase that ends in a fiery collision you had better be certain that you have the means of making it happen. It's a serious impediment to creative freedom but a valuable lesson in practical production.

ADVANCE TO PARADISE PAGE 2