Crew and Equipment

Once you are almost ready to go, you need to hire crewmembers. You will need a director, producer, director of photography (cinematographer), audio person, and lots of production assistants. You can take on one, two or even three of these roles if need be. Production assistants can perform numerous jobs: holding a boom mic, set decorating and Kraft services (food). If you are in college, crew members are a little easier to find. A good number of schools have film departments with students begging for on-set experience. Ask around. Many people will be willing to help you. If you are not still in school and don't really know where to start, try craigslist.com or mandy.com or entertainmentcareers.net or productionhub.com. You can post who you are looking for and will hopefully get some responses. Like the actors, many people in film or TV will work for free to gain more experience.

In addition to the crew, you will need the proper equipment to shoot your film. You can choose film (very expensive), digital video (easy), HD video, anything. If you find someone who already owns any of this equipment, you will save an arm and a leg. This is where a bulk of the budget goes to, renting or purchasing equipment. I will not cover renting equipment because this is how to produce a NO-BUDGET feature film. We want things for free!

For Exit 117, we were VERY lucky once again. Our cinematographer was again an old classmate of the directors. He had his own HD equipment. Lights, cameras, everything we needed. What would have cost us quite a bundle, ending up being free. You could be in the same position if you ask the right people.

Don't just sit back and wait for things to come to you. Be aggressive and let people know you are looking for hands to work on your film. You will be surprised at the number of people who will be willing to help you.