No budget film

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A no budget film is an extremely cheaply produced film made with very little or no money.

Young directors starting out in filmmaking commonly use this method because there are few other options available to them at that point. All the actors and technicians are employed without remuneration. The film is largely non-profit. Usually the director works alone on such films, or uses a very minimum "crew" of volunteers to assist him/her on such projects that require no money to create at all, not including the cost of film.

Many experimental films have been made in this no budget manner. In the 1950's, filmmaker Jack Smith used discarded color reversal film stock to make his no budget film classic Flaming Creatures. Some directors' early works, such as John Waters' 1964 black and white film Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, which cost $30.00 to make, are no budget films. Craig Baldwin's Flick Skin is entirely made from discarded film, or found footage as it is known as, retrieved from a projectionist's booth. The No Wave Cinema movement of the late 1970's, represented by filmmakers such as Vivienne Dick, produced many notable no budget films shot on Super 8¹, as did the Cinema of Transgression in the 1980's. Most of the films featured in Miranda July's film anthologies Joanie4Jackie, which were first released in 1996 and are still ongoing, are made with no budget.

Filming for no budget films are often done on location without permission, which is referred to as 'Guerrilla filmmaking', or in the home of the filmmaker or their friends, or in the backyard. No budget films have often been made in the past using Super 8 mm film. Recent films have also been made using digital film cameras and edited using home computer editing programmes. The cost of a no budget film is generally that of the film, and the film processing, itself.

No budget films have frequently been screened at Super 8 film festivals which are held around the world, such as the Flicker Film Festival in Los Angeles in the U.S., and Splice This in Toronto, in Canada. In the U.K., Exploding Cinema is a group devoted to no budget and experimental film who hold regular screenings. Many No Wave directors screened their films at clubs and bars. Others set up DIY screenings. Some no budget films are transferred to video and DVD and can be obtained at alternative outlets or by mail. In the 2000's, some no budget directors began to show their films on the internet, either on their own websites or sites devoted to such films.

It is rare that a no budget film manages to receive recognition; only a handful have achieved any level of acclaim, but it is possible. They sometimes arise from subcultures existing outside of the mainstream and so also become important documents of the various movements and scenes that they originated from. While generally ignored by the commercial film sector, they have, on occasion, garnered much recognition in the world of alternative culture and arts.