Low Budget Films are In

These days, it is not uncommon to see films being made on a low budget, and than absolutely tearing up the box office once they are released. Just recently, Paranormal Activity 3, the third movie in the Paranormal Activity series, followed in the footsteps of the first two films to do this again. The first Paranormal Activity, released in 2007, was made on just $15,000 and grossed over 200 million! We've seen this done with other films like The Blair Witch Project which was made on about $60,000 and grossed almost $250,000! Other examples include films such as, Napoleon Dynamite, Clerks, and the original Mad Max. All these films were made on a small budget and grossed huge results.

When I see this, I ask myself, "why do studios continue to make incredibly high budget films that flop at the box office (Catwomen, All the Kings Men, The Assassination of Jesse James to name a few) when it has been proven that low-budget films--when done right--can be just as successful, if not more than big name Hollywood titles? These days, producers are focused on spending tons of money on making the movie look good, and getting big name stars, but are doing so at the sacrifice of good-quality film making. I would love to see the industry embrace small-budget films and start making more, because as the films I named above have proven, you can create an exceptional film without spending millions upon millions of dollars.

One of my favorite films of all time, The Lives of Others, a German film, was made on just $2 million dollars, with all of the actors making a fraction of what they are used to, but the result was possibly the best film I've ever seen. The acting was superb and the plot was incredibly well thought out and gripping. The film grossed $77 million, and is an example of how actors (in Germany at least) are willing to take less money for a film of great potential, and then deliver performances worth far more than they received. Low-budget films revive the idea of acting for the love of doing so, not acting for a paycheck.