Evan Kidd, a filmmaker in Baton Rouge, recently concluded the festival run for his first feature film, Son of Clowns, a story about a TV star who loses his show and returns home to figure out his life and help his family run their floundering backyard circus. The film was shot for less than $3000 and had a shooting schedule that lasted only 10 days. Those are impressive stats even in the world of micro-budget filmmaking.

In spite of the limited resources, Evan put together a micro-budget film with enough appeal to get picked up by a number of festivals across the world, including the Cucalorus Film Festival, one of the few festivals in the world that pays to fly in their filmmakers.  At other festivals, Son of Clowns received recognitions for best comedy, best actor, and best actress.

As the film’s festival run came to an end, Evan was able to negotiate with Amazon to have his film available on their platform. Amazon Prime members can watch it at no cost, and non-members can rent it for a nominal fee.

It’s, I think, a sign of artistry when one artist can help another.“ – Evan Kidd

Evan came on the podcast to walk us through his filmmaking process. Some of the things we discuss include

• What actors can do to stand out
• The trap of the perfection mentality
• Why an artist’s view of the world matters
• What equipment choices can speed up the shoot
• How to take advantage of the expertise of your crew
• When is the best time to do a crowdfunding campaign
• How to keep costs low when shooting a micro-budget film
• Techniques to cut down the days in the shooting schedule
• How to get great people on your project even when you can’t pay much

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Listen to the Episode

• Joe Swanberg’s series on Netflix, Easy
• Evan’s films
  • Displacement Welcomed
  • Kin
  • Son of Clowns
  • Spazz Out
  • Stargazer

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