when you get in the filmmaking everything you read and see puts limits on what you're able to create to make a movie you need a grip gapper sets locations crew an agent this camera this lens HD 4k eight case stop you'll need a less stuff this is a list dedicated to the filmmakers that said no to all that and made their movie with what they had available what if we finance the for ourselves and said thank you to the gatekeepers telling us no why do you need 160 million dollars to tell a story these are my top ten movies made for less than $30,000 and I'm gonna do you the favor of skipping movies like El Mariachi Blair Witch clerks and Paranormal Activity that's [ __ ] up every top no budget list has these movies than lists others with budgets in the hundreds of thousands these are great no budget movies but I won't try and list and introduce you guys to new films you may not have heard of I want this to be for the self-financed movies the true no budget filmmakers making it happen when no one else would give them a shot let's jump right in number 10 permanent vacation made by Jim Jarmusch in 1984 twelve thousand dollars an introspective film about a young guy whose parents are around and wanders through New York looking for some meaning to his own life for the average viewer this will definitely lull them into a nice nap but considering the limitations of the time and the budget this is an interesting exercise in filmmaking even if it comes off a bit amateurish dancing is unforgettable and you have to appreciate the realistic characters Jim Roush is able to create Jim John wishes in a bit of an acquired taste for some and the average viewer may not be overly stimulated but the style individual and quirky characters and the relationships are the focal points of the film and the movie itself is worth studying for anyone interested in low-budget filmmaking number nine Carnival of Souls directed by Herc Harvey in 1962 made for $30,000 easily the most expensive film on this list especially when you account for inflation but you also have to account for the inaccessibility of camera equipment in 1962 and remember this movies made six years before the infamous night of Living Dead carnivals Souls is the original low-budget masterpiece to set the stage for George Romero to make movie I didn't get the marketing or overall success of Night of the Living Dead but have perceived the low-budget horror films are so popular today number eight bad taste directed by Peter Jackson in 1987 made for $11,000 directed by none of them Peter Jackson the Lord of the Ring himself this is the film Jackson finally cut his teeth on after making short movies and film props for years yes bad taste is fun and I mean really fun it's the movie I would have wanted to make throughout my childhood but Peter Jackson took it to the next level Jackson filmed on weekends for four years casting his friends as main actors and mostly funded the film himself until the end of the shoot with a New Zealand film commission gave him the money to finish the project after being impressed with what he had already produced number seven Eraserhead directed by David Lynch in 1977 for ten thousand dollars David Lynch created a profoundly strange film that is undefined and open to interpretation as with most art films the point is to watch it and apply your own meaning to the film and that's ultimately what it's meant to be the consensus for many viewers however is the movie is a translation for anxiety and the subconscious and the events that occur alongside the real world most see it as the fears of becoming a father and the terror of instills in the main character portrayed as most would describe as a nightmare the movie goes on the events become more obscure and the main character Henry's regret for his decisions and his emotional turmoil takes fulfillment some interesting places the movie was made fragments over five years with sets having to be rebuilt after being torn down the 22 page script on paper left most backers less than interested but after converting this unusually short script to film it launched Lynch to fame and started a massively successful career for the young director number six newlyweds directed by Edward Burns in 2011 made for nine thousand dollars newlyweds is the lowest budget that Edward Burns has ever worked with and the whole production only occurred over 12 days in New York a very smart comedy where the humor arises from the characters in the dialogue the film revolves around a newly married couple that have both been married before and seem to have a plan for the perfect marriage they both have opposite schedules and attempt to be individuals and live there life while trying to make this marriage work when one of the main characters sisters shows up and the rest of reality with her they find their way may not have been the best plan for a successful marriage after all Edward Burns a successful leader in micro-budget filmmaking arena especially since he's an established filmmaker seeing him and other bigger name directors are moving towards working in low budgets not necessarily by choice but because of the closing doors of the industry and the prevalence of remakes and sequels is extremely inspiring number five slacker directed by Richard Linklater in 1991 for $23,000 Linklater to find a place a time a counterculture and a generation with this film slacker a movie driven by dialogue follows many different characters on one day in Austin Texas the dialogue is delivered with spontaneity and sounds and provides you should you should apologize a woman sexually and there are a good amount of long takes in the film that make it much more impressive for the astronomically low budget they had to work with many filmmakers have credited Linklater with paving and leading the micro budget filmmaking boom that occurred in the 1990s even Robert Rodriguez is said to sing slacker changed his perspectives on filmmaking number four the puffy chair directed by Jay and Mark Duplass in 2005 for $15,000 the puffy chair is a very personal movie the characters feel like old friends used to hang out with with the same problems you have with relationships and family members every day the whole movie revolves around a road trip to get a chair as a gift for their father and the main characters relationship with his girlfriend whether or not they're gonna break up or stay in the relationship and make it work if you're a micro budget filmmaker and you haven't heard of Mark Duplass or watched any of his and his brother Jays movies or TV shows you're doing it wrong the guys write in the book on how to make in the industry today that's scared of making anything other than remakes and sequels a lot of his movies are available on Netflix or all one has to do is search his name to find all his work number three primer directed by Shane Carruth in 2004 for $7,000 wrapping your head around how they made this movie for seven thousand dollars will be almost as difficult as wrapping your head around the plot of the film it's seeing as the movie was shot on film and this is where almost all the budget went to was film stock the story revolves around two struggling inventors trying to create an antigravity machine and accidentally end up creating a time machine they eventually make them large enough to fit in send themselves back in time and this is where it gets weird in my opinion this is the best time travel film of all time Andrian Johnson the director of the newest installment of Star Wars the last Jedi and looper also claims it as the best time travel movie ever made number two following directed by Chris Nolan made in 1998 for seven thousand dollars almost the top listing for every low-budget movie list ever made is Christopher Nolan's first feature film following to me is the best movie in terms of story and Ross cinematography on this list while this is Christopher Nolan's first feature movie you have to understand that he'd been working in the medium for years and years before getting the opportunity to make this film no one filmed on weekends a free time over the course of a year he used his friends as actors and the majority of the film was shot handheld because the logistical difficulties of setting up a camera while having to get through a feature film to overcome this the beginning sequence of the film was filmed in a studio with dollies and drew cut lighting in static shots an attempt to subconsciously tell the audience that the handheld technique was intentional and coverup that they didn't have the money to do big set pieces for every scene and number one for levers only directed by Michael polish for zero dollars in 2011 let's be clear following in primer are the better movies but from a filmmaking perspective I find Michael polishes movie insanely fascinating and inspiring we can give no one credit for all of his budget being spent on an expensive celluloid film even though we all know if he had digital available he still wouldn't have used it however Michael and his twin brother Mark polish made this film for the price of food a hotel room and a trip to Paris which he claims he was going to be going to anyway for vacation the reason why I chose this film is number one is because I think it is the most relatable - for the average filmmaker to attain and strive for grab two 5d mark ii dslr's each of which you can buy for about $500 now equipment that they already had get an up-and-coming actress friend with a huge social media following to activate stana katic shoot the film for nothing revolving around interesting characters in the beautiful backdrop of Paris make it black and white to save money and time on color grating footage then upload straight to video on demand to make $500,000 if you're interested in making micro budget films I highly recommend you study for levers only and consider making a movie in a similar fashion video on demand is a viable option for distribution with your no budget feature that's my list for my top 10 micro budget films made for less than $30,000 do you guys agree with my list did I miss anything let me know in the comments if you liked this video be sure to subscribe and like always guys keep pressing record [Music] [Music] [Music]