Why You Should Go Ahead and Shoot Your First Feature Film Without a Budget.

Adrian Pedrin Valencia
3 min readFeb 4, 2021

No Budget? No Problem!

If any of you have seen my first feature film “The Garden’s Keeper” you would notice that it’s very low-budget. 750 dollars total budget. It’s crazy, I know, but failing to secure funds taught me more than I would have learned if I had more money. I’m not saying more money is bad. Your first film is a learning experience. The less money you have the more creative you get and the more you learn.

Doing a feature film without any money will help you be more creative, trust me. It sucks not being able to represent your vision on-screen, but you will learn how to solve problems even before they present themselves. Solving problems is an ability that everyone should have. It will help you in other aspects of your life including business and family.

Another thing I did, even though I had access to a pocket dolly and a small crane, is shoot the film on a tripod. In my mind, I had to dominate the most basic form of storytelling. I’m happy to say that I was able to pull it off and I know that in my next film I will be more confident.

Wearing many hats in production will actually help you budget and hire people for the second one. You will know what must be done, how much time it takes, and what abilities that…

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Adrian Pedrin Valencia

Marketing expert with a passion for branding and paid social media advertising. Film director at heart, master of lighting, and avid gamer.