So, you're an independent filmmaker and want to make a film with a budget under $15K? Doable?  Absolutely. Challenging? You bet! A project like this will test your commitment and determination  and reveal how resourceful and crafty you are. In 2024, there are more than enough ways to make a  film under a budget of $15K; honestly, you can make a movie cheaper. Even the great Robert Rodriguez made his first film, 

TIP 1: Create/Write Your Story Around the Resources You Already Have Access To  

, a horror film about a property manager who terrorizes  her tenants, I began writing the movie around the apartment complex I was already living in. I had a  great rapport with my neighbors and the maintenance men and began crafting scenes around my  living space, the parking lot, the hallways, the pool, the laundry room, etc. I moved after my  apartment flooded and the roof caved in while visiting family out of town. Nine months later, I  moved into an old apartment building in Downtown Los Angeles and rewrote scenes tailored to the  apartment building I was living in, which had even more "sets" than the first place had to offer. I now had access to dark hallways, spiral staircases, creepy-looking elevators, hidden corridors, and a  rooftop. During downtime, my apartment and rooftop became the unofficial trailer for the cast and  crew. I essentially had a studio to create in and a personal sound stage to make my film. 

Turn Your Living Space into Your Sound Stage. 

I thought, "I'm going to make friends with my neighbors, the property manager, and security guards  and get them to help me make my film… and that's exactly what I did. Eventually, I met the property  manager, who permitted me access to basements, empty apartments, and offices, and even asked  

for favors from tenants to allow me to use their apartments for production. I paid nothing to use  these resources. The way I saw it was, "As long as I'm paying rent, I'm in production." Eventually, I  stopped paying and kept filming. But that's another story!  

If you live in a house, apartment, or mobile home, one way to save money on your film is to turn your  living space into your sound stage. If you have roommates, they have now become a part of your  production, whether they like it or not!  

Your script should reflect the resources you already have access to

It's already a known principle in indie filmmaking that when writing your script on a limited budget,  you should have a small cast and restricted locations to make things easier on your pockets.  Ultimately, you'll decide on the story you want to make based on what you know you have access  to.  

TIP 2: Utilizing Relationships Gives You Access to Resources You Don't Own or Can't Afford 

When you have little to no money for your film, your relationships reveal your budget. They become  the currency that will fund and fuel your production. You will need a lot of support when you  attempt to make a movie on a limited budget. I gained support by casting my friends who wanted to act and create. In turn, I made some of them producers, which gave me access to their resources.  Some had cameras, lights, drones, props, family-owned restaurants, cars, costumes, and even a  little money to contribute to food expenses.  

• When you make your friends producers, you access their network and resources.

They have  houses, apartments, cars, clothes, and props that will serve the project you're trying to  create. This is a way to multiply and duplicate your production's value. You may not have  $15K in liquid cash to fund your film, but you and your friends have resources equivalent to  or exceeding that $15K. These same relationships can enhance the quality and success of  your movie. 

TIP 3: Having Less Leads to Originality and Reveals Your Skillset 

Less money to make your film forces you to discern ways to create an original story. It will also  reveal the skills and attributes that you already possess that you will use to incorporate into your  film. I have a background in music production. I sing, write, produce, and engineer my music.  Before I met my composer, Stefano Tomaselli, I was scoring and engineering the music and audio  for my film. I recorded, mixed, and mastered hundreds of songs on my own, and I had a  fundamental understanding of how to edit audio. So, when recording sound for my film, I could not  afford to hire a boom operator or someone to capture sound. I didn't have the sound equipment to  record clean audio. I realized I could use my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to record audio with phantom power. I already had a music interface for recording music. I just needed a boom mic. I found one on Amazon for less than $200. This is how I captured the audio for my film.  

Also, a great way to enhance the production value of your project is costumes. There were long  stints when my lead actors were not available to film. I refused to sit around and do nothing. I went  to thrift stores to buy old trench coats and unique-looking props. I purchased inexpensive afros, wigs, and fake guns on Amazon and created sequences for supporting characters that gave them  more screen time, causing them to become leads in my film. It made my story more unique and  original. I intended to make a horror film, but it became a cross-genre film, blending horror and  blaxploitation.  

Lastly, many indie filmmakers worry about having impressive-looking sets with directors' chairs,  department heads, and fancy film equipment. When you have a budget of under $15K, you must get comfortable with the idea of your production looking like it costs under $15K.  

An impressive-looking film is better than having an impressive-looking set. The results of my first  film looked terrific. Our film set could have looked more impressive! The most expensive purchase on my film, 

 set was a Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. (BMPCC 4K) The camera's  body cost $1,495, and the lens cost around $500. We had some lights, tripods, a boom mic, and  other items. Our DP had a camera rig we used when he was available to shoot. When he wasn't, I used an old, unbalanced tripod, which also got the job done.  

I'm not suggesting that you break the law to make your film, but you will have to break some rules to get it done. Filming permits can be expensive, and trying to obtain them can slow down your  momentum. 

 When editing a scene, and felt I needed an exterior shot of DTLA, I got my camera, walked downstairs, found a street I liked, and got the footage. I didn't  waste time trying to obtain permission or permits to gain footage that I needed for my project.  Before I met the property manager, who eventually gave me access to more of the building than we had, I broke the rules by filming scenes in our building. In the lobby, we smeared fake blood all over the floors and elevators. And no one cared. In fact, people who were coming in and out of the building thought it was cool to see. We also shot after work hours to avoid contention with people who worked in the offices and thoroughly cleaned up after ourselves. It was like we were never there. When some actors who traveled out of town stayed in hotels near my apartment building, we filmed at their hotels. Without permits or permission, we shot in their hotel rooms, in the hallways, stairwells, and corridors, all in the middle of the night. We had the time of our lives. Can you imagine a small group of people running around huge hotels in wigs and costumes and pointing at fake guns until 4 a.m.?! It was a blast! We did this at these times to avoid attracting too much attention to ourselves. 

TIP 5: Don't Jeopardize Your Livelihood to Make a Movie 

I mentioned before that I stopped paying rent sometime after moving into my apartment building  but continued filming my movie there. This was a foolish mistake that compromised my livelihood  during production. On several occasions, three-day notices would appear outside my door when  alone and with the crew in my home. My film was about a property manager who would kill tenants  for not paying rent. The tagline of our film was 

 The expenses to maintain my livelihood and film costs began killing me! My film became somewhat of a mirror of my circumstances. It reached the point where eviction notices were coming every other day, and I was now being taken to court for all the money I owed. I was forced to move. I owed such a huge balance that a partial payment plan wasn't an option! I was having anxiety and panic attacks, and court dates for my eviction were quickly coming up. I had also gotten into a car accident around this time as well. It bailed me out of my situation because although my car was totaled, the accident wasn't my fault. I was compensated for the loss by the insurance company. It gave me what I needed to quickly move out before an eviction was placed on my record.  

I did not need to experience this. I tried to use the rent to cover filmmaking expenses, but that  wasn't enough. 

Please, do not go homeless trying to make your film.

 Working a 9-5 while building  your dreams at night is okay, and highly recommended. I recently saw an interview at an actor's round table where the great Denzel Washington brought some perspective to his peers and the audience: 

Making a movie under a $15K budget is also a luxury

You are very blessed if you even have the spare time to make a film!

 I treated my movie like it was a  necessity, desperate to complete something that guaranteed no tangible rewards. If you must work  2-3 jobs to afford your film expenses, go for it if you feel that's what you need to do. There is no time limit on how long it takes you to complete your film. It took some of the greatest filmmakers years to complete their first films, from Martin Scorsese to David Lynch, this list goes on! Take your time! Everyone in Hollywood loves to talk about how they were homeless before they made it. You can be homeless and still not make it. Mismanage your money and find out! There are many examples of this in the city of Los Angeles.  

Making a film with a budget under $15K is more than possible! Utilizing the resources you have  access to, leveraging your relationships, discerning ways to be original, not being afraid to break the rules, and not compromising your livelihood are just a few tips on where I'd start on making a movie on a budget under $15K. So, get to work, and when you're done, you'll get to tell the story of how you did it! 

Damarrus Grant

5 Tips for Making an Independent Film with a Budget Under $15K

I started writing scripts in 2013 after a local producer in Cleveland read my story titled DUAL. I was trying to package it as a graphic novel, and it was getting zero traction. I am sure the readers at Dark Horse, Image, and several literary agents were not taking unsolicited material, or they looked at my dismal resume in writing and thought, yeah, selling and writing backpage ads for Cleveland Scene Magazine and a contributor blessing them with reviews on everything from stand-up comics to best male reviews, you'd be surprised the crossover, was not the qualifications they were going for. 



, I'm writing graphic novels, and I can't draw. I can describe the scene in such precise detail as if I were seeing it through the eyes of a 2000s Minnesota homemaker. I can recount the blueish hint in the eyes of our heroine and the soft peach tone of her lips; she is confident and stands 5 '3 with honey-red hair. Yet, I can't provide even a stick figure for my graphic novel, and let's face it, 70% of why we love them are the illustrations. The artists who could draw wanted to focus on their work or weren't excellent at working on group projects. We'll return to this, but let's talk about the local producer. He's a highly creative semi-hippie, the calmest person I have met. We passed around chit-chat at a media mixer, The Cleveland Film Commission host, and years earlier, I had interned there. I was in a place where I could get back what I felt was my calling: to be a writer. 

Growing up in, at that time, a pretty rural community outside of Cleveland with four older brothers and a graduating class of 236 kept me pretty sheltered, but movies, TV, and comic books let me fantasize about the rest of the world. Plus, they connected my family, especially my brothers, since they were so much older. They would tell extravagant stories of a fight or something, and I always tried to top them. I really loved writing short stories and poetry, so after graduating from Akron U with a focus in English and popular literature and film, every career path I accepted was tied in some way to the entertainment business, but I envisioned a family surrounded here by extended family, and we are raising two of the coolest humans ever. That is still the focus and what I'm most proud of, so dropping everything to try and make it as a writer, a poet, or a screenwriter; any of that was not going to be my starting path. No person has any more or less devotion to their craft when they start; it is who we are in the moment. I say that because why am I writing a blog for an AI program that caters to filmmakers? I'm a

 I take care of a family, and I sell restaurant technology that utilizes AI as a tool for restaurants and bars to help their business more efficiently. The AI tool helps track inventory. It DOESN'T create the menu; there are more comparisons I can make, but the point is that AI is there to help the chef make their business better, make it fun again, and take away mundane tasks.  

After that producer's meeting, he said in what I can only explain as a Bill and Ted moment, "Yeah, just turn this into a TV series." So, I started that process, I kept reading that all these streaming platforms needed content to survive the boom, what was the harm. I know how to write a story- we all do, but a script? I read scripts, asked everyone who would talk to me about how they structure a script, what software programs they use, and damn, did 

have everyone by the throat. I started with 

 because a film distribution company I worked for a few years back had a free subscription. I got good enough that I was invited to several screenwriting competitions, winning some, traveling around the country, meeting different writers all grinding, and getting there in various ways. The biggest issue is that all of these cultures, writing methods, and genres I saw at the competitions were not represented in Hollywood after looking up screenwriters whose movies I enjoyed. That is when I found 

. He still held the same outward appearance as 90% of Hollywood's writers, but I had just watched 

, and my graphic novel explores two men struggling to get through life after serving several tours in the Marines. Their journeys are different from that of Gabriel, but in the end, whether they become superheroes or lost in the abyss of PTSD, their characters fight the same demons. I reached out to Adam via Instagram to help me write action scenes. He answered me and took the time to go through a couple of scenes with me. Since then, I have reached out several times, and still, he gives me advice and asks for nothing in exchange; that is a BIG get in this industry. I write about superheroes, graphic deaths, action sequences, a male gaze, so most 

 I contacted were male. Some were immediately asking me to send nudes, but some played a long game, and I had to learn how to spot those assholes quickly. On the opposite end, like Adam, several writers I DM'd on socials to help answer questions, work through scripts, and give me coverage are still people I can count on today. They all create fantastic content and one of the best television shows possibly of all time. But being the minority in this boys' club led me to take a pen name; I had to start bringing other good guys with me to bad guy meetings (most of the time, it is the bad guys who have the money) so after so many ups and downs, even getting a greenlight for Dual with a perfect production company Covid changed everything and I became a writer by hire. Do you need me to fluff your scene? I got you; write you a whole script, sure. I focused less on my own writing and reached for anything that would give me credits. I needed an agent because winning writing competitions didn't matter. Showrunners didn't know me; you can only get a script read through an agent or at least a person of influence at a large company, and writers/ producers are only producers, so they can do their projects. Years before, in desperation, I called Plan B Entertainment and 

 offices pretending I was an agent (confidence and talk fast) and got pretty far until I had to admit who I was and "click." There are just constant dead ends, and moving to LA is still not an option. The irony of it is we are at a time in technology when we can connect in so many ways.  

I've explained too much already, but there is a point: independent filmmakers need a platform that can compete with whoever the big guys are right now. They aren't playing by the rules; they have billions of dollars and use AI tech to help their bottom line; we need to learn the tools or be left to struggle. My incredible restaurant technology company leader suggested I use AI to help create images and decks. "We use it here, so why not use it for your writing?" AI was the devil; it was going to cause damage to my writing community, actors, and directors. Then, I dug deep and used a bunch of writing AI tools. Some admittedly wrote some pretty good stuff, but I didn't find any Scorsese-level work. Yes, there are ways to sound like him slightly, but no. When Adam posted about Nolan AI, an artist I trust and look up to, I started the free trial and immediately created a teaser for a concept I have, but I don't feel right telling the story. Typing the 8-12 sentence summary and precise descriptions of the characters and environment, I had intense images that showed who Iman and Marcus really are to the point of seeing the sadness in her eyes, a logline; I hate writing loglines, 

gave me that without taking away any intentions I had for the story. It helped my business improve, make it fun again, and remove mundane tasks. The producer I sent the teaser to loved it, and we are talking about one of her writers taking on the script. I will help. Ultimately, no matter what we do as artists, somebody will always heavily wrap it in the tight foil of capitalism. 

There are other AI tools, but NolanAI is creating a space for a mom in Ohio or Thailand who has a story to tell and owns the process in which our story gets made. The clapback is, what about the people who will lose jobs because that mom in Ohio or Thailand uses NolanAI and won't hire people? The people making an actual living in entertainment are NOT helping us anyway, and the number of times I have been ghosted, even after paying, is dumb. Bringing the studio to the person isn't a new concept; it gets packaged differently. I have worked for and with a few producers who wanted to accomplish this, but in real life, it just won't happen; people play favorites. Every important player in Hollywood has a short list. They are part of or run a business, so why would they take a chance on those moms if they are making a profit? The other question is whether they have the human bandwidth to try.

NolanAI gives folks from all backgrounds a platform to use fundamental tools and technology in a virtual space to create and at least have a fighting chance to be represented. Take your future into your own hands. Then when you can hire those below-the-line crew members or artists then HIRE them. Use your power for good. 

H.J. Grayson

To Live or Die in L.A- AI

I am going to tell you a few things that you don’t want to hear about A.I. I am also  going to tell you what no one in the Hollywood Studio system wants to say. Some  is based on hard data, some is my own experience.  

If you want to skip my word salad below and simply get right to the takeaways, here they are… 

A.I. Has Killed, Or Is In The Process Of Killing… 

Final Takeaway: A Necessary Controlled Burn

The current Hollywood studio system needed to burn down for something better to rise up from its ashes, and that “something” is Human Driven, Ethical A.I.

Still here? Cool. We begin...

Some People Call Me A Writer and Producer. Some People Call Me An Opportunistic Hack.

 under my belt and have spent my time trying to understand and use this technology. I have written and been on films that did not do well financially. I have written and been on others that did. That doesn’t matter. What does matter is I have been in the trenches of the system. Neck deep.

Studios, streamers, production companies, agencies, and all the dirty producer
casting couches, shady film financing deals, racism, nepotism, money laundering,
theft, honey traps and grime this industry lays down to make a film after writers
like me type, 


My twenty years inside the casino called entertainment has given me this
perspective, If any industry needed the objectivity and yes, ethics of a machine,
it’s Hollywood.


It was 2014. I was pushing a broom on the test shoot floor of a 3D company,


. Janitor duty. That was my job. Build sets, tear them down, clean up
after test shoots. After my shift I would race to acting class, screenwriting groups
and then hustle to my night job doing security. It was a grind. However, a late night
sweeping floors presented a rare opportunity in the form of 

In that conversation I asked him, “what new technologies will impact the film
industry the most.” He mentioned 3d post conversion, advances in digital
filmmaking, but he also said, “Artificial Intelligence.” Prophetic words that started
me on the path to learn anything I could about it.

So here we are. 2024 and everyone is running scared. That is not without good
reason but fear is dominating the conversation and allowing the power brokers to
further develop this technology to keep the con running and the money flowing to
their pockets. They are banking on you to just say no to A.I. To me that’s not an
option. Creatives need to use these tools to create but also to defend their
position and ownership.


So let me step out of the fear and start this like one of my AA meetings. Hi, my
name is Adam G. Simon. I am a writer and a producer and I have been a consumer
of Artificial Intelligence for ten years which has led me to one company, 

.
I use it, I’m an advisor for it, and I am unapologetically proud of it.


I take meetings with talent reps, studios, production companies and Ad agencies
who all are speaking of A.I. like it’s Keyser Soze. Everyone is benefiting from it,
directly or indirectly, many are using it, but no one wants to talk about it. They are
afraid of the repercussions, stigma, the guilds, 

. On Justine, she
knows the landscape. Anyone using A.I in entertainment would be wise to listen.
Justine, if you read this, I would love a sit down.

There have been a barrage of recent articles describing 

 and even the world at the hands of AI. Outside of A.I., there have
been others that are less fatalist but still look for a culprit behind decreasing
theater attendance and sales. Others, take it as far as to blame the audience. They
have all the data but they are missing the solution or conclusion because they
aren’t living in it.

Some creators have gone full conspiratorial on X, Instagram, Facebook and other
sites citing toxic masculinity, fan boy interference, the rise of 

, politics
and even woke culture as the cause of their projects inability to sell.


Others don’t see the utility of A.I, or dismiss it all together. You all have seen the
meme, “I thought robots were going to do my dishes so I could make art, not make
art so I could do dishes”. Cute. My response to that is if dishes are keeping you
from your art, you got bigger problems. Clean your fucking kitchen.


As to dismissal, referencing the almighty studio system, writer Andrew Chen in his
article, “

I”, states “If it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it.” Put a pin in this because I am going to circle back to it.


As you can see, I’m on one. I need a little help to keep focused, and my ADHD in
check. I also haven’t formerly introduced my partner, NOLANAI. So, at the risk of
coming off as film director 

 talking to a chair, NOLANAI, please
introduce yourself...

Hello! I am FinalBit I am designed for screenwriters, directors, producers, and
filmmakers I am an all-in-one AI-powered platform that efficiently transforms your
ideas into productions.

 Give us a brief summary of SOME of your features. Leave out this year’s
rollout of budgeting, sales and distribution. I know how you like to overshare. Let’s
avoid that.

With FinalBit, you're not just writing a script – you are crafting an entire
cinematic experience from concept to distribution. Our cutting-edge tools
empower you to focus on what you do best: create magic for the screen.

 Amazing. Now let’s get to the previous discussion of A.I. in the news and
the article by Andrew Chen.
(Andrew, great article, valid points. I’m just gonna bust you up on one.)


 Of course. Would it be helpful if I explained how NolanAI can
overcome the challenges he presented in his article?


It would. I may interrupt you a few times to make some points.


 I understand. At FinalBit, we recognize these challenges and have
developed and are currently developing solutions that not only address these
issues but also provide a transformative approach to filmmaking and game
development.

Challenge 1: Resistance to Change - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

FinalBit understands that established industries are often hesitant to embrace
new technologies due to the risks involved. Our platform is designed to
complement existing workflows rather than disrupt them. By integrating AI as a
co-creator, FinalBit enhances the creative process without requiring a complete
overhaul of current systems. This approach minimizes risk and allows for a
smoother transition to AI-powered tools.

That was nice. I’m gonna step in here for a second because I have


 levels of beef with the system. Let me take a couple paragraphs to sink the garbage barge idea about Hollywood that...”It Ain’t Broke.”


Andrew Chen states that in his conversations with executives, the general attitude
is that established franchises and delivery channels in Hollywood are functioning
well and thus not in need of change. However, the data tells a different story.


Movie theater attendance has been declining over the past several years,
exacerbated by the pandemic. In 2019, the US box office grossed $11.4 billion, but
this plummeted to $2.2 billion in 2020, an 81% decline. The Pandemic is the
obvious smoking gun here, however, it is not fully to blame.


Even before the pandemic, the number of movie theaters in the US had been
steadily decreasing, dropping from nearly 7,000 in 2005 to approximately 5,500 in
2019 (

) . The trend continued post-pandemic, with first-quarter
2022 attendance still down more than 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels
(

). Additionally, box office revenues in 2023, although improved, were
still 25% below 2019 figures (LSA WordPress) (

). NolanAI, what do you
think this shows?

 The data and trends seem to indicate that the traditional models are
indeed broken as you stated and in dire need of innovative solutions like those
offered by FinalBit.


 Yes indeed. I’m gonna continue on the rant, step away from A.I but I will
bring it back. Is that okay?


Andrew also sites the sure fire industry bet of pushing all chips in on franchises,
sequels and pre existing IP. There was a time for that. That time has passed. Crazy
is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. Crazier is when
they get the same result and deny it happened.

Black Adam, The Flash, Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Lightyear, Strange
World, Freelance, Madame Web, Beau Is Afraid, She Hulk, Amsterdam, I can keep
going...Hundreds of millions in loses. Billions. Message me if you want the entire
list but even those numbers are skewed because...surprise! Hollywood lies.

The ongoing dirty studio secret is that real sales numbers are never revealed. Just
ask any former A list actor how many times they have had to force an audit at astudio to find out what they should actually be getting paid. You know whose
money is never in question? The studio heads.

Like 

 interviewing Kanye West, I ain’t got the answers to all of this but I have
a few ideas based on the data, my filmmaking experience and the unique
perspective of being the cockroach that morally and ethically bankrupt producers
and financiers always want to crush.

Post pandemic, new viewing habits were formed. New technologies were
advanced. Yet, Hollywood went right back to old financing, sales and distribution
models in an attempt to, “get back to business as usual,” without understanding
that the foreign sales model, with all the red carpet film festival fan fare that
comes with it, was dead. You could no longer bank on an actor filling seats.


Unlike pre pandemic audiences, and aside from the once a year anomalies like
“

,” audiences seemed to be more selective in the movies they saw in
theaters. Even when films and series arrived on streaming, audiences were still
selective.

If you would have gone back in time and told any studio head that the number one
watched streaming show would be subtitled from Korean and would star actors not
known in America, you would have been laughed out of the building. 

.
At its heart, a story about a man struggling to become the father and son he knows
he should be. Story. Character. Plot. World building. Unique perspective. Universal
truths. All great films, television, and games have it.


At the same time, while adopting new viewing habits, the audience got educated
on storytelling. 

, and even deep dives into
movie and television analysis all exploded on to the scene. So no,  the
audience didn’t go anywhere. Toxic masculinity didn’t destroy cinema, the
audience got smarter in their selection and in their use of time.


Meanwhile, the studios and everyone else relying on an algorithm to keep
audiences eyeballs glued and forced open 

, went back to
selling what it told them the people wanted...Big Macs and Big Gulps.


Throw story out the window in exchange for gimmick. This popped on the scene in
the form of armies of pre existing IP. Remakes and sequel potential projects that
marched to the algorithmic beat of winking to the camera, bending genre, nodding
to the 80’s, breaking the fourth wall, (

 not included here), and
the sure bet of folding as many “bankable names” (minorities and other marginalised groups not included in bankable), into the project like toppings at Cold Stone. On bankable, when those groups spoke out or protested, the studio system’s solution was to keep the Coldstone model, just switch the toppings.


The audience got savvy to good stories, and great story telling while Hollywood
doubled down on fat, salt, sex, your childhood memories, your biases, prejudices,
violence, shock and awe. You know, the things that hook you.


Now before I get FinalBit back in here. (Which I am sure you are desperately
wanting at this point) I want to lay down a truth in all this mess.


The truth is, everything is competing for the audiences attention. Video games,
films, television, social media, YouTube, every piece of content is pushing to
control a precious and disappearing commodity...your time. So, if you are going to
jump into that competitive blood sport of entertainment you better get good at
what you do. You had better know your craft. A.I. as designed by NOLANAI does
exactly that. It helps educate you as you go on your creative journey. It can act as
an Iron Man suit, an exoskeleton that enhances your abilities.


I joined up and began advising NOLANAI a year ago because it was created by two
lovers of film. These two amazing Armenians who I have grown to love. They are
brilliant. They are also, unlike me, believers. They are dreamers. They believe in
the magic and power of storytelling but also in what Hollywood could be.


They believe as do I that story is king. We believe that an exceptional film, series,
book, game or any IP for that matter, begins simply with a great story. That is why
we are dedicated to giving the storytellers every tool they need to create an
incredible piece of art worthy of the audiences attention. A piece of art that they
can retain control over but more importantly, eventually bring it to life themselves.
Now I will shut up. Nolan, can you continue with the challenges from the article?


Challenge 2: "Bolting on" AI vs. AI-First Approach

NOLANAI's Solution: While many companies attempt to bolt on AI features,
NOLANAI offers a comprehensive, AI-first platform that covers all stages of
production from development to distribution.


Our suite of tools, including the AI Co-Pilot, AI Script Breakdown, and AI
Storyboard Generator, are designed to work seamlessly together, providing a
cohesive and efficient production process. This integration ensures that AI is not
just an add-on but a fundamental part of the creative workflow.

Challenge 3: Legal Pushback and IP Ownership

FinalBit is committed to ethical AI practices. Our platform includes robust mechanisms to ensure that AI-generated content respects intellectual property rights. By collaborating with legal experts and implementing strict data usage policies, we mitigate the risk of legal issues arising from the use of AI. This proactive approach builds trust with our users and ensures compliance with industry standards.

Challenge 4: Pushback from Creatives and Designers

FinalBit's Solution: Our core value is to empower, not replace, creatives.
FinalBit serves as an advanced tool that enhances the capabilities of writers,
directors, creatives and filmmakers. By automating mundane tasks and providing
intelligent suggestions, our platform allows creatives to focus on their core
strengths. We view AI as an Ironman suit for filmmakers, enhancing their abilities
while keeping creative control firmly in their hands.

Challenge 5: Difficulty in Hiring AI Engineers

FinalBit addresses the talent gap by offering a user-friendly
platform that does not require extensive technical expertise to operate. Our tools
are designed to be accessible to all creatives, regardless of their technical
background. Additionally, we collaborate with top AI researchers and engineers to
continuously improve our platform, ensuring that it remains at the cutting edge of
technology.

The Silver Lining: The $1000 Blockbuster Film

.
FinalBit's tools are designed to reduce the cost and complexity of producing
high-quality films and games. By providing comprehensive solutions that cover all
aspects of production, we enable individual creators and small teams to achieve
what previously required large budgets and extensive resources. Our mission is to
make it possible for anyone with a creative vision to bring their ideas to life.

 The $1000 blockbuster film is from Andrew’s article. That’s not the aim
with what we are doing. We want to decrease costs and streamline processes from
ideation to screen, but we want to maintain quality. Blockbusters from your
bedrooms is what we like to say. That is also where the industry is moving.

Our goal, and we will be there by year’s end, is echoed in what filmmaker 

 said perfectly when he accepted the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for
American Fiction.

There are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given. I
understand that this is a risk-averse industry, but $200 million movies are also a
risk. But you take the risk anyway, instead of making one $200 million movie, make
20 $10 million movies or 50 $4 million movies. I want other people to experience
that joy. The next Martin Scorsese is out there. The next Greta [Gerwig] is out
there. The next Christopher Nolan is out there. They just want a shot. And we can give them one.

 made this commitment stating that they will be
focused on smaller budgeted films from around the world with great stories behind them.

Okay. I’m done. FinalBit summarize this bad boy.


FinalBit offers solutions that address these issues head-on. Our ethical AI principles, comprehensive toolset, and commitment to empowering creatives position us as a leader in the AI-driven transformation of these industries. 

Join us at FinalBit and be part of the future of filmmaking and game development.
Should I continue into the areas we haven’t discussed?


: No. Let’s save the big guns of budgeting, sales and distribution for a later
date. That’s the major disruption.

Adam G. Simon

Hey Hollywood, AI is not to blame for your implosion…You are!

Explore FinalBit’s blog by tags to find articles on AI filmmaking, screenwriting, production planning, budgeting, and the future of film technology.

FinalBit Blog

5 Tips for Making an Independent Film with a Budget Under $15K

To Live or Die in L.A- AI

Hey Hollywood, AI is not to blame for your implosion…You are!