People have made some incredible movies on a shoestring budget. All it takes is a camera, a great story, a vision, a lot of dedication, and a talented team of mostly unpaid volunteers.

Here are some of the most inspiring low-budget films you can watch today.

The Hunt For Gollum (2009)

I just finished watching this and it's what inspired me to write this blog post. I was blown away by how good it is! This must have taken an insane amount of dedication and effort and I can't believe they pulled it off. The result is an astonishingly good film for such a tiny budget.

• Director: Chris Bouchard
  • Background: He had always been into filmmaking. His career was in sound, film music, and professional VFX work.
• Budget: £3,000
• Profit: $0. This fan-made movie could not be sold or monetized online because they did not own the rights to the IP.
• Impact: Over 13 million online views.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

One of the most successful independent films of all time. Turned found-footage horror into a mainstream thing and is still the standard reference for “you can change the industry with no money".

• Directors:
  • Daniel Myrick
  • Eduardo Sánchez
  • Background: Film school friends who made a trilogy of short films before The Blair Witch Project.
• Budget: $35k–$60k
• Worldwide Gross: $248.6M
• Impact: One of the most profitable films ever made, it pretty much rewrote the rules on horror, “found footage,” and internet-era marketing. It also helped pave the way for movies like Paranormal Activity and REC.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Paranormal Activity (2007)

The original version of this film was shot in the director’s house for about $15k. It was then sold to Paramount Pictures.

• Director: Oren Peli
  • Background: One of the software developers behind the Amiga graphics program Photon Paint, and later a video game programmer.
• Budget:
  • Original film: $15,000
  • Additional Shots: $200,000 (Paramount shot a new ending)
• Worldwide Gross: Around $194 million
• Impact: Often cited as the most profitable film ever made (based on "return on investment"). Kicked off a massive horror franchise. Showed that smart marketing plus a tiny, genuinely scary film could still dominate cinemas years after Blair Witch.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Primer (2004)

This is an incredible low-budget time-travel movie. (I need to watch this again. It's very good even if it's very confusing.)

Minor Spoiler: You might want to reference this chart if you want to actually understand what happens (and when).

• Director: Shane Carruth
  • Background: Has a degree in Mathematics. Was a software developer working on flight-simulation software.
• Budget: $7,000
• Box Office: $841,926
• Impact: Became a cult classic among sci-fi and engineering nerds. Often cited as the “hardest” (most accurate) time-travel movie ever made.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

El Mariachi (1992)

This film is recognized by Guinness World Records as the lowest-budgeted film ever to gross $1 million at the box office.

It was made for only $7,225. It was then bought by Columbia Pictures, who invested a lot more money into post-production and marketing.

• Director: Robert Rodriguez
  • Background: Cartoonist during college. He created a daily comic strip entitled "Los Hooligans". He also regularly made action and horror short films.
• Budget:
  • Production: $7,225
  • Post-production: $200,000 (transferring the print to film, remixing the sound, and other post-production work)
  • Marketing and distribution: Millions
• Box Office: $2 million
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Clerks (1994)

Kevin Smith financed this film using credit cards. It turned into a US$4M+ cult hit and a whole career.

• Director: Kevin Smith
  • Background: Videotaped basketball games and produced sketch comedy as a teenager. Was inspired to become a filmmaker at the age of 21 after watching Slacker (1990).
• Budget:
  • Film: $27,575
  • Post-production: $230,000
• Box office: $4.4 million
• Impact: Launched Kevin Smith’s whole career and the "View Askewniverse" (Jay and Silent Bob)
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Following (1998)

Christopher Nolan’s debut feature, shot on weekends.

• Director: Christopher Nolan
  • Background: Obsessed with movies since childhood. After university he did whatever film-related work he could get: script reader, camera operator, and director of corporate and industrial films.
• Budget: $6,000
• Box office: $126,052
• Impact: The success of this film led to Memento and everything after: The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Oppenheimer, and Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

TROOPS (1997)

A Star Wars fan film shot like an episode of COPS.

• Director: Kevin Rubio
  • Background: Theater, lighting, and TV animation/promo work
• Budget: Probably only a few thousand dollars.
• Impact: Became an early-internet cult hit
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Batman: Dead End (2003)

Ultra-short Batman fan film that looks ridiculously good for its budget.

• Budget: Around $30,000
• Impact: Blew up at San Diego Comic-Con, is still often called the best superhero fan film ever made.
• Director: Sandy Collora
  • Background: Obsessed with comic books and videogame magazines. Started doing freelance illustration for them as a teenager. Moved to LA at 17 specifically to get into movies. Worked in practical FX for a decade before making this.
• Wikipedia
• IMDb

Wait... $30k? For an 8 minute film? That's not low budget!

Yes, $30k is a lot of money. But in “real film world” terms, $30k is very low.

• Many serious festival shorts are in the $50k to $200k range or higher.
• A single shooting day with a small professional crew, proper insurance, catering, and gear rental can easily run $5k to $10k+.
• One decent commercial can cost hundreds of thousands to millions for 30–60 seconds.

For what Batman: Dead End actually did, it's extremely impressive:

• Shot on 35mm film. Film stock, processing, and telecine alone can burn thousands.
• High-end creature effects and costumes (Predator, Alien, Batman suit) by professionals who normally worked on studio films
• Professional stunt people, lighting, and production design

If they had paid full commercial rates for everything, this same 8 minute film could easily have been six figures.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if I should add anything else to the list.