Why I love low budget horror films and you should too!

I admit it, I'm a freak. I love horror films. And I'm not alone! The horror fan community is huge with millions of people worldwide cringing, grimacing, and shrieking in pleasure at horror films. And within that community, there is an even more dedicated, hard core group of fans who love low budget horror. I'm talking John Russo, and George Romero, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, or Sam Rami's EVIL DEAD, low budget. I'm screaming even lower budget like THE LAST BROADCAST and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

There's nothing more inspiring than reading about a group of friends getting together and mixing up a batch of fake blood on the stove top, then going in the backyard to shoot a movie on their digital camera. The nerve! Who do these people think they are? They can't make movies! But they do.

Well, low budget films won't sell! That's what you think. In fact, there's a huge market for low budget films, either through self distribution or through the major studios.

There's a whole school of thought (and marketing machine at nobudgetfilmschool.com) where you can read about guys who shoot movies for under $1000 and sell them to major studios for 20-30 times cost! Find me a businessman in any state that won't take that kind of return on investment.

But giving it to a studio for a big payout up front means you're giving away half or more of your profits for eternity. (or in perpetuity, legally) If you decide to put up a site and distribute yourself, you could keep those profits year after year! Imagine making a movie for $1000, and selling 1000 copies at $15. You just made $14,000! Congratulations. Now go make another movie for $1000. And sell 1000 copies of it! But wait, your first movie could still be earning money too, with customers generated from fans of the second film, and vice versa. So you sell 500 more of the first and 1000 of the second, and you've earned $21,500. That's your money to keep and reinvest in making more movies!

So how do you sell 1000 copies of each movie? Get a mailing list devoted to your niche. What's a niche? Find other fans of low budget horror, just like yourself, and then give them information and ideas, funny content and links in the form of a blog, newsletter, and community. This place is a community, with people interested in writing. Guess what, there are hundreds of sites where people interested in exactly what you are gather every day and talk. Find them. Join them. Don't try to sell your movie. Provide valuable information. Invite them to see your clip on Youtube. Invite them to read your horror story on your blog. Invite them to comment on your story and articles about low budget horror films. Have them give you their e-mail address to post comments. Guess what, you just created a social network.

Now, your network is just as interested in the success of low budget films as you are.

Go out there and find your network the information it wants, and needs. Give them links to low budget treasures, do the digging and work for them. Build your network into a powerhouse forum. Then, tell them you're making a movie. Tell them what it's about. Ask them to participate. Now, you've got an audience invested in your film and how it turns out. Once it's complete, set up a sales page and invite them to buy it. Rinse. Repeat.

How do I know this works? Have you ever taken a course in college? I was always amazed at how poetry and literature professors who wrote crap and drivel could claim to have so many book credits to their name. Then I discovered their game. My professor at college made his class of 100 people per semester buy three or four of his colleuge's books to "study." At the same time, his buddy made his class buy my professor's book. It was a win win situation for both of them, since they could publish instead of perish, and turn a captive audience onto their work. Was it deceptive? No, since it's been going on for years and years at universities all over. It's just a recommendation.

So you create an audience at your blog, and introduce them to your work. You've at least given them the choice to purchase or not. So long as you don't flog them about the head with your sales pitch, they will remain in your network, and you can continue to provide them with solid, fun information.

You should love low budget horror movies, and low budget love stories, and any form of artistic expression that is democratized. It takes the business of filmmaking out of the hands of a few and puts it in the lens of the many. Who said it? "I don't know if it's art, but I know what I like?" That should be the thought du jour when it comes to books, films, paintings, television shows, plays, graffiti, or any other form of expression.