This morning I was talking with Wes about how what I love about making art films is that it removes most of the barriers that get in the way when making non-art films. I remarked that even the budget and equipment barriers are gone now because you could literally dig through the garbage and find the equipment you need to meet the minimum criteria for an art film: moving pictures.
Then the though occurred that you could not only get the equipment for free from the trash, but you could probably get people to pay you to take it.
The idea is this:
Setup an e-waste collection event that requires a payment of $5 per piece of e-waste. Only accept e-waste that includes the things you need to shoot the film (cameras, computers, monitors, lights, etc.). Announce this via some form of online thing (Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc.) and run it for a half a day or whatever it takes to get the equipment you need. By the end of the day you'll have not only the gear you need to shoot but a budget as well.
Open-source software plays a big role in this, because virtually any junk computers can run the software you need to edit, mix, master and release a digital film. This would have not been possible if you had to somehow pay for the software you need to install on the garbage computers. It also allows you to use footage captured on virtually any available camera, write the script, print the cue cards, make movie posters, master DVD's, etc.
Bonus points, film the e-waste event itself as a documentary to show other filmmakers how it's done; maybe write a book, or perhaps even begin a new filmmaking movement.
Double-bonus points if you actually shoot the film you set-out to shoot in the first place.
We'll give this a shot sometime in the future, but if you decide to give this a try I would love to hear about it and promote your project.
Jason J. Gullickson, 2026