By
Angela Orlando
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Although alumni Matt Harp's senior project film, "A World Named Jimmy," cost almost $10,000 to make and production of media arts professor Yuri Makino's upcoming film "Alma" might cost up to $1 million, there are, in fact, several ways to bypass the expenses of making a film.
"The university provides cameras, lighting and sound equipment to students, but it is the responsibility of the artist to fund all other expenses," said media arts associate professor Beverly Seckinger.
She added that other expenses include the payment of actors and crew, cost of film or stock, food and many other unpredictable needs.
Some assorted opportunities available for needy filmmakers are listed in the back sections of film industry magazines, such as the Independent Film and Video Monthly, or Filmmaker magazine. Most of these particular grants are highly sought after, and apprentices rarely win them. The majority of these specialized grants go to established independent filmmakers, but Harp said "it's worth a shot."
"More popular and attainable grants are the Slavin award, the Oppenheimer Camera Package grant, the Haldeman award and the annual grant from the University Film and Video Association," Makino said.
Each of these grants fund different aspects of the filming process. The Oppenheimer grant is essentially a loan of camera equipment to a filmmaker applicant.
"The Slavin and Haldeman are faculty-nominated awards," Seckinger said. She added that students cannot nominate themselves for these awards.
Additionally, students often solicit in-kind donations. These are donations of material goods - such as food- from a business, community member or organization.
"Usually these organizations have the same theme as the students' projects," Makino said. "For instance, I was once given money from a Japanese-American organization, because I am a Japanese-American filmmaker."
In exchange for donations, the donor is credited at the end of the film, which gives them publicity.
"Sometimes these gifts are tax deductible," Seckinger said.
Still, Harp added, "At least half of the cost (of my film) came out of my pocket. A lot of students don't realize how much it really costs."
