$70 Movie Causes Stir At Cannes

These days the making of a new movie is a multi-million dollar affair. Even an independent film by a new director that's made on a shoestring budget, will cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars. So you can imagine the shock caused by the new movie "Colin". The movie was made for $70.

The movie's director is Marc Price (pictured). Price, and a few of his friends, have wanted to make a movie, but realized they would never be able to raise the couple of hundred thousand dollars needed to do it. Price said, "A couple of friends were round a few years ago watching Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead'. And we were lamenting the fact that we could never make a zombie film -- we wouldn't be able to acquire a budget."
"Then I just woke up before everyone else -- I was probably a bit hungover -- and I wondered if a zombie movie from a zombie's perspective had been done before." That's when he decided to make a no-budget movie.
Price advertised for volunteer zombies on Facebook and MySpace, borrowed make-up from studio films and taught himself how to do special effects. They were able to get "50 brilliantly made up zombies" from volunteers. It took 18 months to shoot and edit the film.
So, what was the $70 spent on? Price said, "We bought a crowbar and a couple of tapes, and I think we got some tea and coffee as well -- not the expensive stuff either, the very basic kind. Just to keep the zombies happy."

The film is causing quite a stir at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The Japanese are already in negotiations for distribution rights, and several American companies are interested in the film. Price is hoping the film makes enough money to finance a new film.

He said, "Hopefully we'll be able to generate some interest and maybe try to get some kind of a budget for our next film -- maybe a bigger budget, £100, I don't know."