When we started Pre Production on Paradise Recovered, I hadn’t heard of the new en vogue term to describe films made with virtually no money, Micro-Budget. At the time, I was calling it a no-budget film. Truth is, it has a small budget. If my math skills don’t fail me, the budget for Paradise Recovered is about two tenths of one percent of the budget for Avatar. Or, as one friend so eloquently put it, most films have more money allotted for cocaine and hookers than we had for our entire film. But we got to shoot a film and that’s awesome. It’s just not that kind of movie.
We didn’t have much in the way of Craft Services, Transportation or Catering. We didn’t even have much in the way of Boom Operators, Grips or PAs. We had a small crew. The DP was often his own Gaffer and always his own Focus Puller. The AC was also a Grip as well as the Data Wrangler for the Red Camera. The Location Sound Mixer was also the Boom Operator. The Producer and Director also taped windows. Everyone pitched in. And it was fun. And we got great stuff. And hopefully, in the end, we’ll have a great film. One that everyone who worked so hard on it, few as we may have been, can be proud of.
So what kind of film is it? It’s a film with a lot of heart. Made with love. Made because it was a story that needed to be told. And these days, thanks to advances in the ways and means of filmmaking, you don’t need a lot of money to make that kind of a movie.
I just saw Paradise Recovered and, at the age of 58, saw myself as a younger man in Gabriel. I have had a delightful life seeking truth through philosophy, religion and humanity, and though I never would have imagined it in million years, finally found it in Christ.
Anyway, wanted to thank you for pointing out that freedom is just that, “free,” being able to live a life of choices without fear. Freedom allows being able to learn by experience and doesn’t condemn if mistakes are made. It is through freedom that it becomes possible to love and be loved. And it is through freedom that the source of love becomes available and accessible.
Thanks again…Larry Smith