Liz Manashil | Finding Success With Micro-Budget Films

Filmmaker Freedom

Liz Manashil is pretty prolific when it comes to writing and directing micro-budget features.

I actually found out about Liz a few years ago after her first feature, Bread and Butter, recouped its budget, and she wrote a great article for MovieMaker transparently sharing those numbers and revenue streams.

These days, Liz just finished her second feature, Speed of Life, and is taking it around the festival circuit, hammering out a unique distribution deal for it, and planning a DIY theatrical run that includes a David Bowie cover band, all of which we talk about in our conversation.

And finally, she's in the early stages on a new feature called Lady Parts, that's honestly got one of the funnier crowdfunding pitch videos I've ever seen.

Anyhow, here's a rundown of what we talk about in this interview.

• The totally awesome name of Liz's dog (and the not-quite-as-awesome name of our cat)
• What Liz learned from conducting the largest ever survey of distributors to find out what they look for in a film.
• How Liz makes sure she doesn't get screwed when negotiating a distribution deal.
• Why and how Liz is booking her own short theatrical run for her latest feature, and why she's hiring a David Bowie cover band to play those shows.
• How Liz attracts and attaches big name talent to her micro-budget features.
• Liz's history with crowdfunding, and how she consistently manages to raise money for her films through that channel.

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