One dollar. That was the entire budget the two filmmakers behind the YouTube channel Sticks had when they set out to make the most profitable movie of all time. Practically nothing. And it worked.
When I saw it, it took me straight back to my early days. Almost everything I shot back then was low budget, and this project proves the point: not having money is no reason not to make something good.
The math behind the record
The record for the most profitable movie isn't held by Avatar or Titanic. They made billions, but they also cost hundreds of millions. Measured by budget to box office, Paranormal Activity is on top: around $15,000 budget, about $193 million in ticket sales. That's roughly 12,890 times its cost.
So if you start with one dollar, you only need to make more than $12,890. Sounds doable. The catch: a dollar won't get you a camera, a location, actors or catering. Everything had to be borrowed, donated or done as a favor.
Everything that went wrong in two days of shooting
The plan was to tell the story of Jason Blum, the producer who turned Paranormal Activity into a hit and is now behind films like Get Out and Whiplash. In the end, they wanted to show him that very film and sell him the world's most expensive movie ticket: $12,891.
Getting there was messy. Two producers said no before the third one said yes. Someone lent them a RED Komodo for free. On the first shoot day, a lead actor dropped out minutes before they started. An assistant producer with no acting experience stepped in and had 20 minutes to learn an accent. The cinema was only confirmed the night before, leaving under two hours to shoot every scene there. Two hours before call time, the office for the studio scenes still wasn't confirmed. A contact saved them with a different office at the last minute.
For the packed theater, they had ten extras. They filmed them row by row and stitched them into a sold-out room in post. The lead actor ended up editing the film himself. His fee: 25 cents.
Then the film sat around for almost two years. A short clip asking people to tag Jason Blum finally got things moving. Blum saw it, met with them, watched the film and bought the ticket. $12,891 for a movie that cost one dollar.
Why this hits home for me as a music video producer
Because I know this. Most of the artists I worked with early on had almost no budget. My whole style came out of that, out of figuring out how much you can get out of what's there.
The Sticks video shows three things I see in every small-budget project.
The idea carries everything. Nobody watched this film for the camera. People watch because the story has a clear hook: one dollar, one record, one ticket. A music video with a strong idea beats an expensive one without it.
People help when they believe in something. The whole crew worked for free because the project was fun and the goal was clear. Same with music videos: a location, a car or a few extras are often easier to get with a good concept than with money.
Post-production makes more out of less. Ten extras became a full cinema. That's how I work too. With color grading, VFX and a clean edit, a shoot day with a small crew ends up looking like a lot more than it cost.
When money is tight, you can't afford weak decisions. A video looks cheap when too little was made of the budget, not when the budget was small. More on that in why some music videos look cheap.
What you can take into your next video
Start with the concept, not the gear. Ask around who has what: a shop, a warehouse, a car, a friend who's good on camera. Plan one location properly instead of three halfway. And think early about what can happen in post, so nothing is missing on set that can't be fixed later.
I wrote down what that looks like in practice in the post about music videos on a small budget.
You can watch the full Sticks video here on YouTube. Stay until the end, there's a twist.
Got an idea but no big budget? Tell me what you have in mind and we'll figure out what's possible.