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Shoot From the Heart with Diane Bell: Filmmaking, Screenwriting, & InspirationAuthor: Diane Bell
A rich archive of tips, techniques and inspiration to help screenwriters, filmmakers and other creative souls achieve their dreams. Language: en Genres: Arts, Performing Arts, TV & Film Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep #152: Joe Burke - The $7k Greenlight
Friday, 18 September, 2026
He made an award-winning feature film for $7,000. Here's exactly how.Joe Burke had a camera, a friend willing to act for free, and a real guy named Burt who'd never acted a day in his life. No big crew. No lights, mostly. No script - just a 15-page outline and two borrowed cameras rolling at once. What came out the other side was Burt: a black-and-white gem that got rejected by 28 film festivals in a row... and then swept the next three it entered.In this conversation, Joe walks through the whole arc - finding his lead actor at a restaurant in Malibu, shooting a feature in seven days for less than most people spend on a wedding, and the year of straight rejection that nearly broke him before Burt started winning everything in sight. Then he does something most filmmakers never talk about: how he became his own publicist, landed an LA Times cover story, and got into 50+ festivals just by asking for waivers and refusing to wait for permission.If you've ever felt like you're waiting for someone else to say yes to your film: this is the conversation that gives you permission to say yes to yourself.PS this conversation is the edited version of an Instagram Live session. Due to this, the sound quality is not ideal, but we felt it was worth sharing anyway. If you want to listen to the whole conversation head over to 🎬 Watch Burt: https://www.joeburke.net/🎙️ Follow Joe: @joeburkefilmWant to greenlight yourself? Join THE GREENLIGHT KEYS: www.dianebell.com/keys
