For the last couple of years I’ve been making low-budget feature films, including Good Boy, which we made for around $7,000 with a crew of four people — and I wrote, directed, and shot it. In this video I break down the 7 rules I wish I had fully internalized earlier, if you’re trying to make a feature with a tiny crew and practically no money. The big theme is realism: keep it simple (fewer locations, fewer actors, fewer props, fewer days), and have an actual plan for what happens after you finish — even if it’s “we’re making a genre film and we’ll hit genre festivals.” I also talk about the stuff people avoid: contracts, boundaries, and being honest about risk. If you can’t pay people, you need to respect their time, keep days short and efficient, and be generous with credit and profit percentages. And then there’s the mindset: have zero expectations. People showing up for free is already a miracle, and there’s a high chance the film won’t make money. The final rule is the one that makes everything else matter: finish the film — and be ready to do the edit and post yourself if that’s what it takes.