About The Film Improvisation Project

What is The Film Improvisation Project?

It is a London based acting project that aims to the shooting of a short film, the script of which is to be developed through sessions of improvisation. The participating actors start working on a story from scratch; the story evolves into a script; eventually, the script is shot as a low budget film.

Who can apply?

It is a project open to any actor. No restrictions apply to age, gender or racial background. Participants don't have to feel confident about their English. In fact, participants don't have to feel confident about anything. Just apply. Just do it.

Who acts in it?

All the participating actors who follow the project until the end will act in the film. In case of too many participants, we can always split the project in two or more different stories and make more than one short films.

What's the Project's schedule?

Please visit the meetings page to get a general idea of how the Project's sessions work, or the journal page for a brief account of all past sessions. To find out about the Project's timespan, have a look at the schedule page.

What kind of production will it be?

It will be a low budget short film. However, low budget doesn't mean that it will be sloppy or that it will look like a holiday video. Once we finish the story, we'll shoot it on high definition video with professional equipment. It will look great, it will sound great and we'll work hard so that the story will be great too!

How much does it cost to participate?

Participation is free. The Project is not a training workshop and there are no fees. It is a short film looking for actors and a script.

How much is the payment for the participants?

There is no payment. It is not a paid job for the actors involved and people who apply for it should only have as motivation their enthusiasm, their thirst for experience and desire to be in a film.

Where will we find the budget to shoot?

Once the project gets into good shape, we will pitch it for funding. For the pitch we will use this website, which includes a frequently updated video journal showing how the Project has evolved from session one. The story's outline will also be posted here, as it becomes more and more solid.

In the worst case of no additional funding, the film will be self funded. This means that the producer will pay for everyone's food, pull favours to borrow equipment and turn down any ideas about helicopter camera work. As a general rule applied to low / no budget films, actors don't pay anything, as acting for free is enough of a commitment by itself and this film is no exception to this. However, actors will be asked to contribute by bringing in props, costumes, and locations, if possible.

In general, think how low budget shorts work. This is a low budget short, on board of which you come from the very start.

What happens after the film's completion?

In the end of the project we will have a short film in our hands, of which the credits will say "This film has evolved from scratch entirely through improvisation". Everyone involved will take a DVD copy for their showreel and, most importantly, the film itself will be submitted to festivals and distribution companies, like any other independent short film. And we'll see how we'll take it from there.

Why?

Because we love films. And we don't believe that we need thousands of pounds in order to make them.

If you share the same thoughts and passion, contact us.