How Scott Park Self-Funded His Short Film

Film Title: Cutter

Length: ~13:00

Status: Post-production

Budget: ~$40,000

Shooting Location: Colorado, USA

Logline: In a familiar but different 1930s, a young woman has an incredible ability -- all it costs is a little blood.

Synopsis: Chloe is a seamstress in an alternate 1930s rural America.  Her best friend is Officer Forbes, an old beat cop struggling with the murder of his grandson. Chloe discovers an incredible ability: When she cuts herself and a piece of clothing, the owner of the article of clothing appears in her closet. She uses this strange, punishing ability to question a psychotic convict to find the boy's killer. Questioning turns to torturing. Small slices become gashes. And the line between enthusiasm and obsession blurs.

There are pros and cons to every type of film funding. We caught up with Writer/Director Scott Park, who is currently in post-production with his short film Cutter, to talk about the process of self-funding a period sci-fi drama short film he recently shot in Colorado.

Planning to self-fund an independent short film? Learn from Scott's experience!

How did you fund your short film, Cutter?

Scott Park: The project was self-funded, split between myself and the Executive Producer, Dane Peterson. I raised most of my share working on a TV show.

Did you have film funding in place before writing, or get funding together after you wrote the script? 

[SP]: The project began as a feature length script, written in 2020. Originally a modern setting, it was intended to be small and contained — few locations, handful of actors, no effects, etc. When it turned into a pseudo-period piece, we knew we couldn't self-fund the feature. With no real leads to funding, we decided to make a short version and use that to raise interest and hopefully, money. We put together the funding for the short after that decision was made.

What are some of the pros about funding independent film this way? The cons? 

[SP]: The best thing about self-funding is the creative freedom. Dane and I didn't answer to anyone but ourselves. There is a bit of weirdness inherent to the project and we felt no resistance to push that as far as we cared to.

The two big problems with self-funding are the personal cost and accountability. There is almost no way re-coop what is spent on a short film. But we viewed the short as a proof of concept introducing this world so we approached it almost as a loss leader for the feature. 

And as for accountability... the most important of the checks and balances in film is the disconnect between creative and monies. Usually it's a terrible idea for the director and EP to be the same person. There's no one there to say "No". So it's easy to overspend. And to some extent that was true in our case, too. We probably ended up spending more than we should have.

Myles Cranford as Forbes in Cutter

Were there any areas where you were able to call in favors/save money for your indie film? What were those areas?

[SP]: In 2005, when I first started in film, I worked for Lighting Services, the G&E rental house in Denver. Dane and I have helped them out in different ways over the years. So we were able to get a great deal on equipment. I also got the Atlas Orion anamorphic lenses from a friend for free.

Did you get any budget or expense surprises that you weren’t expecting?

[SP]: We knew production design was key to selling this world. Costumes from the 30s (some custom), turn of the century architecture, and sci-fi dieselpunk props. So we planned on spending the most money on wardrobe, locations, set dressing, and props. Even so, it ended up costing more than we hoped. The location fees alone were more than a fifth of the production budget.

Did you learn anything when it comes to self-funding and budgeting that you will do differently on your next indie film project? 

[SP]: I'm very proud of this project and happy with how it turned out. But if we don't get anywhere with it and I move on to another short, it will be much smaller in scope. This script was twelve pages. Production was one rehearsal day and three shooting days. Next time I'll write a three- to five-page script that could be shot in a single day.

Any fun anecdotes you'd like to share? 

[SP]: We had a lot of trouble finding locations. We needed something for the cleaners, Forbes' dining room, and Teague's bedroom. After months of looking all over Colorado and finding only dead ends, I was thinking about re-writing scenes or even shooting it in an avant-garde, minimalist style like Dogville — a taped floor plan in a black box studio. I finally stumbled across Four Mile and amazingly they had great spaces for all three sets.  And it turns out it was five minutes from my home.

People ask about the strange language spoken by the characters. It started as a response to me really not liking the way I write dialog. If I write it the way I like, it feels too snappy, contrived. If I write it in a way that seems more natural, it feels boring. Not gonna do that. So I figured if it's going to feel contrived anyway, might as well lean into it. And that also helps support the "familiar but different" feel of the project.

The dialog is a terse mix of Old West language, reversed phrasing, truncated verb infinitives, and uncommonly-used synonyms.

What is your long-term vision for this short film?  

[SP]: We're planning a festival run and hoping that raises interest and money for the feature version of the project.

Best of luck, Scott! Thanks for sharing with us and keep us updated as the project progresses.

Writer/Director Scott Park on the set of Cutter

About Scott Park 

Growing up in the drizzly Pacific Northwest, introvert Scott Park pursued indoor, solo activities. His mother encouraged his creative side and fostered a permanent love for the arts. Ever restless, over the years he has enjoyed drawing, painting, sculpting, music, and writing. In 2005 he turned his attention to film. Loving the combination of creative and technical, he found cinematography to be the perfect outlet. He has shot more than 40 short film projects and two features, including Hoax (2019) and Rent-A-Pal (2020). Remembering a favorite quote, "Learn the rules so you can break them properly", he has embraced the idea of subversive cinematography — purposefully breaking the rules to greater effect than following them. In support of that, he wrote a feature, Cutter, with the intent to direct and shoot it.