After the story has been written it's time for a producer to come in. There are many things for a producer to consider but if they have no budget, then these tips will help.
First figure out the hardest part of your script, a big location, a certain actor, a certain prop. This will help you see where any money you do have needs to go. Simple, but just sitting down and figuring out where what money you have needs to go Is very important.
Next they need to come up with a grand plan of what to do with the film after it is finished, this will help when convincing people to help out with the film for free. It's always a hard thing to get people to work for free. Some tactics you can take are to have a great post production plan so crew and cast could get paid later. Or you can convince a person with lots of experience to help out so that you can sell the experience of working with this guy as the pay for helping on the film. There are lots of people out there looking for help moving forward in their career so they are willing to help out for free.
The next thing to consider as a producer is to be very creative. A producer must be able to come up with ways to save money everywhere without killing a film. A major way to do this is with location. Remember that the viewers can only see what's in the frame, nothing else. If you need to be in a bunker, put your actor in front of a piece of Sheetrock and play the rest off with lighting and sound affects. The mood can be created without grand sets. Be willing to for go grand cover shots so you can shoot a island woods scene in the backyard of someone's house. Be willing to concentrate on sounds and acting to pull off the feel of being at a club when really your in someone's dark basement. Don't forget that creative lighting, sound, and camera angels can save you tons of money in the location department.
Creating a film with no budget as a producer can be stressful, but it will help you see things in a new way. It will make you have to be creative and new and look at things like you never have before!
