One inspiration for starting my $300 filmmaker challenge was Mike Plante’s barely year old idea which he called LunchFilms – in short, Plante, best known as CineVegas’s director of programming, buys lunch for a filmmaker, and, in return, challenges them to make a film for the exact total cost of the meal.

Intriguing idea, right? Quite a task too for any filmmaker; but a good challenge, I think. You’ll be forced to dig and get really creative.

Thus far, Plante, has commissioned 50 LunchFilms, with ten currently in production and scheduled to debut in 2010 and 2011. This year Lunchfilms have screened at the Sundance Film Festival and AFI Fest, in addition to a host of microcinemas and college campuses around the country. In Spring 2010, the program will go on an extended screening tour with stops in several cities.

One of the “criticisms” I received after announcing my challenge was that I wasn’t offering enough money – a critique I balked at; $300 may not seem like much, but, considering Plante’s offer – sub-$100 budgets – I think $300 can go a long way. But that’s why it’s called a “challenge.” It’s not supposed to be a cakewalk; however, it’s also meant to be fun! You have little to lose, and much to gain. Besides, each short can be anywhere from 1 minute to 3 minutes; so we’re not talking 30, 15, or even 5 minute shorts.

Another motivation for creating the challenge was to help drive home the idea that filmmaking doesn’t have to be an elitist affair, with prohibitive average production costs, ensuring that a tiny minority wield the power necessary to be productive. And I continue to hope that this becomes the new story, suppressing what’s been accepted for decades!

In a very recent interview with IndieWIRE, Mike Plante states that he’s actually had to temporarily freeze LunchFilms because of the large number of works that he has been able to commission in such a short period of time, with more that hadn’t been completed than had. So, it’s an opportunity for the others to catch up. So, if Mike Plante can encourage 50 filmmakers to to produce short films for literally peanuts – most are in the $30 to $70 range – surely I can stimulate interest from even just 5 of you with my $300… surely… hopefully. I know I’m not Mike Plante, CineVegas’s director of programming, but I’m Tambay Obenson, director of programming at Shadow And Act

Check out Plante’s full interview at indieWIRE where he goes into more detail about some of the films that have been produced, and how much each cost (one was budgeted at $11.30; must have been a really small lunch; maybe they just had appetizers). And check out his LunchFilm blog HERE, to stay informed of the project’s progress.

And be sure to take heed of my filmmaker challenge, which you can read all about HERE.