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Gas Prices Affecting Movies

When I was in Florida starting out as an actor I would drive everywhere to meet people. Anyone who might have anything to do with movies I met. That's how I got to know a lot of the folks I know today from back home.

A lot of Florida actors can relate to this, but there were times I would drive to Ft. Myers to audition for commercials. At one point I was driving 3000 miles a month. Back then gas didn't seem to be a killer. Today that sounds insane to drive that much. To think that I was doing this only 7 or 8 years ago is pretty crazy.

Many of us in production or acting use our vehicles all the time. It doesn't matter what state you are in. We drive all over the place. Many of the times we have to have actors drive to us. During the summer of 2001 I did a film in Florida called "South Florida." I would drive from West Pasco to Largo every weekend on my own dime. Like I said before, back then it didn't seem like much but there is not way today I would do that same drive because of gas prices.

As a producer you literally have to put in a gas expense for actors and any crew. These days a person really can't say, "I made this movie for nothing." Well, unless they shot it in their own house with family.

I have been thinking of some ways to soften the blow on gas prices. As film makers we want to put money into our production. We want to see cool things happen on screen not the money go into the gas people's pockets. Believe me they don't need it.

The first thing I suggest looking into is freegashelp.com. It's a web site where if you put advertising on your car and they give you free gas cards. There are a few things you need to qualify but it's not a bad idea. I have heard people getting up to $150 a month from this site. So if you don't mind putting a magnet sticker on your car there is an idea.

One thing I have always done is run all of our production costs and my personal bills on a rewards credit card. Every 1000 dollars spent is a free $10 dollar gas card.

The last idea and maybe the best idea is to get one of the new Hybrid cars. I realize they are expensive now, but in a few years it will pay for itself. Especially if you are driving 3000 miles a month like I used to.

Some of these ideas might sound like a cheap old man's way to save money. Maybe they are just that. There is nothing I hate more than when I watch a movie I did from a few years back and say, "God, if I just would have put a few extra hundred bucks into that scene it would have been so much cooler." With these money saving ideas maybe we will have that extra cash when it counts.