How to make a micro-budget movie with filmmakers Hedy Wong & Hisonni Johnson

How do you make a high quality movie on a micro budget?

Filmmakers Hedy Wong and Hisonni Johnson have answered this question with Take Out Girl (2020), about Tera Wong (played by Hedy), who delivers Chinese food for her mother’s struggling restaurant in Los Angeles. She takes a job from a local drug lord to move “product” in an attempt to free her family from poverty, crime and their violent surroundings.

Hissoni Johnson and Hedy Wong talk to us about the importance of believing in yourself as a filmmaker, how you don't need to have all the answers when you write an outline, and offer tips and tricks on how to create a feature film that looks like a studio movie on a 'zero budget'. The moviemaking duo provide a fascinating insight into the process of shooting the movie, scouting locations, and and submitting the movie to competitions, even before the film had been finalised, for the purposes of feedback.

Wong, who has appeared in music videos with the likes of Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, was ready to shelve her script for Take Out Girl (2020). As fate would have it, she crossed paths with creative artist Johnson, who has made a name for himself for making films on a very low budget with outstanding results.

Hisonni Mustafa Johnson is a talented writer, director, actor, and cinematographer - in fact, if you check the credits for the film, you'll see just how involved Johnson was and get some idea as to how many creative strings he has to his bow.

TAKE OUT GIRL is out now on VOD and Digital

Credits

Video Editor, Visual Effects & Artwork: Richard Williams
Audio Podcast Editor: Juana Rubio
Special thanks to Katrina Wan PR & 1091 Pictures