25 Cents Per Minute is an anthology film of six interconnected dramedy vignettes exploring the contemporary role of pay phones and the lives of the people that use them. A young runaway fakes her own kidnapping, an unhoused man creates a crafty tool to get by, a photographer finds a new project, an immigrant navigates homesickness and new love, a voice actor records an audition and a technician calls his deceased son, all over the course of one day in the city of Los Angeles.
About the Filmmaker
Writer/Director Tyler Burke was born and raised in Los Angeles. As a child of entertainment workers, I grew up visiting more sets than offices, which both killed the movie magic and inspired me to pursue a creative path in life.
While studying at the University of Pennsylvania, I developed an interest in documentary filmmaking, and finished my first short doc as an independent study project. I freelanced as a videographer while learning about the industry through an internship at Tremolo Productions and an associate producer gig for a Spotify documentary series. I then moved to New Zealand where I spent over a year freelancing as a cinematographer, shooting documentary content for short films, events, and one of Wellington’s biggest art galleries. I have spent countless hours helping out on friends' productions: setting lights, running cameras, driving miles for that very specific prop. And now, I have an amazing opportunity to make my first feature.
25 Cents Per Minute will be my debut feature film - born from the documentarian in me who believes in telling authentic, heartfelt stories, and the Angeleno in me who is committed to showing pockets of Los Angeles rarely depicted on screen.
Why This Film Matters
I hope this film can inspire awareness of the deep and complex lives of the neighbors we pass every day. Especially as we isolate ourselves during this pandemic, I believe it is important to make content that celebrates the interconnections we all share in the diverse patchwork of human life.
The film has been selected through a competition called The Six Feet Apart Experiment, hosted by Wayfarer Studios, which called for films that could be made safely during the pandemic. Wayfarer has provided a nano-budget, 25k for production, along with a mentor, Brad Silberling, and an amazing post-production finishing team providing in-kind services.
While this is an amazing start, it is unfortunately not enough to make this film. We are seeking an additional $15,000 to make this film possible, which we believe is a manageable goal during these difficult times.
This film's first and critical financial push got it off the ground, and like many low-budget indies, it's certainly fueled by the type of artistic passion that entails wearing many hats and filling many roles. That being said, to assure both baseline fair pay and a safe/COVID-friendly environment for the Cast and Crew, while making the best film we can make given our restraints, we've broken down the following budget:
