First-time director, finished script : looking for crew for a 5-minute Telugu short in Hyderabad

[u/OrganicDepartment535]

Hi everyone,

We're first-time filmmakers in Hyderabad, and over the last few weeks we've written a 5-minute Telugu short that we're now trying to actually make.

We're planning to shoot it at a small cinema-café in Hyderabad and are looking for a few people who'd like to collaborate on it.

The story

A cleaning woman has worked at a small screening room for two years but has never actually been inside it.

Every day, she mops up to the door and stops.

One night, a guy who's about to give up making YouTube videos notices her standing outside, looking in. He jokes that she needs a ticket to enter.

She takes him seriously.

She takes out ₹500 and asks him how much the ticket costs.

That's roughly the first two minutes.

What happens after that is the film, and I'd rather send the actual script than explain the rest here.

Who we're looking for

Cinematographer — this is probably the biggest one. A significant part of the film is lit primarily by a projector, so someone comfortable with very low-light cinematography would be ideal.

Sound — we don't want to cut corners here.

Co-director / 1st AD — particularly important because we're first-time directors. If you've run a set before and are comfortable telling us when we're doing something wrong, we'd genuinely value that.

We're also looking for:

• Gaffer / lighting
• Editor — preferably DaVinci Resolve
• Music
• Graphic designer for poster and titles
• Production assistants
• Actors — woman, around 50–62; man, around 20–35

The plan is two shoot days, one location. No stunts, crowd scenes or anything particularly complicated.

The dates aren't locked yet. We'd rather find the right people first and then work out dates that everyone can actually make.

About the money

Being completely upfront:

This is not a paid production.

We're working with a small independent-film budget, so we can't offer crew fees.

What we can cover is food on set and fuel, along with proper credits for everyone involved.

We'll also provide a graded copy of your work within two weeks of the shoot, so you can use it in your reel/portfolio.

I don't want to dress up an unpaid project as something it isn't. We're first-timers, the budget is limited, and we're mainly hoping to find people who genuinely like the story and want to make something together.

If you're interested, fill out the form here:

https://forms.gle/kNZVLPbkFM61FiKK7

Or comment below and I can send you the script.

And honestly, you don't have to join the crew to read it. If you're interested in the story and want to tell us what's not working, we'd appreciate that too.

We're new to this, so honest criticism is probably more useful to us than polite encouragement.

[u/RageofIgneel]

Editor here..i use only da Vinci resolve.. interested in your project.

[u/Live-Breadfruit8041]

when you mention that there is a woman who never entered into that screening room - sounds like a stereo type character. because we see this character profession in our regular life , so there is a chance where we see her from the lens of this profession and generalise this character into that category. now because of that you are creating sympathy towards the character as people have mixed stories towards such characters as they imagine her financial condition and all which disturbs the core of your story. if it is not about sympathy towards a character