Survival Resources

Survival Resources

Low budget filmmakers are usually also low budget in their living styles. Brooklyn Young Filmmakers also shares
basic survival information.

  • LEGAL HELP - Have legal problems related to housing, work, family, bankruptcy, disability, or immigration? For referrals to free and low cost legal services in neighborhoods near you (and around the country): www.LawHelp.org
  • PRESCRIPTION DRUGS DISCOUNT – Please pass on to those who don’t have health insurance and need to buy prescription drugs (or those who have insurance with high co-pays): www.bigapplerx.com This is a wonderful New York City resource. It’s free. You don’t have to sign-up! Just go to the website and print out an online card, then look up in their online directory the pharmacies that accept it near you (most major ones like Duane Reade and Walgreens, and some smaller ones). Then use it! Using this card one prescription that would normally cost $70 was discounted to $11! Discounts of course may not be as big for all drugs.
  • FREELANCERS UNION - A national non-profit www.freelancersunion.org helping people who live as freelancers, not working for one company but many, and not working an everyday job but on projects as they are offered. You can get help with figuring out your taxes and getting health insurance.
  • LIABILITY AND HEALTH INSURANCE - Fractured Atlas www.fracturedatlas.org is a national non-profit that provides support services for the independent arts community, including low cost Liability and Health insurance, and fiscal sponsorship.
  • FREE MAP OF NYC - If you don’t have GPS or a smart phone, and you’ve got to do pick-ups and deliveries in areas you don’t know, you will need a New York City street map. Great a free one at your local bike shop! The city produces a NYC Cycling Map each year that includes all the best bike routes in the 5 boroughs – and it also includes all the streets. It does not though include a guide listing all the streets and the coordinates for finding them, so get some general directions in advance to help you pinpoint on the map where you want to go, and then use the map to keep you on course.
  • FREE BUSINESS CARDS - www.vistaprint.com will give you 250 free business cards (they put their logo on the back as advertisement)
  • FREE 411 INFORMATION CALLS - 1-800-FREE411 In exchange for making a free 411 call, you have to listen to an add.