I recently saw the movie, this time with commentary.
But what came to my mind was the films budget. 18 million dollar might nog be the budget of a major feature film, but it's still more than enough for a indie-flick. And in the commentary Tim Burton (I think) talks about how they had to use a hockeystick for boom. How is this possible? Is really 18 million that small of a budget??
Lead actors usually consume about 10% percent of a film's budget. Johnny Depp's salary alone must have been enormous for such a modest budget. It also had bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Patricia Arquette.
Burton was probably exaggerating with the hockey stick comment, but I don't doubt the film's finances must have been tight.
Yeah, that's pretty small. When you think of the number of really talented actors (and the director) involved with that project, even if they all took a fraction of their normal salaries that number alone must have taken a large chunk.
To put it in perspective, Bill Murray made 10 million dollars for Groundhog Day just one year previously, Depp 5 million for Nick of Time one year later.
Then you have the cumulative salary of the crew, and the fact that there's a large number of sets likely built just for that film, and it all starts to add up.
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There were a few factors.
As others have mentioned, there was a great cast, and while there is no doubt they would have been working for less than their usual fee, they would still have been paid.
It was a Disney film. Disney overheads are high.
It is a film set 40 years in the past. Period detail doesn't come cheap.
The film was shot in LA in black and white. At the request of the DP, the unprocessed film was sent to New York to be developed, then sent back to LA so it could be viewed and edited.
The thing about the hockey stick, even films of the biggest budget have tiny moments and sometimes have to improvise. Even on something like the Star Wars prequels you would hear about pickups being made in someone's garage with a crew consisting of a guy with a camera and another guy with a microphone. In the case of Ed Wood, anything could have happened. Perhaps the boom man was sick that day and no one else had a boom, perhaps he got a flat on the way to the set.
Filmmaking - even on the biggest films - still isn't an exact science, and all kind of things can go wrong. These days, $18million is microbudget for a film with studio backing, but for an 'indie film' (which Ed Wood wasn't) 18million is still pretty high. Luckily in Ed Wood's case it shows on the screen.
Never defend crap with 'It's just a movie'
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