35 Award-Worthy Gifts For Filmmakers That Deserve Celebrity Status

Updated: Mar 07 2024

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The writer, director, actor, or producer you love will remember you when they're famous if you treat them to one of these exceptional gifts for filmmakers. Whether they're an aspiring filmmaker or an established filmmaker, these gifts are shoe-ins for a major award and already preparing their acceptance speeches. Give your filmmaking friend accessories, apparel, and home decor to spice up their space and make their film cave a more inspiring place or help them indulge their movie-lover side. Or, treat the filmmaker in your life to things that can be used on set or during a run-and-gun indie film or short film shoot like versatile pocket-sized LED lights and professional-grade camera equipment. And there are great gifts for every phase of the filmmaking process, from brainstorming creative ideas to post-production and everywhere in between. Lights, camera, action, the camera is rolling and these filmmaker gifts are ready for their close up!

Stop Motion Animation Kit

Encourage a filmmaker who wants to preserve the dying art of stop-motion animation with a kit that makes it easy. Unlike other film equipment, this takes up no room, uses almost no electricity, and best of all is fun! The camera is included as well as some backdrops to get things started.

$74 .99

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Cheap Movie Tricks: How To Shoot A Short Film For Under $2,000

When it comes to filmmaking it's often said you have to pick two: fast, cheap, or good. With this book in hand, filmmakers don't have to choose, they can achieve the iron triangle. The book is full of tips, tricks, and secrets of the industry that'll help them crank out quality flicks for a fraction of the cost.

$9 .99

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Vintage Tripod Floor Lamp

The allure of vintage filmmaking will never be lost on the filmmaker who has this tripod floor lamp in their home. The lovely piece has barn doors atop the light to help manipulate the shadows coming off of the spotlight as well as an Edison bulb to add to its antique appeal.

$139 .99

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Universal Camera Phone Video Rig

Smartphone cameras these days are really good, for indie filmmakers, they've basically eliminated the need for large expensive cameras. Especially when there's equipment like this out there, which offers a stable, level, and multi-functional way to capture all kinds of angles and perspectives. It's got compatibility with tripod plates, too!

$39 .98

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The Filmmaker's Eye

The Filmmaker's Eye is regarded so highly it's effectively a Bible for filmmakers. The book teaches the rules of cinematic composition and how to successfully subvert and break them through a series of bite-sized lessons illustrated with fascinating photos. It will make any filmmaker at any point in their career smarter.

$41 .27

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Gimbal Stabilizer

More often than not, gimbals are responsible for those cool motion-stabilized shots you see on TikTok. Put that power in a filmmaker's hands with this handheld and you'll take their art to new heights, maybe literally. It's compatible with smartphones of all kinds, has a Bluetooth remote, face/object tracking, 600-degree auto-rotation, and more!

$99 .00

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Anker Backyard Movie Projector

Instead of buying out a theater for a short film premiere, they can throw a real party in the backyard with this Anker movie projector. The tiny can has a 360-degree speaker, projects a picture up to 100 inches in size, and has a 4-hour battery. Even a Scorsese film ain't that long!

$279 .99

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Movie Prop Money

Help a filmmaker practice for the day they finally receive that seven-figure screenplay deal with a fat stack that's faker than 50% of the famous people in Los Angeles. This movie prop money contains over one thousand hundred dollar bills that are great for making it rain and taking pictures but not much else.

$34 .99

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The Filmmaker's Handbook

Filmmaking has evolved quite a bit in the last ten years and this book rises to the task of educating filmmakers at all levels. The book goes beyond techniques for making certain genres of film and shooting video into topics like the business aspects of filmmaking, how to get movies onto streaming platforms, and understanding formats.

$21 .29

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#10

Pen Multitool

Whether they need to break into the grip truck cuz you locked the keys inside or crack a bottle of beer to celebrate the end of the shoot, this pen has got a filmmaker covered. It's a real pen, too, so they can sign autographs, and has six other functions built into its body.

$13 .99

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#11

100 Must See Movies Scratch-Off Poster

From classics like Gone with the Wind to contemporary masterpieces like Interstellar, filmmakers will be able to find the inspiration they need to make their own amazing movies on this poster. It's a scratch-off poster, about 11"x17" in size of all the must-see movies. It's half art and half ambitious challenge, can they complete it in a year?

$26 .15

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#12

Save the Cat: The Last Screenwriting Book You'll Ever Need

For more than a decade Save the Cat has been regarded as THE must-read, must-consult, game-changing book for aspiring and existing filmmakers. The book teaches more than story structure, it teaches nuance and other oft-forgotten or overlooked techniques that are the difference between a script getting read or hitting the slush pile.

$10 .85

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#13

USA GEAR Portable Camera Backpack for DSLR Camera

DSLR cameras are an indie filmmaker's best friend and their babies, so they gotta treat them with care. This backpack has pads, pockets, and compartments galore to keep everything secure and safe. It can hold a camera, a couple of lenses, extra batteries, a flash, and more with ease.

$49 .99

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#14

The Fill-In Filmography

Turn off the lights, put away your phone camera, and get ready for some action movies, romance movies, dramas, and everything in between with this massive 36"x24" print. The Fill-In Filmography is a list of 1500 must-see movies that a filmmaker simply must watch to be able to call themselves a film buff.

$33 .99

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#15

Cinephile The Card Game

In the sport of movie trivia, filmmakers are cutthroat when it comes to being competitive. The card-based game Cinephile puts their know-how to the test and goes beyond the things that everybody knows into things like Steve Buscemi bit parts and Sean Connery's lesser-known parts for a brain-racking good time.

$16 .31

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#16

Director's Chair

The rear end of a director wasn't meant for a regular folding chair, a couch, or even a bean bag, it was meant for one of these chairs. At 30" tall, it's bar height so even if they're not on set they can kick back and enjoy a cocktail in the beautiful black-on-black chair.

$72 .27

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#17

Gaffer Tape

Move over duct tape, there's a new life-saving sticky strip in town! Every filmmaker knows that you can never have too much gaffer tape, so make their day, week, entire life, really, by giving them as much as you can any time. This roll has over 90 feet, should be enough for a day or two of filming.

$17 .89

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#18

Acrylic Film Clapboard

Chalk on a film slate might be the classic way to do it but even Orson Welles would have switched it to this 21st-century model for ease. The acrylic film slate is lightweight and dry-erase compatible while still maintaining the durability a slate needs to get lots of use on set.

$18 .99

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#19

Bluetooth Sleeping Eye Mask Headphones

Filmmakers don't work regular hours, 10 hours is a short shift and 16 is a regular one. Snagging a few Z's on set is a must, and with this Bluetooth sleeping eye mask, getting a nap anywhere is easy. It blocks out the brightest key light and thanks to headphones, blocks the sound of actors warming up, too.

$20 .99

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#20

Apple AirPods Max

You can't sit in a Starbucks to write a screenplay with just any old headphones on, no, you gotta make it the best. With these Apple Airpods headphones on, everyone will know they're a filmmaker. They're equipped with personalized spatial audio, noise-canceling tech, Dolby Atmos sound, and are comfortable enough to wear for hours.

$513 .00

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#21

Compact Gorilla Tripod

Help an aspiring blockbuster moviemaker find success as a guerilla filmmaker with a gorilla tripod. Just like a regular tripod, it's got three legs to hold a camera up right but unlike a regular tripod, those legs can wrap around everything from tree branches to stripper poles to hold the camera securely at a weird angle.

$89 .95

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#22

SideTrak Swivel Triple Portable Monitor

One screen for their script, one screen for their outline, and one screen for social media so they can keep an eye on all the people replying to their latest cryptic Facebook post about writing, the SideTrak has it all. The portable monitors are 12.5" in size, USB-powered, compatible with all laptop brands, and have full HD displays.

$549 .99

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#23

Polariod iType Instant Camera

Every sees what's in front of the camera but everyone WANTS to see what goes on behind it. With this Polaroid iType instant camera, a filmmaker can capture literally every moment of being on set. The square-shaped photos they print from the camera are ideal for sharing with friends, displaying, or keeping as memories.

$169 .74

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#24

TCM's The Essential Directors

TCM is the authority on cinema and this compendium of essential directors is proof they know their stuff. The book is beautifully illustrated with over 200 captivating photographs and has fascinating stories from titans of film like Ida Lupino, George Cukor, Woody "one-take" Van Dyke, Cecil B. DeMille, Oscar Michaeaux, and more and spans more than 70 years of history.

$20 .78

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#25

Rugged 4TB Portable Hard Drive

The 70mm film reel for Oppenheimer was 11 miles long, to think of that in terms of terabytes would blow your mind. Give a filmmaker a place to keep the full copy of back up of their film with a rugged external hard drive. This one's got 4TB of space and will bounce, not break, when dropped.

$154 .99

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#26

6-Pack of Black T-Shirts

Not only are black t-shirts the unofficial uniform of filmmakers, but they're an ideal shirt to wear on set. Sweat never shows on a black shirt, they always have an air of elegance about them (which helps if a studio big wig drops by), and they never seem to get dirty. This pack contains 12 of them, what luck!

$15 .42

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#27

Shoulder Rig Kit for DSLR Cameras

Who needs to rent a Steadicam when you've got one of these? Save a filmmaker's wallet and spine with the shoulder rig, which was designed for DSLR cameras and is more lightweight than larger models. The rig comes with a matte box, a quick-release plate to swap out cameras with ease, and several handles to capture lots of angles.

$161 .99

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#28

Ray-Ban Wayfarer Sunglasses

A filmmaker can't call himself a filmmaker if he's not wearing the right sunglasses. This pair of Ray-Ban Wafarers is part of the uniform. They're LA cool and New York chic and just weird enough for Austin. Thel lenses are polarized to protect eyes from the sun and paparazzi cameras.

$197 .00

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#29

On Camera Aperture Light

The smaller the film shoot, the higher the stakes, and the more need you have to replace larger items like key lights with smaller items like this on-camera aperture light. This is a top-of-the-line model that any filmmaker can use and relies on more than RGB LEDs, it adds additional white LEDs to ensure quality.

$90 .00

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#30

DJI Mini Ultralight Foldable Drone

Drone shots are all the rage but are usually expensive to get. With this DJI Drone in hand, filmmakers can get shots that'll make their short films epic on a budget without sacrificing quality. The drone is easy to control with auto-stabilization features, has a 30-minute battery life, and transmits video for up to 10 kilometers.

$798 .00

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#31

Starbucks Gift Card

Many a screenplay was born in a Starbucks and with some help from you and this gift card the filmmaker you hold dear could skyrocket to fame. They can use the card to buy a drink or five over the course of a productive day making movie dreams come true.

$25 .00

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#32

Nicotine Patches

One thing you probably didn't know about Hollywood is that they're almost exclusively keeping the tobacco industry afloat. Filmmakers are plagued by stress and make up for it by chain-smoking like line cooks. Help them better their health with nicotine patches that'll get 'em off the Newports and onto something, ANYTHING else/.

$26 .20

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