> not exactly what you'd call "safely" manufactured for an existing fanbase.
I'd say a film having a budget of $22k[1] is pretty safe, as far as the rest of the films on that list are concerned. While not a non-trivial amount of debt for a handful of people to take on, it's roughly in the same price range as a new car, which most people are capable of taking on.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blair_Witch_Project#Budget