Ed Burns - Ed Burns Thanks Twitter.com Followers For Film Inspiration

The Saving Private Ryan star cut production costs on the project by filming the movie with a point-and-shoot camera and recruited largely unknown actors, who were willing to do their own hair and make-up.

And Burns, who ultimately shot Newlyweds for a meagre $9,000 (Gbp5,265), admits he also reached out to his social networking followers for plot ideas, music compilations and artistic guidance.

He says, "I started using Twitter a couple years ago 'cause, as an Indie filmmaker, you sort of want to have a meaningful relationship with your fans because they can help, sort of, promote your film.

"When I was writing the script... I tweeted out to them, 'What are the stories that happened to you guys, let's say, in the first three months of your marriage or in the honeymoon period, that caused your biggest fight?' And nine out of 10 people tweeted stories that had to do with their families.

"I was like, 'Alright, this is going to be a movie about when you marry someone you don't just marry them, but you also marry their family and their past.' And, as I started to write, I would just tweet out different ideas and ask them to give me suggestions and tell me what they liked and didn't like.

"I thanked them in the special thanks. The movie came out On Demand on the 26th (of December) and now they've been blowing it up (Twitter)... We did a song contest as well. (I said,) 'Unsigned artists, send us your songs, I'll pick one and we'll put it in the movie.' We did the same thing for a poster contest."