Filmmaking is affordable to everyone. Not hypothetical. The playing
field is level. Money in not a determining factor in filmmaking.
I do not believe money determines the “merit” of a movie. A creative,
talented person can make a watchable, interesting, compelling feature
length movie for under $500. Why couldn’t they?
I can think of more than a dozen stories I could tell (and tell well)
using only a phone camera (or equivalent) and free editing software.
The “playing field” holds challenges for everyone. How a filmmaker
overcomes those challenges is the determining factor.
An even better question is:
Since filmmaking is affordable to everyone, why aren't there more excellent movies being made?