What exactly is machinima?

Why reinvent the wheel?  Wikipedia description

How do we start?
Like building a home, quality machinima  production always begins with a plan and that means taking the time to first develop a treatment and then write a script.  Machinima by Silver and Goldie  likes to be involved in the creative process and in most cases, we write the final shooting script. Our first job is to listen and to provide guidance. We ask lots of questions:  Who is the intended audience?  What is the  message?  What are the available Second Life  resources?  When is the project needed?  How much custom animation or scripted objects will be required? 

How much does it cost?
The cost of producing quality machinima depends on a variety of factors including the cost of creating or acquiring avatars, costumes and sets in the Second Life world. The number of locations and permissions to film must be planned for.  Creating custom animations and object scripts can impact production costs, and voice talent and music for soundtracks must also be considered. The best place to start is with a solid script that takes the above factors  into consideration and creates the blueprint for efficient production.