Not realistic. From my point of view, the first 2 sentences of da huge page are already out of subject.
I've seen many amazing short movies,as this kind of thing really shows off what you can do with restricted equipment. Talking about a 90min-long movie when you've never really been an actress is like talking about writing a 9-volume series on par with Harry Potter when you haven't even started writing at all. One should always start with shorter and more accessible projects, no one started directly at the top.
Another pro of short movies is that it doesn't cost that much at all. You'll need skill and willingness to do it, not money. And this is the exact situation they are in.
About the management itself, he's doing it backward, I don't thing this is how you're supposed to do.
While thinking about the money needed isn't a bad idea, the actual story of the movie is what he should first focus on. You're not asking people to lend you 50M$ dollars if you don't even know exactly what you're going to do with it. He did talk about a university dude but really... Did he ever read one of his scripts? Is he even good? Did you do your research on what kind of contests he entered so far, and what were the results? To me it sounds like he took the first random guy he met and asked him to write something. And from how he said it, I believe he doesn't even know what kind of script it's gonna be, only a rough idea. There are many other things he could, and should have done beforehand, but we're not in a court, that's not the point of my comment.
TL;DR you're doing it wrong mate, although us reader appreciate the effort.
Anyway, author trying stuff there, I give him that. It's getting "better".