We're guerrilla filmmakers who made a dark comedy about millennials for less than the price of a used car AMA!

Did you manage to get Eddie Murphy in the movie without him realizing he was being filmed as part of a movie?

I've been told I have an Eddie Murphy laugh. Does that count?

You have the worst laugh I've ever heard.

Wanna hear my laugh?

Hell yes!

How were you able to shoot at so many locations with such a low budget? Any tips?

We wore lav mics so the majority of the time people around us didn't even know we were shooting a movie, they just thought we were shooting still photos. We'd pretend we were like having a birthday party or something. Other times we'd just ask the wait staff if it was OK if we shot for five or ten minutes if we needed to.

We went in with the smallest amount of people needed and had a plan and just shot as fast as possible.

What kind of used car? I picked up my Peugeot 307 for €2,500. You will need to rampart your answer to include your movie somehow.

The production budget was $1,500.

What do you mean by rampart?

That is one fucking low budget. Well done! On the assumption the movie is good, of course. Which I have no doubt it is.

Rampart refers to this AMA by Woody Harrelson (or rather Woody Harrelson's PR stooge) in which every answer was related to his recent film Rampart, regardless of the question. The responder even went as far as admonishing people that the questions had to be Rampart-related at one point. A total car crash.

Actually, our movie is total garbage.

Do you pee in the shower ?

Of course we do. We wash our faces with our own urine. Did you know that facial cleansing products contain the same active ingredient that is in your piss?

Did you think about submitting this to any film festivals?

Yes, we did in fact submit to a lot of them, including all the big ones. It was a pretty disappointing experience. We don't have any big names in the film or official backing, so we felt that our submissions were overlooked. In fact, even here for a local festival in Dallas, after we submitted our movie we got a letter saying basically "thanks but no thanks for submitting your documentary" but our movie isn't even a documentary! So basically no one even watched it. Definitely was a learning experience. But, that's why we're here on reddit - we were pretty sad about it but just thought hey why not try to get our movie out directly to the people?

Anyway, basically a film festival is just a gathering of people watching films, no big deal! Anyone here have a big house and backyard that wants to screen our film? We'll show up! =P

I have a friend that was able to get connections simply from screening his movie for free in a real theater. Not only did the theater owner set him up with some people, but local film critics got wind of it and gave him some online press as well. It's worth a shot.

We did that actually at our local Dallas art house theater and got some local press. We are really grateful for that!

What's your favorite color?

Blue - the official color of Hello Gangster. lol jk

You're supposed to relate the answer to the movie.

Indie-go?

How long did this take to make from start to finish?

Little over two years. The principal photography took about five months. It wasn't consecutive shooting, it was an hour here or there that fit everyone's schedules. After that we spent about a year to edit it, color correct it, visual effects. Another six months to mix design and master the sound, which took a while because friends who are local professionals were helping us in their free time.

How did you get into guerilla filmmaking? Is this something that already existed as an idea or did you guys come up with it? Can you tell us more about it in general, because it seems like a really cool and unique way to get a project done.

Well, we had no money or resources and we wanted to make a film, so necessity, really! Yeah, we didn't invent the term =) it's just a method of filmmaking with little or no budget or crew. Definitely not unique, especially with affordable prosumer DSLR cameras and stuff it's pretty much possible for anyone to make a film today. Make yours!

What part of filming made you guys the most anxious?

The robbery sequence we shot on Halloween. Basically we were running around in costumes trying to find a way to make a robbery look authentic on film, without ACTUALLY looking like we were robbing stores, otherwise we would get shot (Texas). So we just ran around with a big bag of candy, Richard was wearing a Pokemon costume to look as innocent as possible, and we'd walk in and start handing out candy to everyone, staff and customers and all.

EDIT: Some Behind The Scenes photos

About what percentage of the jokes are about millennials being lazy and/or entitled?

Edit: Okay I watched the clip and I have a new question. About what percentage of the jokes have a punchline that doesn't involve swearing?

Zero.

Zero.

As a highschooler who will probably move into this field, at least somewhat after I graduate, can you just tell me what camera gear, software, and computer specs you guys run?

That is really awesome. We all got started in high school, too. We made a LOOOOOOT of really fucking stupid short films. Now we're making fucking stupid features!

1) Camera - Canon 5D Mark III

2) Lenses - Canon L Series II 24-70 - Canon L Series II 70-200 - Sigma 14mm

3) Software - Adobe Creative Cloud - After Effects - Premiere - Photoshop

4) Computer - MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) - Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 - Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 - Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB

Wow. I didn't know gorillas could use cameras. Do you guys like to drink beer of fancy fruity drinks?

We prefer drinking krift bree.

Can we get a spin off short featuring Blill?

https://vimeo.com/72524566

What's the most difficult thing about filmmaking?

Actually finishing your project. It's easy to come up with an idea but to see it through is the tough part.

Hey! Fellow Dallas filmmakers! I'm looking to direct my own feature I've written myself. Why did you decide for ultra-ultra low budget? Was it a mix of what you had/could get and/or design ideas?

What's the best kept secret you think of filming in the Dallas area?

Short answer: we are broke.

Long answer: we are fucking broke.

Best kept secret? Nobody films movies here so you can get away with a lot.

Did you guys use your own cash or did you raise money online?

Both. We used our own cash initially for filming and then used Kickstarter as a way to raise funds from friends and family for post-production and film festival submissions.

Nice look! What camera setup did you guys use?

We shot the entire film on a Canon 5D Mark III.

Very nice! ML Raw 1080p I'm guessing?

Yep! We did some early test and I loved the look. The small camera allowed me to stay inconspicuous while shooting on location.

It's got a great look, and, like you said, perfect for "stealing" locations. Best of luck with the movie guys! I'll check it out on Amazon.

Thank you very much and please leave a review!

Can I be in your next film!?

Yes. You are in the next film.

I too am involved in frustrating DIY creativity. I love this and am going to watch it in its entirety tonight. Would any of you guys be open to a Skype call to talk about this on a weekly podcast that I do with a friend of mine? We're not huge but what you did, how you did it, and what you did it with are extremely interesting to me. PM me if you're interested. Throw my user name into amazon, twitter, itunes, etc if you want to further stalk or judge prior to responding. Either way, you guys did a really awesome thing and I hope it gains traction. Best of luck.

Thank you very much for the high praise. We'll totally do it, and thanks for the opportunity!

Any tips for someone looking into going into filmmaking?

Just pick up a camera and start. With today's technology there are really no barriers.

pretty cool how completely self-made it is including the music, how many people were involved in its making? including the cast and director etc.

The core of it was five people: Richard, Simon and Matt, Liu Yi (the other main actor in the ensemble) and Nalani, Richard's girlfriend, who handled sound while shooting. We also had a number of people that Richard has worked with professionally volunteering to do a lot of the nitty-gritty post-production stuff.

The soundtrack was Matt, songs from other friend Jonathan's band The Gay Lasers (which IMDb put as The Gay Losers for some reason...which he thinks is now a better name), as well as bands from China that he knew. (He also was Blill Masturbson in the film. )The score was originally composed by Noah Jackson and Quinn Brown.

Any distribution tips?

No. Wish us luck. Do you have any?

How many millennials do you get for less than the price of a used car?

47.

Hi guys! First of all, I really enjoyed your film! :) When I was watching, I got a hint of a Coen brothers vibe (and maybe a little Wes Anderson as well). Could you tell me what inspired you to make this film? Favorite movies/directors?

Thanks! Big Lebowski was a big inspiration to the film, and we even have a homage scene. Fargo is Matt's favorite film. Kenny Powers from Eastbound and Down was a big inspiration for his character as well. Mulholland Dr. was Richard's go-to for the overall feeling of the movie.

We were inspired by Robert Rodriguez, a Texas independent filmmaker who hit the big time, who proved two decades ago that with grit and some creativity you can make your movie. For the story, it was just an exaggerated, cinematic version of our own lives...experiences that we feel are very underrepresented on the silver screen these days, even though they are nearly universal for people our age.

wtf is a guerrilla filmmaker? A made up term for film makers who want to sound 'non-mainstream' or 'against the norm'?

Yes.