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What happens when you want to make a feature film but don't have much money?

Filmmaker Victor Gabriel joins The Honest Filmmaker to talk about the making of HELLMARE, his horror feature that cost roughly $10,000 and was shot in just 13 days.

Victor started out by making a tiny $100 found-footage film, using friends' houses, borrowed locations and the equipment he already owned. That first experiment wasn't something he was particularly proud of, but it got distributed, made its money back and, most importantly, taught him to actually make films.

For HELLMARE, Victor took things considerably further.

He talks about raising money through Indiegogo, putting his own money into the production, spending six months in pre-production, finding locations for free, building a crew around friends and family, renting professional camera and sound equipment and creating practical effects on a micro-budget.

We also get into the complicated world of film distribution, after HELLMARE found a home with Troma.

Victor explains what it meant to sign the film away in perpetuity, why he was comfortable with that decision, how the deal helped him break even and why sometimes getting your film into the world can be more important than holding onto every single right.

It's a brutally honest conversation about making feature films without much money, learning by doing, building a filmmaking team and figuring things out as you go.

If you're a filmmaker trying to get your first feature made, there's plenty here to steal.

Watch the trailer for HELLMARE:
https://youtu.be/cjlTDfbA_kI?si=jq9vWl1kOaY4JCC0

Check out Victor on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm15973777/

#MicroBudgetFilmmaking #IndieFilmmaking #IndependentFilm #LowBudgetFilm #FeatureFilm #Filmmaking #FilmFunding #HorrorFilm #FilmDistribution #Troma #Hellmare #VictorGabriel

Check out the re-release of Jim's first solo directing feature The Witches Hammer - out now on amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0F235F4T8/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

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