By: Brian Maddox
Birmingham, AL (The Hollywood Time) October 16th, 2024 –
It’s widely known that the arduous task of making a movie, regardless of the genre, can be an incredibly expensive undertaking if one lacks the proper funding or financial backing from a major studio. But when all else fails, you can always procure the bread by shamelessly hitting up the wealthy in-laws, max out your AmEx card or attempt to skim the cash from a grandma who is, to your surprise still among the living in order to secure some semblance of a film budget if the desire is that of a considerable nature.
That’s precisely the approach implemented by one aspiring director among his own desperate means to create his own “untitled meteor movie” in the new comedy mockumentary, Micro Budget.
From writer/director Morgan Evans, Micro Budget is the hysterically unconventional tale of inept, wannabe movie director Terry Terrison (Patrick Noth) who decides to decamp with his very pregnant wife from Iowa to Los Angeles in the hopes of successfully pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a hotshot film director, then sell his inaugural movie for what Terry confidently interprets as “a fuck-ton of money.”
What Terry doesn’t seem to understand however is that he demonstrably hasn’t the slightest idea as to what he’s doing. The blind confidence of which he exudes all through the narrative is admirable, yet clearly exasperating to those around him.
Terry casts his super low budget film with his overly supportive and pregnant wife, Erica (Emilea Wilson) alongside a troupe of fame-crazed budding actors, Garry (Brandon Micheal Hall) Jenny (Nichole Sakura) and Phil (Jordan Rock).
Throughout the course of filming, Terry quickly finds himself on the receiving end of his actors collective egos, a camera crew that constantly assesses his patently oblivious approach in regards to the filming process, a caterer who, due to such a meager budget has nothing of substance to feed the cast and crew, an overstressed wife who’s steadily approaching her due date in the midst of filming her scenes and the dotty owners of the rented, yet spacious Airbnb/movie set (Chris Parnell and Maria Bamford) making an unexpected and utterly comedic visit during filming.
The Hollywood Times had the opportunity to speak with director Morgan Evans and Patrick Noth and their new film. Enjoy:
In addition to the bedlam that comes with inexpensive filmmaking, Terry also employs his documentarian cousin Devin (Morgan Evans) to shoot some “behind the scenes” footage of the entire filming process so as to capture any impromptu footage that could possibly be worthy fodder for some potential DVD extras.
“Terry is a guy who is definitely running scared from reality, yet he has no awareness of the fact,” says actor and co-writer Patrick Noth of his character. “It’s not unheard of for some guy who isn’t likable or lacks self-awareness to succeed in failing upward.”
Apropos of filming a movie with a group of seasoned actors who are generally known for their spontaneous improv styles, director and co-writer Morgan Evans had this to say:
“Being that we shot the film in 11 days with so many amazing improvisers, it would’ve been a shame to not let them do what they’re great at. I’d say that the film is about 80% scripted and 20% improvised. Plus, there’s a ton of great stuff on the cutting room floor that we hope to eventually add to the DVD.”
Packed with an impressive cast of notable performers including Bobby Moynihan (SNL), Neil Casey (Ghostbusters: Answer The Call, Big Mouth), Carla Jimenez (Raising Hope), Matt McCoy (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle), Kate Flannery (OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, Plan B) and the legendary Hal Linden (Barney Miller), Micro Budget is a wildly hilarious, albeit cautionary tale about one man’s reach for that ever sought after Hollywood stardom and the eventual sacrifices that he’s more than willing to make in order to obtain his dream, no matter the cost or how inconsiderate he comes across to all involved. Having said that, I simply cannot recommend this gem of a film enough! While the budget may be small, the wealth of laughs is richly abundant.
For more information on how to screen Micro Budget, please visit:
Instagram – @microbudgetmovie
@totallymorgan
@patrickn0th
See the Micro Budget trailer on YouTube:
