Inspired by his book, “Rebel Without A Crew,” and the 25th anniversary of his first feature film, “El Mariachi,” writer/director Robert Rodriguez has made a TV series also titled “Rebel Without A Crew.” The show follows Rodriguez and five up-and-coming filmmakers as they attempt to do what he did with “El Mariachi”: make a feature-length film for $7,000 and shoot it in two weeks with no crew. As tough as it sounds, the five filmmakers (and a plus-one to help them) came to Austin to make their movies.
The 5 filmmakers chosen were wary of whether it was possible to make a feature film with $7,000 & no crew #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
The chosen filmmakers included 28-year-old actress/writer/director Scarlet Moreno from Laredo, Texas; 32-year-old animator/director Josh Stifter from Crystal, Minnesota; 35-year-old filmmaker/production manager Alejandro Montoya Marin from Albuquerque, New Mexico; 31-year-old producer/writer/director Bola Ogun from Dallas, Texas; and 29-year-old filmmaker/virtual reality producer Bonnie Kathleen “BK” Ryan from Columbia, South Carolina.
One of the requirements for applying to “Rebel Without A Crew” was having a feature film screenplay written, which was (mostly) true of the five filmmakers. Each one took a different path but they all fell into genres: Moreno and Ryan made psychological horror films, Stifter made a horror-comedy film, Ogun made a science fiction film, and Marin made an action-comedy film.
The filmmakers had to have a completed feature script to be accepted #RebelWithoutACrew #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
Rodriguez didn’t talk much about his own film that was made during the series, other than to say that his son was the additional person he chose to help him shoot it. He was very supportive of the five independent filmmakers onstage with him, commenting on how well they learned skills they’d never before used and how seamlessly their movies came together in his eyes. Just like the applicants were unsure the task could be done, Rodriguez was also unsure of the premise of his “Rebel Without A Crew” series, but seemed pleased with the outcome.
“I thought maybe they’ll just hate me by the end.” – @Rodriguez #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
The features made by Moreno, Ogun, Stifter, Ryan and Marin had their world premiere at a private screening at the Violet Crown Cinema during SXSW on March 12. The screening was hosted by Rodriguez’s own El Rey Network and go90, their programming partner for the series. The series will have its premiere on go90 and Tumblr on March 19 with later airings on the El Rey Network, while the feature films made on the show will premiere later this year on go90.
For more on what Rodriguez and the other filmmakers had to say, read our tweets below:
“Those little bare-boned ideas are sometimes the best ideas.” – @Rodriguez #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
#RebelWithoutACrew got over 2,000 applications in just a few days #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
Scarlet Moreno says @Rodriguez told her “don’t make anything too precious – you have to be able to let go of things from your script.” #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
“I don’t mind failing, I just don’t want to fail in front of other people.” – @Rodriguez #SXSW
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 12, 2018
The series will debut on go90 and Tumblr on March 19 followed by airings on El Rey Network. Check out more SXSW recaps, interviews and reviews here.
Originally hailing from Pennsylvania, Jackie has called Austin home since choosing to attend the University of Texas, where she graduated with a degree in multimedia journalism. She loves spending time with her dogs, writing about pop culture in all its forms and spending time with friends – eating, drinking and doing trivia.