One of the most rewarding books to read about guerilla filmmaking is Robert Rodriguez‘s Rebel Without A Crew book, a diary of the making of his 1990s movie El Mariachi, a motion picture shot on film and made for around $7000. If you are able to seek out a copy, please do – it’s awesome – and if you haven’t watched the film, which was remade/ followed-up with the Antonio Banderas starrer Desperado, do seek out a copy of that too. You’ve missed a treat. Anyway, 25 years on from the release of El Mariachi, Rodriguez has set a challenge to a new generation of movie-makers in a Rebel Without A Crew TV series – to equal his feat of producing a feature for the same amount of money.
Rebel Without A Crew TV series
Rebel Without A Crew TV Series
The feat, which is being undertaken by five first-time feature filmmakers, is being documented in the new series for Rodriguez’s El Rey network across the pond. The good news though, is that the channel has teamed up with Tumblr to stream every episode online for free, and the very first episode is available right now.
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Here’s the official logline for the Rebel Without A Crew TV series.
25 years ago, Robert Rodriguez made his first feature-length film, El Mariachi. Armed with a budget of just $7,000 and 14 days to shoot his movie, Rodriguez created an award-winning film that changed independent filmmaking. To mark the 25th anniversary of “El Mariachi,” Rodriguez has invited five aspiring filmmakers to Austin, Texas to take on the same challenge. The twelve-part “Rebel Without a Crew: The Series” follows filmmakers Scarlet Moreno, Alejandro Montoya Marin, Bola Ogun, Josh Stifter, and Bonnie-Kathleen “BK” Ryan as they attempt to shoot their own feature-length film in two weeks with a budget of only $7,000.
Each episode of Rebel Without A Crew TV series will be available online every Monday over at Tumblr, but you can watch the premiere episode, titled ‘Meet The Filmmakers’ below. We’ve also added the trailer for El Mariachi too. Don’t forget to track it down if you’re yet to see it.
