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MAKING LOW-BUDGET, INDIE ACTIONER “RETRIBUTION”

Retribution is a low-budget indie action film that its producers at Openview Cinema plan to release April 1, 2011. Producer Cody Norris sent me the below trailer, and I asked him for more info on how they got the movie, directed by Colten Kidwell, made. Here’s what he wrote:

We made Retribution with a tiny budget. Our actors were all volunteers, we were given the use of all our locations, we borrowed or made props, and we didn’t hire any additional crew. When we couldn’t buy things, we improvised. Production lasted more than a year because our actors were volunteers and not always available. In some scenes, actors had to wear coats in the summer and short sleeves in the winter. All four producers were full-time students during the bulk of production. Local police officers volunteered their time, a corporation let us use an entire wing of their building, restaurants offered space and food, hotels invited us in, a summer camp let us use its entire campus, and family and friends opened their homes. It was amazing how willing and eager people were to help!

Openview Cinema is made up of myself, my brothers Bryce Norris and Konrad Norris, and our good friend Colten Kidwell. We grew up together in a small town in southwestern Ohio. We started filming movies together in elementary school with a borrowed VHS camcorder and toy dinosaurs. Since then we’ve learned a lot, bought more gear, branched out to film weddings, commercials, and music videos, but the reason for it all is still the same. We enjoy filmmaking! We’re excited to release Retribution this spring!

Our gear: Canon DSLR 7D and 5D, Panasonic AG 150, Glidecam, Glidetracker, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, and a Mac Pro.

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