Free Time
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Microbudget Case Study: “Free Time”
Filmmaker’s coverage of the microbudget film movement was a large part of putting us on the map in the early 1990s. In a series of articles, Peter Broderick broke down the budgets of films such as Clerks; El Mariachi; Clean, Shaven and others, delivering on our mission of demystifying the process of independent film production. (Several years later, I contributed one of these pieces when I broke down the budget of Pi.) With microbudget filmmaking making a resurgence lately, I asked Ryan Martin Brown from this year’s 25 New Faces list if he’d give us the budget of his extremely […]
by Ryan Martin Brown on Dec 22, 2025 -
“It’s a Confusing World That We Inhabit”: Ryan Martin Brown on Free Time
In Free Time, writer-director-producer Ryan Martin Brown’s debut feature, directionless office drone Drew (comedian Colin Burgess) decides to quit his job. After all, the position is hardly fulfilling (nor is he particularly gifted at it), and why spend all day bleary-eyed behind a screen when all that New York City has to offer exists just outside the door? Soon enough, Drew’s naive work-life musings are proven to be drivel, and his joblessness puts a mighty strain on his few remaining social relationships. His WFH roommate Rajat (Rajat Suresh) doesn’t seem thrilled with Drew’s daytime presence in the apartment, nor does […]
by Natalia Keogan on Mar 22, 2024 -
“In a Way, It is My Most Gentle Film…”: Manfred Kirchheimer on His NYFF-Premiering Free Time
There’s poetry in the misery of a hot New York summer day. Spike Lee found it, in 1989, with Do the Right Thing: the sun-drunk torpor, the beads of sweat gliding down bare skin. Where winter tends to drive us indoors, away from the streets, summer promotes a more collective suffering. Rear Window hits a similar note of mutual, summertime malaise. The heat forces characters to sleep on their fire escapes and keep their windows open, turning the private public. Before air conditioners, where else could you escape the heat but outside, with everyone else? Manfred “Manny” Kirchheimer considered many […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Sep 28, 2019
