Shoestring theory

The Endless directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead reveal their tips for filmmaking on a budget

1 Use The Internet

__ Moorhead: We had originally planned to finance it ourselves, but luckily we found some incredibly supportive investors — on Reddit. There’s a subreddit for horror films and after we wrote about the difficulties of indie filmmaking they messaged us and said, “Hey, we’d really like to be involved in your next film.”

2 Cast Yourselves

__ Benson: Playing the leads was in the spirit of being self-reliant. We wanted to make sure there was nothing that could stop us from getting this movie made. If we’re the leads then we know they’re not going to walk out. Someone else might.

3 Be Prepared To Do Everything

__ Moorhead: When we started making movies, we didn’t know there was a difference between a cinematographer and a director, or that you have a separate editor — we were kids. For us filmmaking was an umbrella term — we just did whatever it took.

4 Work With What You Have

__ Benson: We’ll start with a list of things that are available to us: locations, any kind of effects that we know how to do. Stuff that, in a worst-case scenario if everyone walks away, we can still do. Start out being hyper aware of what you have at your disposal to give a movie scale.

5 Violence Isn’t Everything

__ Moorhead: When I watch a movie, I don’t find jump scares and violence all that scary. But an idea executed in the right way can be deeply, deeply scary. A lot of ‘horror’ movies are not actually meant to scare you; they’re meant as a thrill ride. One of the reasons we like to make movies is if they engage the part of your brain that thinks about what’s right and wrong with the universe.