MOCKBUSTER

'Mockbuster' follows Anthony Frith is an Australian filmmaker from Adelaide who made short films growing up and studied film at university, but since then, his career as a filmmaker has been editing training videos for corporations. He still dreams of directing a feature film, and so, one day on a whim, he emails The Asylum asking if he could direct a film for them. To his surprise, they say yes, and they hand him the script for 'The Land that Time Forgot', a film The Asylum has already made, but now they are remaking it and setting it in Australia. He has six days to direct his first feature, on a shoestring budget, all while trying to balance his own creative ambition with The Asylum's low-budget filmmaking.

'Mockbuster' is a love letter to all of us who have wanted to work in the film industry. Frith's passion shines through the screen, and it really took me back to studying film at university and the chaos and stress of making those films with friends. 'Mockbuster' is an encapsulation of the passion, fun, stress, and joy that run through every single one of us who has ever had the silly idea of picking up a camera and creating something. Even when Frith gets frustrated with the restrictions The Asylum is placing on him, or stressed about having only 6 days to get this film done, he never loses his love for this industry.

The film is also a very interesting look at the inner workings of The Asylum. Just getting a peek behind the curtain on how this studio operates is really fascinating. It's a studio with a mentality very different from the rest of the film industry, producing low-budget films as quickly as possible. While the goal for all studios is to make money, The Asylum does it in such a unique way, with absolutely no goal of making art or leaving an impact, just pure junk food cinema. The creative heads of the studio seem somewhat self-aware of this, but there are, of course, still some scummy undertones in how they run their business that are interesting to watch unfold.

'Mockbuster' is the ultimate love letter to having a passion or a dream, and that it's never too late to go out and chase those dreams. It also provides a compelling look at how The Asylum operates. It's the ultimate double feature for anyone who has ever dreamed of picking up a camera and making a film.