Episode 56: How to Bootstrap a Sci-Fi Film with Joel Guelzo - Part 1
On this episode of The Friday Habit, Ben and Mark talk with Joel Guelzo about how he bootstrapped a sci-fi film of such high quality that people are shocked to hear that it only cost $40,000 plus countless volunteer hours from Joel’s family and friends. Joel came up with the idea for a story about a time-traveling scientist who used his invention for his own selfish purposes, to escape his life circumstances, and goes through a journey of self-realization before he is faced with the need to return back to the present time before the world as he knows it ceases to exist.
Joel had such a specific vision for the movie that he wanted to be responsible for every single aspect, from the videography to the music to the visual effects to the audio engineering to the set design and costumes. But since he has a full-time job, Joel had to prioritize the film on nights and weekends. All told, Norman took 9 years of those nights and weekends to complete, but as of February 2021, the film has been released to the world through streaming services and on DVD/Blu-ray and Joel feels such a sense of relief that there is no more tinkering to be done.
Joel’s journey to becoming a filmmaker was quite organic, starting as a child borrowing the family camcorder to shoot scenes that he wrote for his action figures and then being asked as a young adult to film family events and occasions before he embraced his role as a videographer and began shooting weddings. As a kid, his motivations for shooting those short films was to gain the attention of his family members and gain credibility. That desire to be believable still motivates him today, and since Norman was his first feature film, he felt like he was continually having to prove himself for people to take him seriously.
Be sure to come back next week for the conclusion of our conversation with Joel!
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