LOWLIFES is a comedy mini-series, partially based on Bonnie and Clyde, where we played fictionalized versions of ourselves that have to go on the run after trying to rob a children's recording studio. I knew I wanted it to end in a shoot-out — partly because of the Bonnie and Clyde influence, and partly because I thought it would be funny to actually shoot up a car for such a no-budget project.
By the time we got to the third and final episode, we'd spent maybe $1,000 total. A big part of that was buying the 2012 BMCC 2.5k and thrift store photography lenses we shot it on. The cast and tiny crew — the actors were usually filling some crew role when not on camera — had very patiently donated their time over several months.
I posted asking for a cheap car and found a friend whose brother was selling one for $500 — it ran fine but would cost too much to pass smog. Perfect for our purposes. One problem: it was stick shift. None of us could drive stick. I enlisted a friend solely to move it from point A to the public land we planned to shoot on.
I wasn't a gun person. But we were in Utah. Posted about it, got some replies from friends willing to help. This was 2021 — ammo was in short supply. On a drive back from California I stopped at several ammo shops until I found what I needed. And allegedly got $100 worth of ammo and allegedly transported it across state lines. Saying allegedly because I'm realizing as I type this that that might have been illegal.
The day came. With the heavy gun-guys arriving later, we shot a sequence where an actor fired a real handgun at the car. We finished the sequence. The gun-guys showed up and told us we'd been standing WAY too close. Luckily no one was hurt. The rest of the day went off great. We destroyed the car. We got what we needed.
The next day, I called AAA asking if they'd tow it to a junkyard. They said they'd only tow to a home or repair shop. I looked at the destroyed eyesore and gave them my address.
When the tow guy arrived, I asked if he'd take $20 to drop it at the junkyard instead. He agreed. I felt genuinely cool bribing someone — I never had before.
The junkyard gave me $200 for it. I honestly don't know for what.
I'm also realizing I spent $420 on it including the bribe. I'm not going to change the title.
