Thanks! I totally agree. I think my point is there are a lot of different ways to make films and to make different types of films but for the most part, only one way is every really taught or talked about. Often with indie films, so much of your money goes into things that aren't on screen and may not actually be necessary.

Really appreciate the kind words, thank you!

You're presuming that our film isn't entertaining because it doesn't have name actors and it's in a foreign language and was made inexpensively. If that's the case then all microbudget filmmakers should just give up, right? Of course this is a difficult film to market and we knew that going in. But people are paying for it, they do like it after they see it and they are entertained. So, we didn't skip that step, it just doesn't fit into the traditional paradigm that you think makes an entertaining film. And that's okay. But plenty of films are getting made and they aren't getting distribution. The above article was designed to tell filmmakers what we've learned as we begin our direct distribution. The films don't have to die on the shelf. It's possible to find an audience, even if it's small (which is why it was important we made it so inexpensively.

If it's the choice between telling a unique story and going this route or making the same thing we've all seen before but maybe it gets bigger distribution, I'll take the unique story every time.

We don't have much unfortunately. However, the film is now available to purchase at http://www.LayoverFilm.com. There's some Anatomy of a Scene BTS clips and an interview with me. Also, over at /Film we have this article about shooting in a club: http://www.slashfilm.com/how-to-shoot-a-club-scene/

You're right. I shoudn't say we "didn't need to light" but that instead, we were able to make better use of the available light. Thus, we only had to do minor shaping using a 1x1 panel light. It about having to use less lights, less powerful lights, to accomplish the same effect.

So, our DP William Wolffe handled most of the lighting while I operated the camera. I'm comfortable operating and because we didn't have a video village, didn't even have an on board monitor, I didn't want to waste time going back and watching takes and making sure it worked. It was just faster and easier for me to operate the camera. As for the combo, I prefer operating whenever I can. I find that it gives me much greater insight with regard to how the actor is performing than if I'm stepped away from it. But that's me. It didn't hinder me in anyway but that's because I did so much prep as a director that by the time we got on set it was about minor tweaks.