Making a feature-length film is hard enough at the best of times, but how about making one without any funding at all?
Well, that's exactly what Aucklander Christian Nicolson did.
His film This Giant Papier Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy opens in New Zealand on Thursday - and it's fair to say Nicolson is happy to be approaching the milestone.
"It's been an all-out slog for five years now - and it's still going," he says.
The independent production has already won international awards, picking up Best Comedy at sci-fi film festivals in both London and Boston.
"It's had such a good reception overseas and it's starting to pick up here as well, so hopefully it just goes 'boom'," Nicolson says.
He first got the idea in 2011 when he came across a competition called Make My Movie. The prize was a $100,000 film grant, so he submitted his plan for sci-fi comedy epic.
He ended up coming second, missing out on the grant. But he didn't let that stop him, deciding to make the film anyway, and went about raising funds himself.
"[I funded it by] selling old painting I had kicking around... and I had this big art sale and that's how it all began," says Nicolson.
The lengthy name This Giant Papier Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy is an homage to a classic fight scene involving Captain Kirk and Gorn from the original Star Trek series.
That old-school sci-fi style is a key theme in the film, which starts with three friends at a sci-fi convention.
While watching a B-grade flick the trio get sucked into the film itself, placing them in a dangerous - and low-budget - universe.
"By setting it in this low-budget universe it meant we could have all these low-budget-looking things," says Nicolson. "But that was just part of the aesthetic."
Nicolson juggled an endless number of hats during the production, including director, art director, financier, lead actor and even prop-maker.
"The production process was intense - it was dawn to midnight everyday."
But it wasn't just him. Over the course of the two-year shoot he relied on the goodwill of dozens of friends and family.
He co-wrote the film with his brother in-law, and his parents had roles as extras.
Nicolson is taking the film on tour around New Zealand, holding around 20 screenings over the next month in a bid to get people buying tickets - and, hopefully, convince someone to buy distribution rights.
He also has plans in the pipeline for a sequel, but he says that'll only happen if he can secure funding - opting against taking the DIY approach for a second time.
Screening times can be found on the film's website.
Newshub.
