An exercise in making it up as you go along, this film was made without a script but rather guided improvisations that once rehearsed became the scenes you see here. In time, I came up with reasons for these stories to intersect and used the idea of a low-budget documentary to stitch it all together.

The class was a study on the techniques of Mike Leigh. Typically Leigh has six months with this actors to put together the film’s story through guided improvisations and collaborations. Without that kind of time, and without regular access to my actors, moments of Bleeder were improvised on camera. The story itself wasn’t whole as we shot even. It was a great experiment—one I recommend to any no-budget filmmaker to try. It will make you a better director of actors for sure—a speedier, and more empathetic one in specific.

Starring: Kyle Cristello, Dillon Claro, Max Gordon, Lara Ruth Smith, Angel Fu
Written, Directed, Edited: Bryan Shipley