Kill The Lion Films: Phase One

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PHASE ONE COMPLETE!

Hi! My name is Cody Clarke, and I am a
truly independent filmmaker from Brooklyn, NY.

KILL THE LION FILMS is my film studio, and since 2011
I have produced, written, directed, and edited eight
feature-length films, all at impressively low budgets.
(Some of my biggest hits were made for just $500!)

I have also starred in several of my films.
Here I am, in order from shortest hair to longest:
(top to bottom: Shredder, Bed, Strummer)

'Truly independent filmmaking' is what I call the kind
of filmmaking I do, but it is more than just the way
I like to make films—I believe that it is filmmaking
in its purest and truest form.

The first 100 years or so of film were controlled by
gatekeepers—to put it simply, in order to make a film,
someone had to let you make a film. But now that filmmaking
has become democratized (virtually anyone can greenlight
themselves and afford to make a movie) the next
100 years and beyond belong to the people!

Imagine a world where pen and paper were expensive—
could we safely say we knew what literature even was yet?
Film as an art form has only just begun. There has never
been a more important or exciting time to make a film!

I discuss this topic at length in my book,
KILL THE LION: A Manifesto and How-To Guide
for the Truly Independent Filmmaking Revolution.
It is the result of nearly a decade spent thinking
about, and making, truly independent films.

One of the biggest misconceptions about filmmaking
at extremely low budgets is that if you make a film for
cheap, it will look, sound, and feel cheap. Nowadays,
that is as crazy as thinking you need an expensive pen
to write a great novel!

Below are stills from truly independent films I have made.
Do these films look 'cheap'? They do not have the look
of Hollywood movies, but they are not trying to—they are
right in line with the classic look of many indie and foreign
films of the past forty or fifty years. Quality has not been
sacrificed—they are not rough-around-the-edges,
but are instead clearly deliberate works of art:
(top to bottom: Ramekin, Mute Date, Rehearsals)

In 2019, my films Ramekin and Mute Date—made for
$500 each—became the lowest budget feature-length
films ever to be official recommendations on Amazon
Prime Video! We were recommended on there right alongside
films with budgets 10,000x mine. This was a huge milestone for
truly independent filmmaking!

I am only just getting started though—the 2011 to 2020
period of KILL THE LION FILMS was just PHASE ONE of
what I plan to do to revolutionize film and usher in a
truly golden age of filmmaking!

Read on to learn how you can help me
with PHASE TWO!