Small Budget Film Track

The ongoing renaissance in fan filming and small budget films continues to produce spectacular new works of science fiction and science fantasy. This year, we are placing an emphasis on showing videos from as many fictional story lines as we can, and hooking fans up with four different production groups.

Star Trek Section

Sleeping Dragon – A Star Trek fan production – 25 min

Brought to us by Randy Landers, of Potempkin Pictures

Doctor Sarah Perry, a renowned scientist, has rendezvoused with the Starship Deimos with a dire warning: The entire galaxy is endangered by a large magnetar on a collision course with the galactic core. As they agree on a means of destroying the magnetar, Captain Harper watches in dismay as the plan is on the verge of falling apart. Can he and his officers succeed when success comes at such a high price?

Cerritos, Lost – A Star Trek Fan Production – 15 min

It is brought to you by Trek Shorts, proud to present Marie-Louise Svaleng’s first film as the lead and the world’s first Star Trek fan film to take place on the USS Cerritos from Lower Decks!

Dr Louise Nilson, a Lanthanite documentarian at Memory Alpha is trying to do her job, interview and gather facts…when a sentient AI construct steals the Cerritos and her aboard. Its plans are…more than meet the eye and Dr Nilson must deal with this unusual situation in her own ways.

When Duty Calls: A Star Trek Fan Film Production – 13 min

Filmed in the Kingsland, Georgia studios of The Neutral Zone

What happens when two fans show up at a Neutral Zone Studios fan weekend dressed as characters from Star Trek: Discovery? You cast them in a fan film — a Star Trek Fan Film crossover made to answer the question: What happens when a disabled TOS starship is assisted by the crew from Discovery?

Back to Yesterday – A Star Trek Fan Production – 10 Min

From Power543 Fan Films, supported by the Trek Shorts Patreon

This delightful short video guest stars Nick Cook, an old Scottish friend who also guest starred on Star Trek: New Voyages and has his own fan film series – Star Trek: Intrepid.

Trek Shorts is proud to present Nick Cook’s next film and the first canonical appearance of his captaincy on the USS Dauntless. Captain Daniel Hunter, while studying T’kon ruins, uncovers more than be bargained for and as such is sent backward in time. How can he return home? How does he keep the timeline free of alterations? What will he learn and who will he meet?

The Holy Core – A Star Trek Fan Production (Parts I & II) – 31 Min

From FPSD – a TNG Era Fan film

The crew of a Federation Starship assists the deeply religious Vitans with the restoration of their atmosphere, polluted during centuries of war. Events soon take an unexpected turn, however, and the crew must rely on their courage and principles to prevent disaster.

Commanders of Starfleet: A Star Trek Fan Production – 6 min

This film follows two Starfleet officers’ adventures during the Earth-Romulan War. This 6-minute film consists of four scenes. They have just the

This kinda/sorta Star Trek piece is worth watching. Done in the style of late 40s/early 50s B-movies, Jeff Nord’s Commanders of Star Fleet took the Best Short Trek Fan Film in Trekzone’s Fan Film Awards. In a short four-scene piece, he sets up all the basics of a story with a few Star Trek elements and just the right amount of camp and style.

DUST Experimental Sci Fi Section

Hyperlight – 17 min

From Nguyen-Anh Nguyen of Dust Studios. DUST presents thought-provoking science fiction content, exploring the future of humanity through the lens of science and technology.

Two elite astronauts wake up in the abyss of space; they return to their stranded ship and discover the surprising reason behind their mission’s catastrophic failure. Their solution to the situation they find themselves in is both alarming and thought-provoking.

Oceanus, Act 1 – 32 min

From Jeffrey Morris of Dust Studios. This small budget film stars Sharif Atkins, Bruce Davison, and Megan Dodds, all professional actors.

Act 1 was made in 2015. Seems like a good intro. However, better editing could pick up the pace and improve it. With more budget and more script material, I expect they would do so. The script presents interesting ideas and begs for more. The plans were clearly to make more. I wonder what happened?

In the year 2029, a marine biologist and her aquatic engineer husband fight to survive after a global cataclysm strikes, separating them from their spectacular underwater habitat.

Attending Group Section

Dark Operations Group tutorial presentation and Q&A session

Let’s bake an Independent film – 50 min

The post-production crew of “DARK OPERATIONS: TERMINUS” will be hosting a tutorial on video and post-production techniques using free software and creative skills.
The crew will show how to take raw video footage and turn it into a completed scene using DaVinci Resolve and Unreal Engine. The event is open to all and aims to inspire attendees to try their hand at video and post-production, even if they don’t have experience with the software.

Aliens Section

ACHERON – An Alien Fan Film – 25 Min

A RollinBoy film

It has been over 30 years since the Hadley’s Hope incident. Hidden on the moon known as Acheron (LV-426) something has grown in the darkness.

No Man’s Land – Alien Fan Film 25 Min

A Kennedyboy Production – Christian Kennedy owns and runs Kennedy Productions in Perth, AU. Kennedyboy Productions is a professional outfit that creates entertaining & cinematic films, commercials, documentaries, and promotional videos.

No Man’s Land is Battlefield 1 meets Aliens. An outfit of Imperial soldiers fighting brutal trench warfare in a desolate WW1 Battlefield finds themselves up against an enemy not from their world.

Star Wars Section

Star Wars: Brightstar – A Star Wars fan Film – 21 Min

Raphaël Hébert and Brent Radford of Archangel Epics

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, a fugitive family living in peace must brace itself when their past has tracked them down.

Vader: Pull to the Light – A Star Wars Fan Film – 21 Min

From Holden and Jen Hardman

Set between the events of ESB and ROTJ, The Empire is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker, prompting Darth Vader to personally oversee the investigation. On the surface of a nearby planet, the Sith Lord discovers an ancient temple while pursuing rebels. The temple, strong in the Light Side of the Force, is the scene of his ongoing conflict and confrontation with light side forces.

Star Wars – 1950’s Super Panavision 70 – 2 Min

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace – 1950’s Super Panavision 70 – 1 Min

Dune – 1950’s Super Panavision 70 – 1 Min

The Terminator – 1950’s Super Panavision 70 – 1 Min

Made by Abandoned Films, these are trailers for movies never made. Want to see them?

Wingman – An X-Wing Story | Star Wars Fan Film – 50 min

From Michael’s Basement (yes, really)

Lock S-foils in attack position and enjoy 50 minutes of Starwars meets Topgun! A rebel fighter squadron attacks an imperial transport. The new guy carries a heavy load and an ace pilot on a killing spree.…

Star Wars Origins – A Star Wars fan film – 22 min

From the Philm Company (philm.co.uk)

Indiana Jones meets Star Wars in this award-winning fan film that Mark Hammil called “an epic masterpiece!”

The Saga You Know, The Origins You Don’t.…

Winner – Best Fan Film – The TV Fest 2022
Winner – Best FX – The TV Fest 2022
Winner – Best Fan Film – Something Wicked Film Festival 2022
Winner – Best Visual FX – Something Wicked Film Festival 2022
Winner – Best Fan Film – Wild Indie Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Sound & Score – Wild Indie Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best 20 Minute Film – Wild Indie Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Fan Film – Tri-Cities International Film Festival 2020
Winner – Best Fan Film – Something Wicked Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Short – AtomaCon Short Film Festival 2021
Winner – Fan Film Of The Year – Falcon International Film Festival London 2021
Winner – Best Actress (Marie Everett) – Falcon International Film Festival London 2021
Winner – Best Cinematography – Falcon International Film Festival London 2021
Winner – Best Director – Azure Lorica Fan Film Awards 2021
Winner – Best Actress (Marie Everett) – Azure Lorica Fan Film Awards 2021
Winner – Best Cinematography – SciFi Gainesville 2021
Winner – Best Sound – SciFi Gainesville 2021
Winner – Best Score – SciFi Gainesville 2021
Winner – Best VFX – SciFi Gainesville 2021
Winner – Best Sci-Fi – Out Of The Can International Film Festival 2021
Winner – Best Cinematography – Berlin Sci-Fi Film Festival 2020
Winner – Best Fan Film – Tri-Cities International Film Festival 2020
Winner – Best Cinematography – Berlin Sci-Fi Film Festival 2020

THE LOST RELIC – A Star Wars Story – 14 Min

A third Gate Production

A story within a story. Outside story – curating the Star Wars film vault. Inside story: Adventure!

Bucketheads: A STAR WARS Story – 14 Min

A 2018 Fan Film from Transmute Pictures

A Star Wars short story from the Stormtrooper’s perspective, and an interesting one – it reminds us that Star Wars is a civil war story.

Parody and Comedy Section

The Hillywood Show® is the brainchild of internet celebrity sisters Hilly & Hannah Hindi. Each parody features song & dance parodies of blockbuster films, and they are certainly a popular duo! Currently, they have one and three quarters million subscribers, and you can see why immediately – they do some of the most accurate and sophisticated parodies on the Internet today. Below is a sampling of their efforts concerning some of our favorite SF&F shows

Hillywood Good Omens Parody – 13 min

The Antichrist is coming, which means Aziraphale, an Angel, and Crowley, a Demon, must find a way to end Armageddon. The Hillywood Show® brings you a glorious parody, filled with ineffable surprises! Can we get a wahoo?

Featuring fan-favorite moments, screen accurate costumes/sets, and surprise cameos (NEIL GAIMAN, DANIEL MAYS, MAGGIE SERVICE, and even, the screen-used Bentley from S1), this parody, based on the best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, brings about the excitement of Amazon Prime Video’s I season 2!

The Lord Of The Rings: Parody: Let it Go – 7 min

Follow the hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, on their journey to destroy The One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Through the eyes of Samwise the Brave, The Hillywood Show® brings you a magical tribute to Peter Jackson’s memorable trilogy in an unforgettable, precious way. Once it’s taken hold of you, you’ll never want to let it go. This is One Parody to rule them all.

Hillywood Doctor Who Parody – 7.25 min

It’s the DOCTOR WHO musical parody you’ve been waiting for! Join The Tenth Doctor in an eye-catching parody, with a basket full of easter eggs! People assume that a parody is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it’s more like a big video of wibbly-wobbly, Time Warp stuff. Like the TARDIS, The Hillywood Show® makes a production that’s bigger on the inside and showcases David Tennant’s beloved Doctor in a memorable way. Allons-y!

Hillywood Doctor Who Parody side-by-side comparison – 7.25 min

Parodies are great fun and offer light entertainment. Nevertheless, a really good parody offers more. It has layers and shows real artistry. So it is with Hillywood’s parody – you can see the excellence by by the entire crew – writers, actors, directors, costumers – while making it all look effortless. This fan-made side-by-side comparison show why, entertaining us in its own right.

Asternauts – 17 min

Life is pretty dull for small-town farmer Earl McKnutt and his childlike brother Joel: Wake up, feed the cows, and sit on the porch until it’s time to turn in. That is until one night a mysterious object from outer space crash-lands in their pasture killing their best bull and milking cow…

This sci fi comedy has won awards from multiple film festivals:

Winner Best Film @ Columbia Film Festival, NY

Winner Best Cinematography @ HollyShorts Film Festival

Winner Best Screenplay @ Porto7 Int’l Short Film Festival

Winner Audience Award @ Cortópolis Int’l Short Film Festival

Winner Jury Prize for Excellence @ Boston Sci-Fi Film Fest

Winner Best Sci-Fi/Horror Audience Award @ Love Your Shorts Film Festival

FOR THE EMPIRE: SEASON ONE – A Star Wars parody – 28 Min

AFK pictures – created with Unreal Engine 5

This is a supercut of the first 5 episodes of For the Empire. It contains a series of comedy sketches. The humor is somewhat uneven, but the best are worth the wait.

FOR THE EMPIRE: SEASON TWO – A Star Wars parody – 55 Min

AFK pictures – created with Unreal Engine 5

This is a supercut of the season 2.

HISS – Sci-Fi Comedy Short – 5 Min

Sneaky Zebra productions

This video was entered into the 2014 London 48-hour film challenge, in which contestants were given a title, an action, and a line of dialogue, and then had 48 hours to hand back a completed short film. The title was “Hiss,” the Prop/Action was a character writing graffiti on a wall with chalk, and the dialogue had to contain “They treat us like dogs, but we ain’t quite the dogs they think we are”

U.F.Oh Yeah (Sci-fi/Comedy short film) – 6 Min

Spectacular cinematography, VFX, acting, directing, lighting, pacing… the list goes on? This is absolutely Film Riot’s best work yet.