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Writer-director Alex Ullom and producers Carrie Carusone and Evan Barber break down the unconventional path behind It Ends, their micro-budget indie horror feature about four friends trapped on an endless road. They explain how they raised their initial financing, leaned on their filmmaking community, turned production limitations into creative advantages, and used multiple rounds of strategic reshoots to transform an early cut that wasn’t working. The team also shares how they cut a Jeep in half to shoot on an LED volume stage, navigated an expensive and complicated post-production process, premiered at SXSW, and generated enough grassroots momentum through the online horror community and Letterboxd to ultimately land a theatrical release with Neon.
In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guests Alex Ullom, Carrie Carusone, and Evan Barber discuss…
How graduating from film school during the pandemic pushed the team toward making an independent feature
Raising the initial micro-budget through unconventional investors, personal connections, and community support
How Florida State University’s alumni equipment package made a $30,000 feature possible
Why paying crew something—even on an extremely limited budget—was important to the producers
Discovering in the edit that the first version of It Ends wasn’t working
Why indie filmmakers should stop thinking of reshoots as a sign of failure
Using test screenings to identify pacing problems, missing emotional beats, and scenes that needed additional coverage
Designing a contained film that could be affordably reconstructed for multiple rounds of pickups
Balancing the film’s horror and hangout-movie elements through pacing and visual language
Cutting a Jeep Cherokee in half to get it onto an LED volume stage
Rebuilding the Jeep interior and using the removable vehicle to create otherwise impossible camera angles
Why the filmmakers pulled out of Fantasia to continue improving the movie
Maintaining continuity when returning to the same actors and characters two years after principal photography
The editing workflow Alex developed to compare multiple performances of the same line
Using low-pass filtering, bass, sound design, and close-ups to create production value on an indie budget
What Alex learned from an extremely disorganized Premiere timeline
Premiering at SXSW during an especially difficult independent film distribution market
Why strong festival reviews and sold-out screenings didn’t automatically lead to a distribution deal
The changing economics of minimum guarantees for independent films
How online horror creators helped generate new momentum for It Ends
The film’s path from Letterboxd’s video store program to a theatrical release with Neon
Why filmmakers should focus on making the strongest movie possible rather than designing a project specifically for a major festival
How the lessons from It Ends changed the team’s approach to their next features
Previsualizing an entire movie before production to eliminate setups and solve story problems
Using executive producer credits strategically when raising additional financing
Practical advice for protecting hard drives, feeding a small crew, and building a trusted filmmaking community
Memorable Quotes:
“I'm a huge advocate for reshoots.”
“And on that Saturday we got it onto the stage and it, and it fit through that hallway with a literal quarter of an inch clearance on either side, and that's like, that's not an exaggeration.”
“I hope that this film can live kinda like when I first saw Slacker for the first time, and it was just like, oh, all you really need is a camera and two faces talking to each other.”
“At the end of the day, surround yourself, your entire crew with people you trust creatively.”
Guests:
Alex Ullom
Carrie Carusone
Evan Barber
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