New Movie! Casey Makes a Mixtape
- Blake Calhoun
- Oct 4
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 16
If you've followed my YouTube channel or this website for a while then you know I wrote & directed a feature film and that movie is now ready for its close-up.
You can NOW watch the film on Apple, Amazon and more! Direct links below:
Apple TV (4K and 5.1 sound)
Fandango at Home (4K and 5.1 sound)
We premiered the trailer a few days ago and so far the response has been great. If you don't know anything about the film here is the synopsis:
A 13-year-old navigates teen life in a strange new Texas town while struggling to finish her prized summer '81 mixtape.
I had the idea for this project about 8 years ago and actually made a short film back then shot on an iPhone. This was the first project I'd ever shot using log on a phone. Filmic Pro had just released it in their app and so the short was more or less a test for that, but in the end I thought it might make an interesting feature film as well.
[Note: The original title to the new feature film was also "Casey's Favorite Song", but we changed it to "Casey Makes a Mixtape" as it instantly says what the movie is about right in the title]
Cut to today and now Apple Log is natively part of the Pro series iPhones and it's leaps and bounds better than Filmic Pro log - not to mention that the phone sensors and cameras have greatly improved.
However, I did not shoot the feature film version on a phone. It was primarily shot on a RED Komodo. But I did use an iPhone for lots of insert shots, macro stuff and some second unit footage - and it worked great. In the new trailer (embedded at the top of the page) there are actually six shots from multiple iPhones and no one would every be able to tell.
This is a true indie film. Not only from how we financed it, but to how we shot it in only two weeks... How I was the writer, director and DP (uncredited) along with one of two producers.
How we had an amazing crew that worked for indie rates and helped bring the vision to life, and I couldn't have done it without them. But it was a small crew and that actually worked in our favor. Not only did it help with the budget, but it kept us nimble for company moves and allowed us to have a smaller footprint shooting on location.
Then we had a stellar cast of young actors and seasoned pros. Whether us filmmakers want to admit it or not, the cast is really the most important part of making a good movie. It doesn't matter how good a film looks if the performances are bad. And here in my humble opinion the cast knocked it out of the park. We used SAG actors and worked with the Ultra Low Budget Agreement. This allowed us to get great professional actors, but also keep the budget under control.
In post-production I was the main editor (but worked with another editor Cliff Richhart on some scenes) and then I also handled a lot of the visual effects (and we used several VFX companies and freelance VFX artists, too) and lastly I did the color grading.
Some of this was because I like doing all these jobs, and some of it (okay a lot of it) was because we didn't have the budget to pay for it. But that can also be part of the fun making an indie film. The journey and the process are definitely huge parts of it and so you really need to enjoy it because you're definitely not doing it for the money.
And I should say I had a blast making this film and I really hope people will enjoy watching it.
The film releases digitally on 10.14.25 to Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Google Play and YouTube Movies. Get more info at the movie's website.
I hope you'll check it out! And thanks for supporting independent film.
-BC
P.S. I'll be making more behind-the-scenes videos later about the film and how I used an iPhone and more.
P.P.S. We've gotten a little bit of press coverage about the trailer release (UPDATE: And now the actual film). So check these links below and would appreciate it if you'd help spread the word too by sharing. :)
Red Carpet Crash (trailer premiere)
Film Threat (movie review)
World Film Geek (movie review)
One Film Fan (movie review)
I'll be adding a "Press" page to the movie's website eventually and so that's where future reviews and articles will be posted.