Story of brothers’ feud shot on a tight budget

Life for an independent filmmaker -- especially a first-time writer-director -- isn’t easy. Jeff Nichols knows that all too well.

Nichols’ feature directorial debut, “Shotgun Stories,” is a stark, Eugene O’Neill-esque tale set in southeastern Arkansas about a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers after their father dies.

Nichols, who was born in Arkansas and now lives in Austin, Texas, finished principal photography on the film in late 2004. Only now is it opening, on Friday.

“We didn’t have enough money for a second unit or to get all the landscape shots that I wanted, which are really a big part of the film,” says Nichols, who made the movie for under $100,000. He had to wait a year to earn the additional money needed to return to Arkansas with his cinematographer for a few days.

Nichols spent the next three months editing. Then he took the movie to some friends, director David Gordon Green and producer Lisa Muskat. They were so impressed, they signed on as producers to help him get funding to finish the post-production work.

Nichols had made the decision to shoot on film instead of high-definition video because “I don’t think video captures information the same way [film] does.

“These characters -- they keep to themselves and don’t speak very much. They are stoic. And that seems to be mirrored in the landscape. There seems to be an emotional depth in these landscapes, and it seemed appropriate to mirror those two things. If you shoot it on film, you can do it.”

While he was working on “Shotgun Stories,” Nichols also had a day job. “I have been real fortunate to get work at an ad agency in Austin. I would do copy writing for them and shoot little videos. That would kind of keep my head above water. I would turn around and take whatever money that wasn’t spent on rent and bills and put it right back into the film.”

-- Susan King