How We Stole an Airport: A Guide to Making an Indie Feature Without Permission

There’s a particular moment most first-time feature directors recognize: you’ve got a script you believe in, yet absolutely no idea how you’re supposed to pull off half the things written on the page. Factor in locations and actors you can’t afford, gear you don’t have yet…it’s a lot.

So, the real question becomes: how do you make a feature anyway?

Over the past few years, we found ourselves solving that problem one small hack at a time. None of these tricks are revolutionary, but taken together, they allowed us to actually finish a whole-ass movie. We’ve heard of one too many films stuck waiting for an actor to come on board, an executive to send notes, or a three-letter agency to package a film. From the outset, we were determined not to get trapped in development hell.

The following is a practical breakdown of some of the decisions, workarounds, and sometimes extreme strategies that helped us get The Travel Companion made.

Make Shorts

Before making this feature, we had spent years making short films. Not because we were carefully plotting a path to a feature per se, but because we love making things and kept doing it.

Along the way, those shorts helped us figure out our taste and how we liked to work. More importantly, they gave us time to grow a trusted community to call upon when it came time to make something bigger.

By the time we started directing the feature, we had answered some basic questions for ourselves. What kind of performances do we like? How do we talk to actors? How fast do we move? A feature throws dozens of decisions at you every day, and making shorts beforehand helped us develop the instincts to answer them.

Write Where You Know

A slight modification to the classic adage of screenwriting. In our case, we tried to tap into the resources and locations we knew we could get. We didn’t want to kill ideas before they hit the page, but we weren’t shy about imagining a world that we could feasibly access. Bodegas, parks, apartments, bars, etc.

Again, this isn’t about discouraging the next mega sci-fi, but in our case, the goal was to make our film, no matter what. Our buddy owns a camera store. Alex’s partner runs a cinema. We were friendly with a bar owner. We wrote scenes with these places in mind. Nothing radical here… except the airports.

To skip to the fun part, a good chunk of our airport footage was entirely stolen. Picture us running full speed through the terminal with a camera on a gimbal. Nobody cared to an almost comical degree. We simply bought cheap tickets, headed through security, built our small 2nd unit camera (Canon c70), and started filming.

The other chunk of our airport footage (shot at a small regional airport) was permitted, but the initial quotes were not cheap. After some calls, emails, and smiling faces showing up at the airport and negotiating a very tight window, we managed to get the price down to something affordable.

Behind the scenes of 'The Travel Companion'Courtesy of Alex Mallis and Travis Wood

Be Ready To Scale

Money is obviously a massive limiting factor, so we committed to making some version of the film no matter what, even if that meant shooting on a mini-DV camera with us as the lead actors. Then, while sending the script around for feedback, an industry friend turned into our first EP: they offered to invest $10K. This sorta blew our minds!

To be honest, we hadn’t really considered raising the money ourselves in that way. We were under the impression we’d have to find production companies and industry financiers to fund the whole movie. Maybe now we didn't need a production company or an agent; just a handful of people excited enough to invest $10K each.

From that point forward, everyone (and we mean everyone) we came in contact with heard us say some form of “shooting our first feature in six months, looking to raise funds, can we chat?” We were met with quite a bit of rejection, but not always!

Don’t be shy, pitch everyone. Per the above, our budget was a moving target and every investment got us closer to a better version of the film.

At $20K, we pictured hiring actors; $30K, a real camera package; $50K, a production designer; and so on. A lot came from friends and family. Some came from people we’d met at screenings, or friends of friends of friends. It’s a hustle but we were honest: indie filmmaking isn’t exactly a good investment, but what we can promise is passion and fun, and we want you to come along for this ride. After scoring a grant from The Princess Grace Foundation and an investment from BRIC, we managed to raise around $100k. With that momentum, we were able to approach a bigger production company based in NYC, which came through with some equipment support. It was go-time.

Alex and Travis behind the scenes of 'The Travel Companion'Courtesy of Alex Mallis and Travis Wood

Make It Real

Even with a strong shooting script and a pitch deck with our vision clearly laid out, we found ourselves with a chicken-and-egg problem: securing crew, gear, and locations really needed a confirmed shoot date, yet committing to a shoot date would be so much easier with those elements in place. We found it difficult to get, say, a sound mixer to commit to a date if we were saying “sometime in the fall”. At worst, it might have made us sound unsure of ourselves and, by extension, the certainty of the production overall.

The solution was to just pick a date. Even though we didn’t yet have all the pieces ready, around six months prior, we literally opened up our calendar, picked a three-week block, and locked it. In practice, this ended up being our greatest pre-production weapon. It signaled to potential collaborators/investors/etc (and ourselves) that we were serious and this was real. The movie was happening: you in or out? It forced people to give us an answer as to their availability. And practically speaking, it was also super helpful to have a point from which to work backwards.

Pay Everyone The Same

This one might be a little controversial! And to be clear, this approach makes the most sense when you're working on a shoestring. We chose to pay all cast and crew, regardless of position, the same: in our case, it wasn’t far off from NY State's minimum wage. We also offered everyone equity (profit sharing) based on the time they contributed. Ultimately, our cast and crew will likely make a lot less money than they’re worth, but if we do get lucky and sell to Netflix or whatever, they’ll see a piece of that.

We wanted to demonstrate our commitment to transparency and do our part to offer people meaningful ownership over the project. It’s certainly not unprecedented: Most Favored Nations is common in the music industry, and, in our case, we borrowed the idea from Sing Sing (with whom we shared a lawyer).

Similar to our approach to scheduling, we were straight up with folks: this is what we got, are you interested? A few turned us down. But more often than not, we were able to find an enthusiastic crew. We were comfortable valuing enthusiasm over experience and had a couple of members excited to get their first credit on a feature.

Behind the scenes of 'The Travel Companion'Courtesy of Alex Mallis and Travis Wood

Email Until Your Eyes Bleed

Always Be Emailing. Pause here and go follow up with your mom’s neighbor’s lawyer-friend. Don’t be afraid to make a phone call, too. It’s a lot easier to ignore an email than a call. In 2026, the phone call is a dying art, but one we didn’t take for granted. But the real secret sauce is in the art of the follow-up. Wait a week and follow up. Wait four more days and follow up again. Don’t stop. The biggest mistake people make is assuming their emails are received on a silver platter by a well-rested, not-overwhelmed person who has been waiting their entire life to meet you.

More often than not, they can help you in some way, but maybe not in that exact moment. The goal is to push and shove your way up to the top of their priority list and force them to deal with your email.

One time, I followed up with a guy 8 times. When he finally wrote back, he was… apologetic and ended up giving me the answer I was looking for. If this feels difficult, we took the liberty of creating a template:

Hey [Person-I-Need-Something-From],

Following up!

Warmly,

Travis + Alex

It’s Gotta Be Fun

Respect and communication are everything on set. As director(s), everyone is looking to you not only for decisions, but also to set the vibe. It might seem obvious, but it’s important to take the time to really listen and make sure people feel respected. Especially on smaller sets, there isn’t really enough time for anything. Instead of making demands, ask people what they need.

Ideally, your crew starts to feel like a family, and like any family, drama sometimes comes with it. Sometimes people just need to vent. Hear them out and do what you can to squash tensions as they arise.

Speaking of fun, do everything in your power to keep production below 10 hours per day. Sending people home on time is perhaps the most powerful tool available for keeping people happy.

Another small but meaningful thing we did was to get custom hats made for our entire crew and hand them out on day one. If nothing else, we all looked dope.

Alex and Travis behind the scenes of 'The Travel Companion'Courtesy of Alex Mallis and Travis Wood

Just Keep Going

Filmmaking can feel like a door with 18 locks on it, and once you finish picking every lock to finally open the door…you discover another door with even more locks. Remember to savor the journey equally, if not more than any (often fleeting) feeling of success.

We’ve been fueled by a lot of small wins that eventually stacked up into a movie. Let your passion guide you. Lots of people told us, “No, that's not possible,” or "Traditionally, it works like this.” We thanked them for the advice, but never let it stop us.

Don’t Wait

"The best time to start was yesterday. The second-best time is today."

The Travel Companion premiered at Tribeca 2025, was acquired for distribution by Oscilloscope Laboratories, and will be opening theatrically in NYC at BAM today, April 10th, followed by a limited national release.