Jim Cummings: One-Man Band Against the Hollywood Machine
From self-funding to Sundance
Hi friends,
We’re riding high off the incredible response to 1,000 Docs, the outpouring from the documentary community has been amazing. If you haven’t applied yet, there’s still time: apply here. As a reminder, we’re supporting 1,000 indie doc filmmakers with free access to Eddie Pro, no strings attached.
And if you’re new here, welcome: we’ve had a bunch of new readers and subscribers to our newsletter as of late. Each week we try to highlight a story from production and once a month we have a long form article covering the tenacious movers and shakers of the industry and who sought to push it forward.
Now, onto this week’s edition of The Video Stack— We’re spotlighting a true one-man band: Jim Cummings, the indie filmmaker who turned maxed-out credit cards and no-name cast into a Sundance-winning juggernaut.
– Shamir
Everyone loves to say “independent film.” What they usually mean is: A24 or Neon logo, a $5 million budget and some Oscar buzz.
That’s not wrong.
But it’s also not really indie either.
A24 and Neon are billion-dollar mini-majors at this point. Most so-called “indies” today are just studio films in festival drag.
How many filmmakers actually have access to $5 million to burn on an art film that’s almost guaranteed to lose money?
We’ve already praised Sean Baker as a beacon of indie cinema. But there’s another name, a name you probably haven’t heard of.
Enter Jim Cummings. The scrappier sibling. The guy Hollywood still hasn’t figured out.
He started as a producer, but broke out in 2017 with Thunder Road, a self-funded dark comedy short-turned-feature. He wrote it. Directed it. Produced it. Starred in it. Edited it. Even scored it. Wouldn’t be surprised if he did some of the makeup too but didn’t want to take more credits.
Everyone tells indie filmmakers, “Just go make something.” Cue the excuses: No money. No time. No cast. Jim had none of that either.
And look where it took him.
Self-Funding to Sundance
In 2016, Jim had saved $4K from working full-time as a producer at CollegeHumor with the intention of making Thunder Road, a one-take, 12-minute short about a cop melting down at his mother’s funeral.
Just one problem. Well, a few.
The funeral home rental was $2,500. Lens: $750. Fisher dolly: $2,500 with deposit.
“I have to make this movie or I’m going to die,” Jim said..
Well, he didn’t die.
No money for actors or endless rehearsals. So Jim decided to star himself, despite never having acted.
Literally, never.
No classes. No workshops. Just him, rehearsing a 12-minute breakdown whilst on commute to his day job at CollegeHumor.
Thunder Road was shot in a single day. No coverage. No cutaways. One man, one eulogy, and a camera that never cut.
The short ended up winning Sundance in 2017 and the cavalry came knocking…
No Backers, No Backup
Ok, the cavalry most certainly did not come knocking. But you’d really think after winning Sundance, that they would.
Put it this way: there’s a 0.67% chance of just getting into Sundance.
I won’t even bother calculating the odds of winning.
No production company offered to bankroll a feature version. So he did himself.
Jim emptied his savings (again), maxed out credit cards, and even put up his wedding rings for sale after his wife left him. The rest of the film’s $200K budget was crowdfunded through Kickstarter.
He shot the feature in 12 days. All cut it himself in Premiere. And somehow, yet again, Jim had another hit.
Thunder Road, the feature, hit SXSW, Karlovy Vary, and Deauville; some of the most prestigious fests outside Sundance and Cannes.
One-Man Band (and Then Some)
Producer Natalie Metzger and Jim Cummings on set of Thunder Road
He’s not doing it entirely alone. No filmmaker ever is.
His closest collaborator comes in the form of Producer Natalie Metzger who has been in the trenches with him since Thunder Road.
A Spirit Award nominee, she also produced Jim’s following features The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020), and The Beta Test (2021).
She isn’t just Jim’s producer though.
Beyond their collabs, she’s produced Ubisoft’s Werewolves Within, Sundance oddball hit Greener Grass, and the heartfelt doc It Ain’t Over for Sony Pictures Classics.
As a director, her range is just as bold, helming everything from AFI Docs–selected Alone in the Game to Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween.
Budget Whiplash
Jim as John Marshall in The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
Thunder Road cost $200,000.
After it won Sundance, the cavalry did arrive. Nic Cage reached out after seeing Thunder Road on the plane. So did David Gordon Green (director of $20M Halloween Kills).
Production companies came knocking and Jim wasn’t just taking generals. Real offers were on the table now.
One of those offers became The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) a horror film about a small Utah town seemingly terrorized by a werewolf..
With a $2 million budget, Jim was at least now working with numbers that didn’t feel like a meme.
For most indie filmmakers, that kind of upgrade is the goal and The Wolf of Snow Hollow was still a hit with critics but for Jim, it came with trade-offs.
Tighter production schedule, more crew rules, and of course.. less say.
The Open-Source Auteur
Most indie filmmakers guard their process like it’s sacred.
Not Jim.
You’ll find him on Reddit. Twitter too (though he’s mostly gone quiet there). Routinely spilling the beans.
(Jim didn’t say this. We did. Meme inspired by The Social Network.)
Director commentaries from the DVD era don’t really exist anymore. But Jim’s relentless online transparency is basically the 2020s version of that.
With one key difference.
In 2000, you couldn’t DM Christopher Nolan asking how he jumped from making his debut feature Following for $6K straight to $9M Memento.
Or in 2007, you couldn’t ask David Fincher exactly why Zodiac used digital blood instead of real. But in 2025, you can jump directly onto a Reddit AMA and ask Jim exactly how The Beta Test got made, how much money he burned and what scenes flopped. He’ll actually tell you. No gate. No keepers. Just a filmmaker daring you to do it too.
Extra’s
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