By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A self-taught filmmaker is scaring TriBeCa with a horror story that hits very close to home.
"Year Zero" is the tale of a Manhattan man trapped in a one-bedroom apartment and living off cockroaches and mice as bedlam rages in the city outside.
It took just $5,000 to bring to life "Year Zero," an animated zombie flick competing in the narrative shorts category at the Tribeca Film Festival.
But for director Richard Cunningham, 31, the "homemade movie" was an all-consuming project that meant three years of turning away other work.
He spent 14 to 16 hour days at work in his Astoria basement apartment while "slowly draining away my savings." Without training as an illustrator or animator, the one-time Bard College student depended on online tutorials and forums and, for much of the process, a 10-year-old computer.
"I learned so much from 15-year-olds, just how to solve problems in Final Cut [video editing software]," Cunningham said. "It's kind of embarrassing listening to this pubescent kid tell you what to do, and yet they're totally right."
But the self-reliance and solitude necessary to complete the film had a side benefit — they helped Cunningham tap into the emotions of his film's narrator, trapped for weeks on end with no company but the zombies.
"There's some sentimentality," Cunningham said. "So much of it is just this guy stuck in his apartment, dealing with not just being stuck in the middle of an apocalypse, but being depressed and being isolated.
"It kind of grounds it in real emotion."
"Year Zero" is screening Sun., April 24 at 7 p.m. (AMC Loews Village), Mon., April 25 at 10 p.m. (AMC Loews Village), Fri., April 29 at 1 p.m. (AMC Loews Village) and Sun., May 1 at 6 p.m. (TriBeCa Cinemas Theater). It is also showing online through TriBeCa's Streaming Room.
Movie premiere tickets for the festival can be won by entering DNAinfo's Tribeca Film Festival sweepstakes here.
