They shot their movie in 7 days for $7,000. They're bringing it to theaters themselves

When filmmaker Joe Burke talks astir his microbudget indie movie “Burt,” helium can’t halt saying the connection “magic.” He seems to pursuit that magic, possibly rooted successful his days arsenic a teenage magician moving astatine Outback Steakhouse successful his hometown of Toledo, Ohio.

“I privation to marque radical laugh, I privation to marque radical cry,” says Burke, 41, who utilized to execute tableside paper tricks. “I emotion entertaining, and if I’m not doing it, I don’t consciousness satisfied.”

“Burt,” his 2nd feature, was changeable implicit 7 days for $7,000, though the task had been gestating for 7 years by the clip cameras rolled. The movie, which helium made with longtime person and collaborator Oliver Cooper, was borne of a batch of bosom and DIY resourcefulness, but they similar moving that way.

“Everything is truthful alive,” Burke says of their no-budget process, “the energy of getting successful determination and uncovering these magical moments,” ones that punctual them of their origins, making movies successful the backyard.

“Burt” has its Los Angeles premiere connected Saturday astatine the Fine Arts Theatre successful Beverly Hills. For now, this is the lone L.A. screening “Burt” mightiness person — it doesn’t person organisation yet. But Burke and Cooper person realized that it’s up to them to forge the way for it.

Oliver Cooper, left, and Burt Berger successful the movie “Burt.”

(The Juice Is Loose / Floating Rock Pictures)

Burke is jovial and chatty, passionately delivering the communicative of “Burt” implicit java successful West Hollywood, portion Cooper, 35, is simply a spot much laid-back, though the duo person an casual rapport acknowledgment to their decades of relationship and collaboration. They became originative partners erstwhile Cooper’s parent hired Burke to nonstop a video for her son’s barroom mitzvah. Years later, Burke acceptable retired for the American Film Institute portion Cooper, pursuing his acting dream, moved to Los Angeles astatine 19, rapidly landing a relation successful the 2012 enactment movie “Project X” connected his archetypal audition. Since then, he’s acted successful the Prime Video bid “Red Oaks” and helium played David Berkowitz successful David Fincher’s “Mindhunter.”

But contempt pursuing their ain vocation paths, Burke and Cooper are inactive each other’s favourite collaborators. In 2011, they changeable their archetypal feature, “Four Dogs,” directed by Burke, starring Cooper arsenic Oliver (yes, we’re successful the realm of autofiction), an aimless aspiring histrion who lives with his aunt and spends his days with an older person from acting people (Dan Bakkedahl, aboriginal of “Veep”). Ever the resourceful indie filmmakers inspired by existent life, they formed Cooper’s aunt, Rebecca Goldstein, who had ne'er acted before, arsenic Oliver’s aunt, and changeable the movie successful her Encino home, wherever Cooper, a struggling young histrion himself, was surviving astatine the time.

Both Burke and Cooper are inspired by existent radical — their lives, their dramas, their homes — and question to seizure that authenticity successful their films.

“I conscionable emotion characters,” says Cooper. “All the characters we’ve explored are radical that are benignant of forgotten, connected the outskirts.”

Burke believes that his ain involvement successful these people, often played by nonprofessional actors successful his work, tin construe to audiences. “If they’re onscreen, radical are going to beryllium entertained by this person,” helium insists.

It had been much than a decennary since “Four Dogs,” and Burke was itching to marque a 2nd film, sustaining himself by teaching astatine the New York Film Academy field successful Burbank and making Instagram sketches and abbreviated films with Cooper.

There was 1 idiosyncratic who had caught Burke’s attention: Burt Berger, a late-60s-ish instrumentalist he’d seen playing guitar table-to-table astatine the Old Place edifice successful Malibu. Burke was a brunch regular there, and helium was taken with Berger’s folksy tunes and warm, quirky presence. Coincidentally, Cooper besides had met Berger separately astatine an unfastened mic astatine the Cahuenga General Store.

It became evident they’d happened upon a existent Los Angeles quality successful Berger, and they wanted to formed him successful something. While shooting a abbreviated successful 2016, the duo thought of Berger to play a tiny part. They drove to the Old Place the adjacent day, asked him if helium had immoderate acting acquisition (just a fewer commercialized auditions) and formed him. He was a standout, and they adjacent utilized 1 of his songs, “Improvin’ On,” for the extremity of the movie (he besides performs the opus successful “Burt”).

Burke and Berger stayed successful touch. They often hung retired for hours, talking astir Berger’s beingness and family, their Hollywood dreams and mulling ways to marque a communicative movie that could diagnostic Berger’s unfastened bosom and large dreams. “I wanted it to beryllium astir Burt’s essence — his soul, his tone and his music,” Burke says. “That was truthful important to me.”

When Burke brought up the thought of a full movie astir him, Berger says helium was stunned.

“I started to outcry a small bit,” Berger, 71, says by phone, “because present I am, my dreams are dilatory unfolding successful beforehand of maine aft each the years of pursuing them.”

“You truly don’t request that overmuch to marque thing great,” says Oliver Cooper, right, of the duo’s DIY approach. “If you person the story, if you person the characters, that’s each that matters.”

(JSquared Photography / For The Times)

In 1977, aft college, Berger drove to Los Angeles successful a van with his champion person to pursuit euphony stardom. “I’m anserine due to the fact that I deliberation I’m going to marque it large and stubborn due to the fact that I’m ne'er going to springiness up,” helium says.

The designation from Burke was gratifying. “At archetypal I couldn’t judge Joe sees that successful me,” says Berger, “but past I realized I gotta spot this guy. He knows what he’s talking about.”

While Burke toiled to get different movie projects disconnected the ground, helium continued moving with Cooper and Berger connected what would yet go “Burt,” the fictionalized communicative of Sammy (Cooper), who comes to L.A. looking for his estranged dad, Burt (Berger), thrilled to yet acquisition fatherhood. It soon becomes clear, though, that Sammy’s intentions aren’t wholly virtuous, arsenic Burt shares helium has wealth from an inheritance stashed away.

The last portion of the “Burt” puzzle was Steve Levy, Berger’s roommate of a decade. They planned to sprout the movie astatine their house, Levy’s puerility location successful Sun Valley, and a trial sprout revealed Levy and Berger’s surface chemistry, with Levy bringing a singular transportation and crisp comedic borderline of blunt skepticism that provides a foil to the sweetly trusting Burt.

While Cooper scraped unneurotic the tiny fund from his ain money, with assistance from family, and finessed Levy’s cooperation, Burke promised him they could sprout the movie successful a week. He brought connected his assemblage pal Daniel Kenji Levin arsenic cinematographer and called connected their web of friends to capable supporting roles, including Cooper’s “Mindhunter” acting manager Catlin Adams, an Actors Studio alum who plays Sammy’s scheming aunt Sylvia.

It wasn’t conscionable the fiscal constraints of indie filmmaking driving Burke’s urgency to get the movie going but Berger’s Parkinson’s illness arsenic well. He had been diagnosed during their years of friendship, and Burke noticed his friend’s tremor portion they were hanging out. The illness hits adjacent to location for Burke, whose begetter besides has Parkinson’s; helium was caring for him during the shoot. So arsenic helium was directing his father-son film, Burke was surviving a parallel mentation of the communicative himself.

The black-and-white “Burt” is an earnest, stripped-down dramedy, filled with sly wit and astonishing twists that harks to classical indie films of the aboriginal ’90s successful its raw, low-key elegance. Burt is simply a quality surviving with Parkinson’s. The movie is not astir his disease, which is conscionable a portion of his reality.

However, successful the 2 years since shooting, Berger has moved backmost to the East Coast to unrecorded with household arsenic his illness has progressed. Burke knew helium had to seizure his prima precisely astatine the close moment, erstwhile helium was inactive capable to play and sing and pursuit a dream. “I can’t play the guitar arsenic good arsenic I utilized to,” says Berger, “but I’m inactive not giving up.” (“Burt and I are some precisely the aforesaid successful that way,” says Burke. “We ne'er springiness up connected dreams.”)

It’s a situation to marque a movie similar “Burt”— and rather different to bring specified a handmade movie to audiences. In 2024, Burke went 0 for 28 successful movie festival acceptances, which made him question if “Burt” mightiness beryllium the last section of his vocation alternatively of a launching pad. He adjacent considered an connection from his ma to determination backmost to Ohio.

But a connection of encouragement (and a important co-sign) from 1 of Cooper’s mentors, filmmaker David Gordon Green, helped them property on. They sent the “All the Real Girls” indie seasoned a screener, and helium wrote backmost hours later, successful the mediate of the night, expressing his emotion for the movie. When they asked him via email to travel connected committee arsenic an enforcement producer, helium replied with 1 word: “Duh.” (Green volition besides beryllium moderating a Q&A with the filmmakers astatine the Saturday screening.)

This year, the film’s fortunes person changed connected the festival circuit, winning assemblage awards astatine Cinequest, the Phoenix Film Festival and the Florida Film Festival.

“You truly don’t request that overmuch to marque thing great,” says Cooper of their DIY approach, present opening to output dividends if not rather a deal. “If you person the story, if you person the characters, that’s each that matters. We didn’t person thing for this and we were capable to marque thing that’s moving.”

After their occurrence astatine Cinequest, the duo decided to clasp self-distribution arsenic well. “We realized this is simply a theatre movie — the laughter together, the crying together,” says Burke. Inspired by “Hundreds of Beavers” arsenic good “Anora” manager Sean Baker’s impassioned awards-season speeches astir seeing movies successful theaters, they decided to prosecute a theatrical tally connected their own, booking screenings successful L.A., Toledo, Cincinnati and hopefully Denver and New York, renting theaters and selling tickets themselves.

In an manufacture that seems successful dire straits, is determination country for a small, heartfelt movie featuring a classical L.A. quality similar Burt? For dreamers who inactive cling to anticipation successful the City of Angels, determination needs to be.

“I don’t cognize wherefore I felt truthful compelled to marque definite this feline was seen earlier it was excessively late,” Burke says. “I don’t cognize wherefore the beingness brought maine into this guy’s life, but it did. Maybe the movie is why.”

Cooper adds, “We did thing bully for this guy, and I consciousness similar my bosom is fuller arsenic a performer.”