The No Film School Podcast

Found Footage with Bite: Tribeca-Premiering ‘Man Finds Tape’

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Filmmakers Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman join No Film School's GG Hawkins to discuss their chilling feature debut Man Finds Tape, premiering in the “Escape from Tribeca” section at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The Texas-based writer-director duo explores their found-footage horror hybrid, rooted in documentary realism and intimate character drama. They dive deep into the film’s decade-long evolution, DIY production tactics, narrative experimentation, and the collaborative scrappiness that made their micro-budget creature feature resonate on a grand scale.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guests discuss:

  • How a shelved podcast idea evolved into a Tribeca-premiering feature film
  • Using documentary experience to inform a found-footage horror aesthetic
  • Why keeping a tight creative circle allowed for fast, agile production decisions
  • Shooting scenes with GoPros and iPhones for final edits—and why it works
  • Casting actors willing to dive into a highly iterative, experimental process
  • Crafting practical and VFX-driven creature moments that elevate low-budget horror
  • Editing techniques that treat the narrative as a real documentary-in-progress
  • How found footage can stay emotionally grounded and narratively justified

    • Memorable Quotes:

    • "There cannot be a point at which the audience says, why are they still filming?"
    • "We were willing to let it sound like shit in parts, and it ended up not having to."
    • "We threw out a lot of the lavs and just used on-camera MiniDV audio. It felt 10 times more real."
    • "What we make is not Peter’s voice or my voice—it’s a third voice."

      • Guests:

      • Peter S. Hall
      • Paul Gandersman

        • Resources:

        • Man Finds Tape at Tribeca
        • XYZ Films Boards Tribeca Horror Feature Man Finds Tape

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