10 Best Non-Hollywood Film Makers to Watch

Okay Richard is quickly becoming Hollywood with the full feature Excision but we remember his short film of the same name made with no money and lots of gusts. Disturbing and thoughtful his willingness to take on dark subject matter with such finesse gets him top slot.

There is about a 50/50 chance that anyone you know in Baltimore has been in one of Matt Porterfield’s films — and that’s no accident, because the city and its inhabitants play an essential role in his work. Both of the two features he’s made, 2006′s Hamilton and 2010′s Putty Hill, are named after local neighborhoods and tell subtle, low-budget, and lightly experimental stories about the people who live in them. While each is worth checking out, we recommend starting with Putty Hill, an absorbing, mockumentary-style movie about the impact of a young man’s death on his family, friends, and acquaintances. As impressive as the film itself is the fact that it came about accidentally — Porterfield had scripted a feature called Metal Gods, but his financing fell through, and Putty Hill (which cost only $40,000 to make and was partially funded through Kickstarter) rose from its ashes.

Maybe too ambitious for his own good at times. No budget. No problem. Patrick swings for the fences creating genre films that defy expectations. Taking chances without a budget his films are filled with moment of greatness followed by moments of complete disaster. CRUSHED polarized audiences world wide and is quickly on its way to culthood. Art isn't safe and taking chances in a world filled with safe mediocrity earns him a top spot.

Israel is not one to shy away from controversy. Like other film makers on this list he makes the movies he wants to make and does not compromise. Israel challenges the audience every chance he gets. He hops genres with ease making films from his perspective. His films often have gay characters which he treats as people not a special interest which sometimes results in controversy from all sides. His fearless attitude earns him the number 4 slot.

When it comes to genre films Zombies have risen to the top, "The Final Day," won the Grand Prize in the Weinstein Company's/George Romero's "Diary of the Dead" DVD contest. "The Final Day" will be featured on the "Diary of the Dead" DVD as the Grand Prize Winner. He is making some impressive stuff with lots of practical effects and no money.

In 2008 he entered Sci-Fi-London, a 48 hour film challenge, where a movie had to be created start-to-finish in just two days, within certain criteria. Edwards won the contest and went on to write and direct Monsters, his first feature. Edwards personally created the special effects for Monsters using off the shelf equipment. Besides the two main actors, the crew consisted of just five people. For pure inspiration alone he gets on the list. Maybe he had a bit of a budget but what he did with the money in terms of use is on par with what other film makers do with smaller budgets. He milked it beyond convention.

A graduate of The National Film School of Denmark, Lisa Aschan (b. 1979, Vejbystrand, Sweden) received attention for *beep* the Rapist, a collection of fictional ads for spiked tampons. She also created a drama series for Danish TV channel DR1, attended Sweden's Royal University College of Fine Arts and worked at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater. Her short films In Transit (2005) and Goodbye Bluebird (2007) screened at festivals around the world and established her reputation for suggestive visual language and naturalistic direction. She Monkeys (2011), her debut feature, nabbed top prize in the world narrative competition at the Tribeca Film Festival. Another fearless film maker not following a defined path.

Jim brings years of acting experience to his direction and strong story telling prowess. His debut feature THE KEY was a subtle and very emotional tale that moved audiences. His ability to evoke the kind of emotional performances out of the child actors in this film showed a sophistication and delicate touch rarely seen in films of this budget. This earns him a spot.

Mike is a throwback to the drive-in B movie monster flicks of days gone by. His films are simple and fun with one purpose- "To Entertain" He is like Ed Wood in that his passion far exceeds his budget and resources. We need guys like this making movies. He began making Super 8mm and 16mm movies in 1980. By 2005 he had worked on over 100 movies, commercials and industrials. He shot his first feature, "The Black Crystal," in 1989. "The Black Crystal" was distributed on VHS by Rae Don Home Video. "Terrarium," which is being distributed in the US and Canada by Lions Gate under the title "War of the Planets," is Mike's second feature. His third feature, "The Awakening," premiered in November 2005 in Las Vegas.