A Horse with No Name

A Horse with No Name is an independently produced feature film by Matthew and Barnaby O'Connor. Its two key distinguishing factors are the budget, which was $10,000 (considered very small by Hollywood standards) and the fact the film was written as it was made - something none of the actors in the film knew was happening. As far as the cast were aware the script had already been written and they would receive dialogue on the day to 'keep it fresh'. This whole process was documented in the feature length behind the scenes documentary '13 States' which was described by one review as 'behind the scenes carnage the likes of which you have never seen before'. Plot In the opening scenes of the film, a down and out DJ, Vince Vinyl (Alex Price) meets Sophie (Molly Ryman), a high society American girl, in a New York cafe. The two of them unexpectedly hit it off and after deciding to spend the day together develop a tentative friendship. These New York scenes are inter cut with scenes of Vince traveling across the U.S. at a much later date. His travel companion is Randy the trucker (Steve Malone), who he has been forced to hitch a ride with against his will. As the film progresses, it shows how the friendship between Vince and Sophie develops into something deeper before Sophie is forced to return to her home in Los Angeles. It is this that inspires Vince's epic trans-American journey. Production As the behind the scenes documentary 13 States shows, production of the film was plagued with difficulties, with several instances where the filmmakers appear close to collapsing from exhaustion and stress. This was mainly due to the fact there was no script and the filmmakers were trying to keep this a secret from the other people involved in the production. Many of the actresses they approached initially were wary of becoming involved, perhaps because they sensed that all may not be what it appeared. Aside from this, the production was very underfunded, given the notoriously expensive costs of living and working in New York City. In the end, all internal scenes were actually shot in Syracuse, some 300 miles from the city (but still part of New York State) as costs of hiring locations within the city proved prohibitively expensive. Soundtrack Despite the low budget nature of the film, a number of well known musicians contributed their music to the film and documentary.