By Ricky Garcia, ABQtodo Staff

It’s commonly accepted that in order to accomplish your dreams you must have faith, perseverance and be ready for hard work. For Abe, this was not the case. Abe is a wanna-be filmmaker with dreams of someday winning awards. After he is dumped by his girlfriend for failing to create a movie, he finds himself living with his parents and without a plan. He decides to gather a crew together from a Craigslist ad, and you can imagine the response he got. With his new ragtag filmmaking crew, he enters a local film festival in hopes of getting his ex-girlfriend back.

“Abe Makes a Movie” all started after Matt Peterson and Ryan Turri finished their last movie, “The Bigfoot Election.” Matt and Ryan began writing, and after they finished, they knew they didn’t want to sell their idea away, so  instead they created a film where they had artistic control. Over the past couple of years, we have seen a huge growth in crowdfunding websites, allowing people to submit their idea and have the people fund. Matt and Ryan followed the trend and created an IndieGoGo project in an effort to raise $65,000. The project raised $24,904 and offered exclusive perks to funders of the project.

On Friday night, the KiMo Theatre hosted a world premiere screening of “Abe Makes a Movie.” I had never heard of the film before Friday, but I got tickets and thought I would show my support. The KiMo was filled up with people showing faith and excitement in this local project. It felt like a large-scale movie premiere. There was a red carpet step and repeat banner, where guests took a picture with an Oscar or with a pair of giant hipster glasses, just like Abe.

After the first two minutes of the movie, I was hooked. It was the perfect combination  of comedy and plot development. The cast was highly unique, and the interactions were awkward but with purpose and humor. Because the film was shot right here in Albuquerque, I noticed a lot of familiar locations.. I loved the story and  how relatable Abe’s character is, which ties into the themes of the movie.

One theme that we all know too well is to follow your dreams. Abe had a dream and all he had to do was apply himself in order to one day accomplish them. Another common theme we find in love stories is that a person can come into your life and opens your mind to new adventures and ideas. Abe found himself creating new relationships after his break up which opened him up to new experiences. After seeing these themes play out in the movie, I was able to connect to Abe and understand just how he felt in these moments.

So, does Abe get his ex-girlfriend back? Did he make the movie? What did it look like? You will have to find that out for yourself.

If you are interested in seeing this film, want some awesome merch or want to learn more, visit their website.