The filmmakers who broke into NASA
Film crews have occasionally been known to take things too far. From Leonardo DiCaprio sleeping in animal carcasses to prepare for The Revenant to the family behind Roar bringing up lions in their own home, filmmakers’ commitment to their art can sometimes veer into questionable territory. In one case, a film crew even managed to break into NASA after finding a legal loophole.
Incredibly underrated director Matt Johnson and producer Matthew Miller first collaborated on their debut film, The Dirties, in 2013, which saw them take their first steps into fake found-footage films. The film was a fake documentary about a school shooting, made with just $10,000. By 2016, they had stepped up their game and their budget. On their follow-up feature film, Operation Avalanche, Johnson and Miller lied their way into NASA to film a space conspiracy feature on location.
Operation Avalanche stars director Johnson alongside costar Owen Williams. They both play CIA agents who become part of a plan to fake the moon landing. Much like their characters, the two infiltrated NASA in real life in order to shoot the film. They pretended to be students filming a real documentary about the 1960s. It worked, and Johnson and Miller filmed their conspiracy film at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.
Johnson explained the stunt in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: “I said I was making a movie about NASA in the 1960s, which is true. But the centrepiece of it was NASA not being able to make it to the moon – the CIA faking a moon landing. At the time, we didn’t even know if we were going to be possible to make this movie because we needed to get certain ‘stuff’ from NASA. We needed them to [find] the film clips, which they did, which was really amazing.”
Johnson also hired lawyer Chris Perez to protect them. Perez was behind the 2013 film Escape from Tomorrow, which was filmed in Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort without permission. Perez advised them that they would be able to make the film through Fair Use laws. His advisory position would also give the filmmakers “errors and omissions” insurance, protecting them against legal action.
This loophole emboldened the crew to go through with the film. The director told Wired, “As soon as we knew the door had a crack in it, we were like, ‘Oh wicked! We’re going to make the most illegal movie ever.'” In fact, the genius of their daring production choices came from the legality of it. By consulting with the solicitor, they were protected.
The result of their NASA infiltration was Operation Avalanche. The film was well-received by critics, but the conversation surrounding the film was often dominated by discussion of its daring techniques. Operation Avalanche may not be up there as one of the most impressive or celebrated space films, but it’s certainly one of the most impressive and courageous feats in filmmaking.
