Winner
Best Feature
Medusa Film Festival
Home Grown in Eugene, Oregon
Bad choices.
Big hometown movie.
An outrageous independent comedy about three college students, a seven-day rent deadline and a string of money-making schemes that spiral out of control.
The story
Larry, Fred and Sanders do not take much seriously—especially school.
When they are kicked out of college and fall behind on rent, they have seven days to come up with the money. Their parents will not help. They invite neighborhood drug dealer White Wally to move in and cover the gap, only to discover that the problem has become much bigger than rent.
“We decided to make a college party film, a tribute to Animal House.”
Blake Laitner, director
About the director
Blake
Laitner
Rather than wait for somebody else to pick up one of his screenplays, Laitner put his own resources into making a feature film. He co-wrote, directed and produced We Need Rent Money, bringing together a large Eugene-area cast and crew to get it made.
The result grew from a hometown production into a festival-recognized feature, a three-city 420 Tour and a movie now streaming on multiple platforms.
Awards & selections
One great
festival run.
Every laurel and selection is part of the movie's history—from the Best Feature win to the trailer awards and official selections that helped carry the film beyond Eugene.
First place
Best Trailer
Wallachia International Film Festival
Official selection
Hollywood Dreamz
International Film Festival
Finalist
Film Trailer
Siren by the Sea Film Competition
Official selection
Focus International
Film Festival
Official selection
The Film Collective
Film Festival
HonorableMentionArt Film Awards
Honorable mention
Art Film Awards
Independent film recognition
The core filmmaking team
The people who
got it made.
From the first pages through production, editing and music, these four filmmakers carried central creative and production roles in bringing We Need Rent Money to the screen.
Director · Producer · Co-writer
Blake Laitner
Executive Producer
Mort Laitner
Director of Photography · Camera · Editor
Jeremy Ferguson
Co-writer · Composer · Sanders
Sampson Ray Simon
The full crew also includes the boom operators, lighting team, editors, composers, artists and production partners whose work lives throughout the film.
Meet the complete crew