Armed with $500 and access to a studio full of equipment, Federico Alvarez a commercial director from Montevideo (“Uruguay… small country between Argentina and Brasil”) created “Ataque de Panico!” (Panic Attack), an amazing robot invasion of Montevideo. And then landed a $30 million contract with Ghost House Pictures. Apparently the trailer was based on this work, also good, but not quite the same level of drama.
Now the $500 might be a little mis-leading (pro-bono actors, access to equipment, no charge for post-production time, etc) but still. Awesome.