Patton Oswalt and James Ward Byrkit get ready to discuss the Coherence effect at SXSW 2023 Credit: Photo by Jana Birchum

In September of 2013, a low budget sci-fi movie called Coherence premiered at Fantastic Fest. Now, nearly ten years later, that little film that could has a pool of dedicated fans.

Some of those fans attended Sunday’s SXSW panel – The COHERENCE Effect: Manifesting Shatter Belt – hosted by Patton Oswalt to hear director James Ward Byrkit discuss his film, and his follow up television project that has been ten years in the making, Shatter Belt.

It’s incredible to see a film flourish over time, especially one with such a fascinating backstory. Byrkit made Coherence on a dime, with an insanely low budget that would be the kiss of death for most sci-fi films. But Byrkit had a vision, and armed with a camera and some incredible friends, he made his dream come true of making a feature.

“You can move a lot faster if I get rid of the crew and the script,” Byrkit laughed off during his panel. Coherence notoriously didn’t have an in-depth script, and at the beginning of each scene Byrkit handed his actors a note card that said what he needed them to do, but the rest was improv. It almost feels impossible for a movie with such high concept to do, but this method somehow clicked for Coherence. “Dialogue doesn’t matter if your story is perfect,” Byrkit mused.

People crave the hunt just as much as they crave the apocalypse. People want to have the world ending but they also want to be able to see patterns and connect signs along the way. This is what Coherence combines so well. “We are pattern seeking computers, hoping for something,” Byrkit noted.

In addition to reminiscing over Coherence, Byrkit’s panel also discussed his latest project, Shatter Belt, which premieres today at SXSW. Similar to how he created Coherence, Byrkit, shot Shatter Belt on a low budget, with minimal crew during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Like stone soup – you say you’re going to make it and then it all comes together,” he said, and now here he is, a decade later sitting on the stage at one of the biggest festivals in the world, talking about how an incredible film he made in the past taught him how to find ways to create even with the smallest amount of resources.

The COHERENCE Effect: Manifesting Shatter Belt

Creating Film & TV Track

Sun 12, 4pm, Austin Convention Center

Catch up with all of The Austin Chronicle‘s SXSW 2023 coverage.

This article appears in March 10 • 2023.

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