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Fist of the Wasteland

A desert wanderer embarks on a daunting quest through a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with dinosaurs, exploding robot snakes, insane freaks, and an empire of bandits who worship the distorted memory of Amazon.com. Using mystical karate skills gained from a DVD infomercial, he fights and survives to achieve his ultimate goal of rebooting humanity.

**NOTE** All music in this film is original score by Philip Kreyche.

  • Von Bilka
    Director
    Galaxy Lords
  • Dan Underhill
    Writer
    Galaxy Lords
  • Von Bilka
    Writer
    Galaxy Lords
  • Lance Allen
    Key Cast
    ""Fist of the Wasteland""
    CONAN (TBS)
  • Jason Ritchey
    Key Cast
    "Puke"
  • Kristen Hodges
    Key Cast
    "The Techno Priestess"
  • Von Bilka
    Key Cast
    "Rich Cougar"
    Galaxy Lords
  • Dan Underhill
    Key Cast
    "Big Frank / Insane Freakers"
    Galaxy Lords
  • Ojay Allen
    Key Cast
    "Big Buford"
  • Steven Cergizan
    Key Cast
    "Wasteland Peasant #1"
    Galaxy Lords
  • Dave Petersen Jr
    Key Cast
    "Kornwallis"
    Galaxy Lords
  • Dave Petersen Jr
    Visual Effects
    Galaxy Lords
  • Philip Kreyche
    Original Score
    Galaxy Lords
  • Dan Underhill
    Assistant Director
    Galaxy Lords
  • Daniel Kolodziej
    Camera Assistant + Line Producer
  • Garrett Schultz
    Sound Mixing and Recording
    Galaxy Lords, Hello from the Magic Tavern
  • David Cergizan
    Production Assistants
    Galaxy Lords
  • Harriet Mishoulam
    Production Assistants
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes 5 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Von Bilka

Von Bilka is a Chicago-based filmmaker who upon completing his first feature film, GALAXY LORDS, embarked on his next project titled FIST OF THE WASTELAND. Raised in Indiana, Von graduated from Toronto Film School- winning awards for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction at that school's festival for his debut short film The Man Machine.

Von's previous works all share a common theme of telling stories in a visually entertaining manner. His range of inspiration includes 70s/80s B-movies, 60s psychedelia, and even 90s computer games. He co-founded the production company Champions of the Cosmos, and continues to produce both narrative and commercial content in a manner that keeps true to his inspirations.

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Director Statement

FIST OF THE WASTELAND is an over the top Sci-Fi adventure film that combines aspects of Kung Fu, Western, and Fantasy films as well as 90s live-action kids shows. Our goal was to use the massive dunes along Lake Michigan near Chicago to create a desolate apocalyptic world in which to set our bizarre adventure tale.

Our lead, played by comedian Lance Allen, embarks on a journey to "reboot humanity" with a magical item known as Mother Board. Using mystical karate powers gained through watching a DVD infomercial, he fights his way through a desert wasteland filled with dinosaurs, exploding robot snakes, nunchuk-wielding desert freaks, and an empire of bandits who worship the distorted memory of Amazon.com.

As fate would have it, COVID struck right in the middle of production, so the team utilized our time apart in quarantine to develop and strengthen the remaining elements of the script and get a head start on the large amount of VFX work. Once it was safe to do so, we returned to the heat of the dunes to continue filming with a skeleton crew.

The journey of making Fist of the Wasteland was not at all what I expected, but after many days lugging gear and snacks across scorching hot sand, what we've ended up creating is a thoroughly entertaining film that reflects our teams vision. After the trials and tribulations of the pandemic, I am just beside myself with joy to finally be able to share the first part of the Fist of the Wasteland journey with everyone.

-Von Bilka