Robert Rodriguez’s low budget horror film Red 11 gets Tubi release

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Early last year, we learned that filmmaker Robert Rodriguez decided to return to his roots by making a movie for $7000, the same budget he had to work with on his breakthrough feature EL MARIACHI almost thirty years ago. Making this project even more interesting to us here at Arrow in the Head was the fact that this new $7000 movie, titled RED 11, was a horror film inspired by the medical experiments Rodriguez subjected himself to in an effort to raise the $7000 for EL MARIACHI.

Written by Rodriguez and his son Racer from a script first put together in the '90s, RED 11 is set 

in the dark, twisted world of legal drug research. College kids turn lab rats to make quick money. The pic’s protagonist Rob (who is assigned the color and number Red 11), is trying to buy his way out of a huge debt to the tune of $7K. But things get surreal when he’s not sure if the hospital is really trying to kill him, or if it’s side effects from the experimental drugs.

RED 11 had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival last March, and for ten months we've been anxiously waiting to hear some distribution news. That news has now arrived: RED 11 and its accompanying documentary The Robert Rodriguez Film School will be released through the free streaming service Tubi. Viewers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will be able to watch RED 11 and the docuseries on Tubi this summer.

Consisting of six 30 minute episodes, The Robert Rodriguez Film School

explains the director’s guerrilla filmmaking process, while speaking to filmmakers and entrepreneurs alike on overcoming the perceived limitations of time, budget and other variables.

Rodriguez had this to say about the Tubi deal: 

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Tubi to deliver Red 11 and its accompanying Film School docuseries free of charge and easily accessible to all audiences. I made both Red 11 and the Film School series to celebrate the 25th anniversary of El Mariachi, and this project shows truly actionable methods using my no crew, micro budget filmmaking style that will inspire others to make their own films and have their voices be heard. These are both dream projects of mine, an entertaining culmination of ideas and ruminations on the creative process that also highlight the heightened sense of spirituality that comes from dancing with creativity when there is an absence of the usual financial resources. In other words, ‘low budget fun.’"

Tubi's Adam Lewinson added, 

Red 11 and the story of how Robert made this movie is inspirational to up-and-coming filmmakers. We are thrilled to amplify Robert’s message to the next generation of filmmakers as a part of our commitment to helping independent films find a wide audience."

There are more than 20,000 movies and TV shows on Tubi, more than double the size of Netflix's selection. And it's free. So it's pretty cool, and I'm ready to check out RED 11 and The Robert Rodriguez Film School as soon as they're made available on the service.