Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Hundreds of Beavers?

Directed by Mike Cheslik, with Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski leading the cast, Hundreds of Beavers was produced by SRH with a confirmed budget of $150,000, placing it in the ultra-low-budget category for comedy films.

At $150,000, Hundreds of Beavers was produced on a lean budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $375,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• The Seventh Seal (1957): Budget $150,000 | Gross $311,212 → ROI: 107% • Kaili Blues (2016): Budget $150,000 | Gross $646 → ROI: -100% • Bad Taste (1987): Budget $150,000 | Gross N/A • Chungking Express (1994): Budget $160,000 | Gross N/A • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): Budget $140,000 | Gross $30,922,680 → ROI: 21988%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Talent Salaries & Producing Deals Established comedic talent can command $15–20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals. Comedy ensembles multiply this cost across several well-known performers.

▸ Production & Location Filming While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.

▸ Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum. Studios typically spend 50–100% of the production budget on marketing, with comedy trailers and social media campaigns being particularly expensive.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski, Wes Tank, Luis Rico Key roles: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews as Jean Kayak; Olivia Graves as The Furrier; Doug Mancheski as The Merchant; Wes Tank as The Master Fur Trapper

DIRECTOR: Mike Cheslik CINEMATOGRAPHY: Quinn Hester MUSIC: Chris Ryan EDITING: Mike Cheslik PRODUCTION: SRH FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

Hundreds of Beavers earned $748,356 domestically and $519,639 internationally, for a worldwide total of $1,267,995. Revenue was split 59% domestic / 41% international.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Hundreds of Beavers needed approximately $375,000 to break even. The film surpassed this threshold by $892,995.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $1,267,995 Budget: $150,000 Net: $1,117,995 ROI: 745.3%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Highly Profitable

Hundreds of Beavers was a clear financial success, generating $1,267,995 worldwide against a $150,000 production budget — a 745% ROI. After estimated marketing costs, the film still delivered substantial profit to SRH.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

The outsized success of Hundreds of Beavers likely influenced studio greenlight decisions for similar comedy projects.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Post-Production

The film was shot in black-and-white and had a budget of $150,000. Initial fundraising was sufficient to film the first act, which was shot over the course of three to four weeks. This footage was then shown to other investors, whose financing allowed the remainder of the film to be shot. It was filmed over the course of twelve weeks during the winter of 2019–2020. The film's six-person crew used a Panasonic GH5 at a video resolution of 1080p. Nine weeks of filming was done in Stephenson, Michigan, and the northern Wisconsin towns of Manitowish Waters, Pembine, and Superior. The crew stayed at a cabin in Manitowish Waters.

The beaver suits were purchased online from a Chinese mascot website, with the teeth modified by the filmmakers. Eric West, Daniel Long, Jay Brown, Elle Schultz and Mike Wesolowski, among others, wore the beaver costumes. Jon Truei was the fight choreographer. Over 1,500 visual effects were made using Adobe After Effects. Editing and post-production took two years to complete. Tews's father Wayne composed and performed songs for the film. Sound designer Bobb Barito used wooden objects including kazoos and clapper toys for the sounds in the film and used audio distortion for scenes including violence as he felt that "Violence sounds funniest when it's really distorted".

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 23 wins & 23 nominations total

CRITICAL RECEPTION

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 108 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Sustaining a zany premise with stylistic bravura and inspired gags, Hundreds of Beavers is a comedic gem that gives a ." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 16 critics.

Dennis Harvey, writing for Variety, praised the film's editing for maximizing the effectiveness of its gags, and praised the soundtrack and the film's visual imagination for an independent film that maintains a consistent pace. Peter Bradshaw, who gave the film four out of five stars in The Guardian, praised the "sheer sustained silliness" and the "film's absolute dedication to gag productivity". Nick Schager, writing for The Daily Beast, declared the film "a marvel of slapstick invention" and "an overstuffed live-action homage to the golden age of animation". It received an 8 out of 10 review from FilmInk.

Pete Volk, writing for Polygon, praised the film's visuals despite its small budget as it "nevertheless looks better than many modern blockbuster productions". Vulture awarded it Best Stunt in a Non-Action Film for the brawl in which Jean frees himself from his captors. Matt Zoller Seitz, who gave the film a perfect four stars in his RogerEbert.com review and later listed it as the fourth best film of the year, compared its low-budget filmmaking style to Eraserhead (1977), El Mariachi (1992), and the films of Wes Anderson. Nick De Semlyen, giving the film four out of five stars in Empire, compared the film's "wacky wavelength and pure energy" to the early work of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. Daniel Scheinert praised the film, stating that it "is the key to making theatres fun, and is the future of cinema".

Following the film's wide release on streaming in 2024, Hundreds of Beavers was listed as the 3rd best film by The A.V. Club, and among the ten best films by the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.