Chris Bouchard directs a crew of volunteers making The Hunt for Gollum, a Lord of the Rings fan film shot on a budget under $5,000. This making-of documentary follows the cast and crew through the practical problems of building Middle-earth without a studio budget: costumes sewn by hand, forest locations standing in for Tolkien's landscapes, and effects work done on donated time. Interviews with Bouchard and his collaborators cover why they chose to build the story from Tolkien's appendices rather than invent new plot, treating the project as a homage rather than a parody or cash-in. The film shows fight choreography rehearsals, weapon and prop construction, and the editing process that turned scattered weekend shoots into a continuous 40-minute narrative. It works as a case study in no-budget filmmaking as much as a tribute to the source material, with the crew candid about what corners had to be cut and what they refused to compromise on.