TW Hansen first saw “American Movie” in 2000. Or maybe it was 2001 — he’s not entirely sure.
When asked for a rough estimate of how many times he’s seen the documentary, the best he can offer is between a “dozen and two dozen times.”
“Not enough to be obsessive, but enough to keep it as a regular presence in my life,” Hansen said.
So naturally, he decided to see it again, this time in January 2025 at Milwaukee’s Oriental Theatre.
It still drew a packed house, even 25 years after its release.
The poster for “American Movie,” which came out in 1999. The documentary about the making of the movie “Coven” was filmed in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and around the Milwaukee area. Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film
“There’s so much radiant love, against the odds, on screen in it,” Hansen said. “I think that’s its lasting quality. It just wants to live in a world that doesn’t really seem to want anything to live.”
“American Movie” tells the story of Mark Borchardt of Menomonee Falls and his efforts around the Milwaukee area to make “Coven,” the next great American horror film. Directed by Chris Smith, “American Movie” has been praised by critics and audiences alike. The cult classic also won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
The cast of “Coven” poses for a photo. “Coven” is a horror film written by Mark Borchardt, back row. Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film
For Hansen — a native of Delavan — the story of an aspiring filmmaker from Menomonee Falls hit home when he first saw it, maybe because he saw a little bit of himself in Borchardt.
“It hit me at exactly that right time in my life, to where, this is genius,” Hansen said.
“American Movie” is hilarious, captivating and mesmerizing. It’s also a time capsule of life in Wisconsin and the Midwest in the 1990s.
But maybe the film’s most lasting legacy is its impact on numerous creatives and artists who have been inspired by Borchardt.
That includes Hansen, who moved to Milwaukee to attend film school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee — the same college Borchardt attended — shortly after he saw the movie.
“Documentary has specifically an inherent unpredictability that is richer and weirder than anything you can sit down and write,” Hansen said. “I am drawn to that like a moth to a flame.”
Hansen started filming while in college, and he hasn’t stopped since. He attributes that to Borchardt’s stop-at-nothing attitude.
“There’s this dogged determination towards bringing your own particular vision, regardless of the circumstances and regardless of the odds,” Hansen said about Borchardt.
“And who doesn’t love that kind of classic Midwestern underdog story,” he added.
TW Hansen works as a used car salesman at Wilde Toyota in West Allis, Wisconsin. Evan Casey/WPR
Max Hey, a Milwaukee native, first saw “American Movie” when he was 10 years old. He’s been involved in Milwaukee’s film scene for several years, but he just completed his documentary “Now! More! Yes!” The documentary follows around Hansen much like “American Movie” follows around Borchardt.
“I mean, bottom line is, if ‘American Movie’ didn’t exist, I highly doubt I would have thought to start making this movie,” Hey said.
“Now! More! Yes!” focuses on Hansen — a used car salesman — and his efforts to find and buy vehicles for films and TV shows. The documentary premiered at the South by Southwest festival in March 2025.
“I don’t think there’s any way to tell TW’s story without the connection to ‘American Movie,'” Hey said.
Max Hey, left, interviews a subject for his documentary “Now! More! Yes!” Photo courtesy of Chris James Thompson
Hey has known Borchardt for several years — he and many others in the Milwaukee area consider him a mentor.
Borchardt is an integral part of Milwaukee’s filmmaker community, Hey said. He’s also appeared in several movies after he finished “Coven.”
“American Movie” has also had a profound impact on Eric Halverson. After he had dropped out of college in 2011, Halverson decided to finally check out the documentary after a friend recommended it to him.
“I was just mind blown, because … when I was a kid, I grew up on that side of town [Menomonee Falls],” Halverson said.
“When I saw the documentary and saw how Mark [Borchardt] saw life and attacked things and got through things, his mentality — I’m like, man, that’s inspiring,” he added. “It just gave me hope and helped me out.”
These days, Halverson is a freelance photographer and videographer in the Milwaukee area.
“That movie changed my life,” he said. “If it wasn’t for that documentary, that movie, and hearing about that back in 2011, I’d probably still be working in bars, because I wouldn’t have had that push to create on that level and push through the everyday stuff, push through the stuff that everyone else gets caught up in.”
Eric Halverson, left, considers Mark Borchardt, right, a mentor and friend. Photo courtesy of Eric Halverson
Jack Packard saw the film shortly after it was released in 1999.
“‘American Movie’ is a yearly rewatch for me,” Packard said. “Just to get my energy up, to get my creative juices flowing.”
“I think this transcends documentary and it’s just good storytelling,” he added.
At the time he first saw it, Packard said he was a butcher in the Milwaukee area.
“I think it’s a rare movie that pictures the weekend warrior, the working class creative,” Packard said.
“On my weekends, I would make stupid videos, just like Mark [Borchardt] was doing on “American Movie,'” Packard said.
Packard now makes YouTube videos full-time with Red Letter Media and Second Wind Media.
He believes “American Movie” helped influence a generation of other creative filmmakers to shoot and make their own independent films and videos. Packard said it influenced him personally, as well.
“I’m going to say I have a career because ‘American Movie’ helped inspire me, absolutely,” Packard said.
Borchardt didn’t agree to be interviewed for this story. But in social media posts, he’s said he’s working on “Coven 2.”
“As for interviews, there has to be some work accomplished in the next few years and we can discuss that when it happens,” Borchardt wrote in an email.
Mark Borchardt, right, poses for a photo with his uncle, Bill Borchardt, who also appears in “American Movie.” Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film.
