This Filmmaker Spent a Studio's Promotional Video Budget on Typhoon Relief

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When 20th Century Fox approached filmmaker Casey Neistat to make a promotional video for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Neistat had a proposal: Let him use that budget to help victims of typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6000 people when it made landfall in November.

"Mitty is a movie about chasing a dream and they wanted me to make a movie about chasing a dream," Neistat writes on his Youtube channel. "I am a big dreamer but at that time only one thing came to mind; if i could do anything in the world right now what would it be? That's to help the victims of the typhoon."

Fox went for it, and Neistat released the result, an incredibly moving 7-minute film, today.

"It was complicated and at first improbable but with the help of an extremely loving group of locals, all who were total strangers, we were able to stretch the production budget really far," Neistat writes. "Beyond the food distributed in the video we also worked with a local nurse and purchased a lot of medicine and medical supplies, as well as providing tools to village leaders to be shared within the village and aid in the rebuilding process. ... Big thank you to Fox and Ben Stiller for not freaking the f*** out when they saw what i did with their money."

Neistat has directed shorts for Nike and Mercedes-Benz and posts frequently to his YouTube channel, where he makes films on everything from just when you're supposed to use the emergency brake in NYC's subways to the dangers faced by people using bike lanes, and much, much more.

To donate to typhoon relief, click here.