PantherNOW: FIU alumnus Gabriel Rhenals showcases new film 'Death Cleaning' recorded on a $55 camcorder

(This version of the article has been edited for greater clarity.)

By Cosette Lipscomb, PantherNOW writer

Art can be expressed in many different forms but all serve one purpose: to inspire.

Gabriel Rhenals, a Florida International University alumni, is a local, award-winning filmmaker who writes, produces, directs, shoots and edits his own films.

Rhenals just released his third feature film, titled Death Cleaning, available on Amazon, YouTube, and Tubi.

Death Cleaning is a drama-comedy that follows a senator’s daughter that was sent to a rehab clinic, which was filmed and then later unearthed by a fleet of sentient robots who are trying to preserve the history of the human race; all of which was shot on a $55 HD camcorder.

The film also deals with themes of drug abuse, recovery, and institutionalization, which can be seen through its setting and use of cinematography.

As to not spoil the film, Rhenals did not elaborate more on its contents, making sure that viewers were truly immersed in the plot when viewing it for the first time.

While working on this movie, Rhenals remarked on how simple tech is effective in making a movie.

“[I] wanted to stress the fact that you don’t need the big guns to make a movie,” Rhenals said.

With a small budget and a solid plan, Rhenals was able to film the movie in the span of 13 days.

“Filmmaking is constant problem-solving,” said Rhenals. “There’s no other crew members, by the way, it’s just me working with all the actors and coordinating everything.”

Rhenals described the challenges of life and filmmaking, and how the two can affect each other. “Life is sometimes not quite as defined and things can easily go off the rails,” said Rhenals.

“And there were times where it was very tense. You’re finishing with some actors, where you’re not quite done yet. And more actors are coming in, and you have to let them know where they have to go, what they have to do and how they prepare for what’s coming up,” said Rhenals.

Another setback to the production was the Screen Actors Guild strikes that took place back in 2023.

Rhenals stated that, “There was one actress that I did employ on Death Cleaning, who was a SAG actress, and I had to do a little bit of bureaucratic work to get the production approved as a micro-budget SAG production in order to secure her involvement.”

Finding that work-life balance was initially a struggle, but Rhenals was soon able to overcome that.

“[Work-life balance] was a bit difficult. But as I matured and grew, I realized that I had the ability to balance the two in a more healthy, dually productive way”.

In total, Death Cleaning took many months of writing, editing, production and filming in order for Rhenals to have a product he was happy with.

Rhenals described the thrill of film making when reminiscing on his favorite moments.

“When you have the footage at your fingertips and you’re about to edit; that is the zenith and most joyful part of the filmmaking process for me.”

Rhenals also stated that he is "ecstatic when, after a good day of shooting, I come back home to capture and log my footage…”

At an early age, Rhenals always knew that he wanted to become a filmmaker.

With his dad's camcorder and something called a FireWire card, Rhenals began making his own films.

“That little bit of technology, that little FireWire card that you insert into your computer and allows you to capture footage from your camcorder for editing; that changed my life,” said Rhenals.

When describing his early years in filmmaking, Rhenals has always been very enthusiastic about the entirety of the filmmaking process.

"When I first got into filmmaking I treated it professionally; even at that age. I knew I wanted to take this very seriously - storyboarding, writing scripts, recruiting actors.”

Rhenals’ time at FIU allowed him to focus all of his time on writing.

“Most of the time I was writing or, if I wasn’t writing, I was actively producing a short film,” said Rhenals.

However, writing did not always come easy for Rhenals but during his time at FIU, he made sure to maintain a consistent schedule.

“I was always grappling with writing which, to me, is like 99% of the work done in filmmaking,” said Rhenals.

“When I was young, I would struggle to keep up a habit of writing and be able to craft scripts that I was confident enough in to get out into the wild with a camera and some actors to actually execute on.”

However, his work ethic prevailed, allowing him to graduate in 2016 from the Communication Arts program as a cum laude graduate; maintaining a 4.0 GPA over 16 courses.

Rhenals’ book 20 Years a Filmmaker is also available in the Steven and Dorothea Green Library, alongside one of his father’s papers.

“I didn’t even know it was the case until I ran a search maybe a year or two ago and saw that my dad had a paper of his available in the Green Library collection,” said Rhenals.

Rhenals continues to plan on working on his own films in Miami.

Previous short films by Rhenals such as The Promotion and Leo’s Love Letter have won him many awards at the annual Miami short Film Festival and other local events.

When asked for any advice to young creatives around the world, he said:

“If you love it, you’ll find the time… Just do it.”