HBO’s cameras caught all the infighting,

name-calling

and backstabbing.

PORTLAND (AP) – Two Maine filmmakers who were portrayed negatively on “Project Greenlight” this summer say they didn’t even finish watching the TV series.

Instead, Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle began focusing on the theatrical release of the film the HBO series chronicled them creating. “The Battle of Shaker Heights” was released Friday to theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

To Rankin and Potelle, who made films in Portland for 10 years before heading to Los Angeles, the film is all that really matters.

If “The Battle of Shaker Heights” earns critical praise or box office success, or helps land them other major movie jobs, then being made to look silly on national television will have been a small price to pay.

“The movie will be our redemption,” Rankin said from Los Angeles. “We wished the show showed more of the fun we did have making (the film). But I think through this we’ve learned to have thicker skin.”

Rankin and Potelle, both 30, agreed to be in the HBO documentary as a condition of winning a contest, set up by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, for aspiring filmmakers.

They were filmed 12 to 13 hours a day, and they knew there was a good chance they’d look like novices in the series.

HBO’s cameras caught the infighting, name-calling and backstabbing that is probably common to most film sets but is rarely seen in great detail in American living rooms.

But the pair did get to direct a $2 million film, and all the attendant publicity should help open doors regardless of whether the movie is a hit.

So far, “The Battle of Shaker Heights” is getting mixed reviews. Leonard Maltin called it “fresh and original.” Elvis Mitchell in The New York Times said it was neither an “outright failure” nor a “sparkling triumph.”

The story is set in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and focuses on a teenage boy, played by Shia LaBeouf, who is obsessed with battle scene re-enactments.

“It’s sort of a charming coming-of-age movie,” Potelle said. “It’s a great showcase for Shia. He’s in every scene and gets to do everything from drama to physical comedy.”

Potelle and Rankin, who made a series of independent films in Portland, say they now need to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the movie and the TV series in order to make a living.

The two received a small, undisclosed lump sum for making the film, but without day jobs they are now running a little short of cash.

It’s unclear whether their film will ever be shown in theaters in their home state. So far it’s only scheduled to play in 10 cities this month, and Maine is not on the list.

“We’re trying to get a print up there, but it all depends on how the movie performs,” Potelle said.