Filmmakers need an audience. Without an audience, you have no business. Many filmmakers ignore this part of the process. And let’s be honest, building an audience sounds a lot less sexy than actually making the movie. But here is the deal. Traditional film distribution once revolved around shipping physical product. There were fixed costs and [...]
Crowdfunding has become a successful strategy for filmmakers to raise money to make their movies. If you were paying attention, you probably noticed that the 2013 Oscar ceremony awarded two films that benefited from Crowdfunding. With this I believe we can finally say that Hollywood has jumped on the crowdfunding bandwagon. In March 2011, Andrew [...]
As a filmmaker, taking action is everything. But sometimes this is easy to say, but tough to execute. Over the past two weeks, I have been getting a bunch of emails from Hollywood hopefuls who want to make movies or write screenplays or do something. But for some reason – (insert idiotic excuse here) – [...]
Whenever I give talks on modern moviemaking, there is invariably someone in the audience who asks if I would personally produce his or her brilliant idea into a movie. In answering this question, I have to ask why the person wants to make movies? “Because I want to be famous.” At this point my jaw [...]
Whenever I give talks on filmmaking, one of the questions I get from the audience is how to become a successful filmmaker. The answer to this question is simply another question. While each filmmaker defines success differently, one thing is certain – in order to become a success you must make movies. And in order [...]
As a filmmaker, your audience is your business. Without an audience you have no business. Given the current distribution paradigm shift, YOU are now responsible for sourcing your audience. And while I do not think any filmmaker would disagree that things are changing – the biggest challenge is figuring out how to find success. While [...]
