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 drops to the floor. People like this will rarely succeed as filmmakers.
Who Else Wants To Make A Movie?
Here is the secret to making a movie…
Your ability to get a movie made, seen and sold relies solely on YOUR persistence. Your goal is to keep going when things get tough. You must do everything in your power to prove to the universe that you want a career making movies, bad. You owe the world your vision, but it is YOU who must to bring your vision to life.
Desire and ambition is not enough. You have to take action! Nobody will do it for you.
Stop asking permission to make your movie!
After making several short films I had established a pretty good network of creative collaborators. Every time we won a film festival, we would send out various query letters to agents and managers and producers… Some responded with a kind word or two. Most ignored us. None of them signed us.
Then we asked the most important question: Given the resources that we have right now, what is the movie we can make this year?
This changed everything. We made our first feature, a silly zombie movie. The movie garnered buzz and got us into the feature club. And because I knew how to market on the internet, we successfully self-distributed. Our writer scored an agent. Several of the cast and crew went on to do cool stuff, including me.
In the years since, I’ve realized that successful filmmakers live by this mantra: “If it is meant to be, it is up to me.” And you to must take on this belief system if you are ever to become successful. Do not be lazy. Lazy people are not successful. Do not make movies for the money. There are easier ways to make money. But if you want to succeed as a filmmaker, do it because nothing else excites you.
If you want more information on how to take action and get your movie made this year, I encourage you to check out my make your movie now, system. There are three modules – screewriting, film finance and film distribution. (And for the record, it is NOT the old, outdated stuff you’ve seen a gazillion times.)
About Jason Brubaker
Jason Brubaker is a Hollywood based Independent Motion Picture Producer and an expert in Video On Demand distribution. He is focused on helping YOU make, market and sell movies more easily by growing your fan base, building buzz and creating community around your title. He is also available for speaking engagements.
Jason,
Super encouraging to read this post.
Have been taking a lot of “action” with little to mild success…and that has gotten me into a little bit of a slump…but as you so well put it…it doesn’t matter since nothing else excites me.
Kind regards, from Cape Town, South Africa.