If you want to make movies, you need filmmaking persistence. There’s really no way around it. Things are going to go wrong. Financing will fall through. An actor might drop out. A director might leave. A deal you thought was done suddenly isn’t done. The question is: what do you do next?
I have something I call The Ant Theory, and I’ve applied it to my filmmaking career and my life for years. It’s really simple. When something knocks down what you’ve built, you don’t spend all your time thinking about why it happened. You start rebuilding.
What Is the Ant Theory?
The idea came from a joke by comedian Brian Regan. He talked about watching ants build an anthill when he was a kid. They’d carry little pieces of dirt around and slowly build this hill. Then he’d swipe his hand across it and knock the whole thing down.
The funny part was that the ants didn’t stop and complain. There was no moment where they looked up and said, “Come on! What did you do that for?” They just immediately started rebuilding.
I remember hearing that joke and thinking: That’s filmmaking.
Filmmaking Persistence Means You Keep Rebuilding
If you’ve been in the movie business long enough, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You think you have the financing for your movie, and suddenly the investor disappears. You have an actor attached, and then they get another job. You have a location, and you lose it. You have distribution lined up, and something changes.
You have two choices. You can pull the covers over your head, stay in bed for two weeks and think about how unfair it is. Or you can say, “Okay. That happened. What do I have to do now?”
That second choice is the Ant Theory.
Stop Thinking About the Setback and Take Action
One of the biggest things I’ve learned is not to spend too much time emotionally reacting to every setback. That doesn’t mean you don’t care. Of course you care. But sitting around thinking about the problem doesn’t get your movie made.
Instead, I try to take action in a different direction. Financing fell through? Okay, who else can I call? An actor dropped out? Who’s next on the list? A deal disappeared? Where else can I take the movie?
You keep moving.
Rejection Is Part of the Film Business
This is especially important if you’re an actor. Rejection is literally part of your life. You’d better get used to it because you’re going to hear “no” a lot more than you hear “yes.”
It’s the same thing with producing. Making a movie can feel like pushing a giant rock up a hill. Sometimes you get almost to the top, and the rock rolls all the way back down.
What do you do?
Next rock.
You find another way. You make another call. You send another email. You take another meeting. You keep going.
Filmmaking Persistence Is About What You Do Next
The Ant Theory isn’t really about positive thinking. I’m not saying you should sit there telling yourself everything is wonderful when it isn’t.
It’s much more practical than that.
Something happened. Now what do you have to do?
That’s it.
When you start looking at setbacks this way, you spend less time tossing things around in your head. You stop wasting energy thinking about what should have happened. Instead, you focus on what you can actually control.
Keep Moving Forward
I’ve found that taking action is one of the best ways to deal with the ups and downs of this business. You’re always trying to move in a direction that can help you.
Your anthill gets knocked down? Start rebuilding.
Your rock rolls back down the hill? Find the next rock.
Your plan falls apart? Make another plan.
You don’t have to love rejection. You don’t have to pretend setbacks don’t bother you. But you do have to keep moving.
That’s the Ant Theory.
And if you want to make movies, filmmaking persistence might be one of the most important skills you can develop. Keep reacting. Keep rebuilding. Keep taking action.
Eventually, you give yourself a much better chance to succeed.
