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Step By Step Guide To Being A Successful Indie Filmmaker (with specific action steps)

“The cavalry is not coming.”

This is a phrase I‘ve heard repeated over and over again and throughout this article so will you.

The reason it’s important is because we’ve all heard the tales of the “exceptions.” You know, like that one guy who worked at the mail room and wrote his first screenplay that got bought for $5 million dollars, and then he became reborn as a cross between Spielberg and the cat from Save The Cat. Get More Info about the best acting school that is present around your neighborhood.

Right…

When they’re not telling me that story they’re telling me to just pick up a camera and do it. But if i do it, how can I make the next blockbuster, let alone make a living out of it?

The following is based almost entirely off of Mark Duplass’ SXSW Speech and our own successes making the TIFF Lightbox premiered feature I’m Okay.
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First Step: Shoot a $3 short.

Tangerine was a film that premiered at Sundance last year (2015) and it was shot on the iPhone. You know what that means?
It means there’s really no excuse to not be shooting films on the weekends with your friends.

You can make one short film every weekend with just a small group of friends. It’s not impossible. It doesn’t take much time/effort to do a one scene, or a five minute short.

And before you say it, the answer is yes: It is gonna suck.

The important thing is when you finish your shitty short, somewhere you are going to discover that you have something unique to offer and It’s important for you to share that with your friends because somewhere down the line you are going to find that you have something unique to say.

After that, you submit to 40 festivals. Expect to only get admitted to 4 of them.

Yes, that’s 1/10th.

Now after that, it’s important to personally attend festivals and meet other filmmakers in the community that you might like to work with in the future. We can’t stress the importance of going to every single festival you’ve been accepted in.

This is when you’ll be approached by an agent…

Action Step

Give yourself two minutes and then write down three ideas for your first short film short film. Don’t think too much about it. These are just ways of getting your foot in the door.

Get into the habit of thinking of an idea, and executing upon within 24 hours.

Second Step: Shoot your $1000 feature.

So what do you do now?

Write a feature script on the “available materials” school of filmmaking. Meet family and friends and ask “what do you have to offer that I can use to make this film?”
To fund this you are going to go into temp work but be warned now, the next two years are going to suck.

Here’s a good thing to note as well: there is a 30 day return policy at Home Depot.

How is this helpful?
It means you can buy lights and extension cords, shoot your movie within 30 days and everything is going to be free. Is it morale? No. Will it help you get your film made? F**k yea.

Just remember one thing… The cavalry is not coming.

No white knight is gonna swoop in and fund you all of a sudden just because you have an agent DESPITE your agent telling you other wise. Do not believe him, and go make your feature on your own regardless.

After it’s all wrapped up, get your movie in front of actors by telling your agent to send your movie to every actor on their agency.

One of them is going to be a dissatisfied B-list actor who will want to do something with you. You can capitalize on this beautifully by following the action step.

Action Step

When you meet that one B-list actor who’s frustrated with his current acting roles but likes your film, ask them this exact question: “What is the one role you never had, but you are dying to play?”

He / she will tell you. Now you keep this in mind for your next film and design it around that concept. Your agent is going to tell you not to do this next step but you are going to tell him to fuck off and…
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Third Step: Make another $1000 feature.

Your second feature is going to be a little bit better than your first AND now you have a star.

Automatically you’re going to have a value on Video on Demand (VOD) because of your B-list actor. Plus Netflix interest, etc.

This a good time to mention that a lot of indie filmmakers shy away from VOD and stick with the idea of having early films in theaters.  Don’t be an idiot.

VOD is going to be the new home of indie features in the future so best to start using it now. The death of the middle class of film has been reborn on TV.

A series might be in your future.

At this point, your agent will tell you that you can get meetings with important people and, even though they sound so sure, chances are that nothing is going to happen when you meet them. Why? Because…

The cavalry is not coming.

This is a good time to realize that perhaps you haven’t really made a feature. Maybe what you made is a pilot.

Remember what I said about VOD? Here is an opportunity to be your own studio by licensing your show out to those small networks who are desperate for new content like yours.

Action Step

Write down three ways you can see your feature be elongated into a franchisable series.

By doing this before you get the calls from network, you have an idea of how to get it through from the writing phase to the pitching phase.

So now what?

Fourth Step: Make your series.

At this point, you are going to start making some real money and your friends who supported you are going to want to make something and now you can be an executive by throwing some money into their projects.

Feels good doesn’t it?

Now your agent is going to be beating down your door and tell you that this time, for real, the cavalry is coming. And you know what? Your agent is probably right (for once).

But chances are they are going to not want to make the type of movies you like which sucks.

So then what can you do?
You are going sit down and have a look at your career and all the things you did. You waited for the cavalry all this time and now they don’t even want to make what you want to make.

But then it’ll hit you.

Who gives a fuck about the cavalry because you are the cavalry.

All the friends you made will lift you up when you are down and you will lift them up when they are down. And you have all the skills and money to make anything you want.

You didn’t even notice you’ve been taking the steps to become the cavalry and now you have a chance to do what you want and possibly be happy.

A combination of two things that big budget Hollywood sometimes finds itself lacking.

Action Step

Turn off your phone for 20 minutes. Sit down and really think about the next two sentences.

What are the biggest fears you have about having a career in film that you feel is blocking you from following your dreams?

You will likely find that none of them would stand in the way for you to begin taking Step One to Four outlined above.

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All these steps are a credit to Mark Duplass and our journey from shorts to feature ourselves. Mark’s a smart guy who’s done all this stuff before personally while witnessing others do it as well. It’s a proven method.

Although it did work for him, it doesn’t mean it will for sure work for you BUT these are guidelines that you can take lessons from and incorporate in your filmmaking path.

You one day can be a Mark Duplass too.

So how would you define “making it” in filmmaking mean to you? What is the one key takeaway from this Step By Step guide that you’re going to implement today? Let us know in the comments below.

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  1. How do I get funding for a trailer

    1. The question your asking is a good one, but a better one would be.. “how do I deliver CRAZY value to an investor so that they want to give me funding for a trailer?” We go in-depth on things like that in our newsletter, for free.