indiefilmTO

48 Laws Of Film: The Ultimate Guide To “Power” In The Film Industry

Curt Jaimungal
The 48 Laws Of Film

**Based on Robert Greene’s “48 Laws Of Power” almost verbatim but adapted for filmmaking (as I say in the video below).**

Is it just me, or do you feel like there’s that ever present catch-22?

You need more funding. But you need a star attached to get that funding. But you need more funding to get that star attached.

AGH!

I know how it feels. Yet there ARE some people who get success. Why!? If it’s not just luck, then what’s the difference between being great at your craft, and actually getting RESULTS?

Tomorrow’s my birthday and it marks almost two years now that I’ve become OBSESSED with results.

(My second obsession is with getting women to smell like Bounty Fresh Linen dryer sheets on dates, instead of perfume. But that’s another story.)

There are a few answers getting results in this industry, and one of them is something NO ONE discusses in an honest manner. And that is POWER.

How is it I get messages from fellow indiefilmTO students like this on a regular basis?

The above student’s dream job since she was 4 years old was to work at Disney Interactive and now (after 20+ years) she’s finally made headway in that direction after having just a ONE hour session with me.

What did we talk about? One word: power.

Both personal power, and outwards power. Today I want to show you something we’ve worked on for WEEKS. And it’s all about how to attain that power.

Click reply, and let me know ONE insight you’ve taken away from this 1 hour 20+ minute video. I can’t wait to hear from you.

– Curt

Below are the laws written out in case you can’t watch the video or need this as a reference for something. We will add a table of contents soon. Have fun and keep taking MASSIVE ACTION.

LAW 1) Never outshine the master

Quick history lesson. In the 1600s, Nicolas Fouquet (the Superintendent of Finances) was a really good friend of the King but after a while he started to act like he was larger and better than the King.

The King saw this behaviour and even though they were friends, he imprisoned Nicolas until he died.

Now what does that tell you?

As I always talk about extensively, having a mentor is one of the first steps to mastery. Success leaves clues and if you want the similar success as other people, then you want to MODEL other people who have the success you want.

However, as soon as you outshine your master, they will turn on you. Again, not everyone is like this but more people are like this than you think.

And this doesn’t just apply to the mentor mentee relationships. It’s anyone who thinks of themselves as “above” you.

I never took a screenwriting course, because I don’t agree with standard way of thinking and the three act structure, etc. (whole other story) but there was a workshop I attended once with a pretty well known screenwriter.

He was very nice to me and said “Curt you have lots of potential and you’re gonna be famous, etc” And he didn’t say that to anyone else, so it felt good. I was really flattered!

Later on when I made my first feature, I told him about my success with it. He said “I told you, you had it in you.” Then like an idiot, I said even more things about my success, almost like I was rubbing in his face (but I wasn’t, of course) but he took it as that I was “outshining” him in that moment and he became cold and stopped responding to me.

It wasn’t until I told him “Hey, it’s all thanks to you man. I couldn’t have done this without you.” that he completely changed his disposition and became friendly again.

LAW 2) Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies

There’s almost no other industry as cut-throat and filled with backstabs and betrayal than show business. I hate it and that’s why I’m gonna change it.

Now in the meantime, you have to acknowledge the way the world IS, rather than how it “should” be, until you take the ACTION necessary to MAKE it into the way it should be.

In terms of betrayals, you can think of the whole Conan vs Leno thing. You know, even Puff Daddy betrayed BIG.

One of the most powerful things you can do is turn somebody who hates you, into one of your biggest raving fans.

I know, I have students who love me (and who wouldn’t, look at my face) and that’s great but I also have a select few who hate me.

This is actually intentional, because I want to be polarizing. I WANT to speak my mind about the industry and about how I want to change it and create a new wave of entrepreneurial filmmakers, and that’s NATURALLY gonna attract the right people (you if you’re watching this) and repel the wrong people (the less ambitious, for example).

What I did though, instead of fighting with them is I befriended them (genuinely by the way) and now some of my biggest fans are former haters. I trust enemies more than I do friends because at least with enemies I know where they stand.

LAW 3) Conceal your intentions

In Shakespeare, Iago deceived and destroyed Othello by faking sincerity. He hid his true intentions and used it to backstab his friend.

A mistake a lot of amateur filmmakers make is when they meet an Exec Producer is to let them know they have this amazing script they want them to fund, and it comes across as very needy. Sometimes you need to conceal your intentions by broaching subjects delicately.

When you are VERY passionate about something, it raises suspicion. When you calm, measured, and believable, it builds more trust and your true intentions can remain hidden.

Now at indiefilmTO, I am REALLY passionate about showing filmmakers how to be entrepreneurs, and treat their film like a STARTUP and while we get people who really love us and get results from our material, we also get those people that email me and are like “Are you a scam! No one cares this much! You must be tricking people.”

If I wanted to stop having people those people hate on me, or whatever, I would tone down my passion and conceal my intentions, but I actually I am a huge fan of speaking my mind and being transparent, which is why I don’t use this particular law.

BUT I do get a minor amount of hate for it. So keep that in mind.

You can also think about when you had a crush on someone in Middle school. As soon as you told them your feelings, they were like “ewww! Get away from me.” You have to conceal your intentions until the right moment. Of course they never rejected me because I was always as handsome and charming as I am now. 🙂

Caveat, I don’t advocate this but I want you to know the game that’s being played around you, so that you can actually use it to your advantage and GET RESULTS.

Most people are using this law against YOU. They’ll conceal what the actual reasons for their success are and hide behind “well we had a really good story, and that’s why our script was made.”

Bullshit. That’s not the full picture.

Why are there thousands of fucking phenomenal scripts on the Blacklist if all it took was a good story?

LAW 4) Always say less than necessary

Again, you can tell by my rambling and rants that I don’t do this, at least not with my audience, because I want to give you all the context so you can TAKE ACTION.

And if you don’t take action, then I don’t want you watching my videos or on our email list. It’s a good filter.

But:

LAW 5) So much depends on reputation – guard it with your life!

Gangis Khan had the reputation of being very lenient to anyone who surrendered, and ruthless to those who opposed him. One of the reasons he was able to conquer a third of the world, was because a lot of people surrendered before he even arrived. His reputation preceded him.

Most of the downfalls of celebrities can be directly attributed to a loss of reputation, or a change of reputation into something negative. Think about Bill Clinton’s scandal, or Tiger Woods.

LAW 6) Court attention at all cost

In his later years, Picasso would paint every day and when he couldn’t paint great stuff he would paint garbage paintings, just for the attention. He did not want to fade into obscurity.

It’s better to be talked about negatively than to not be talked about at all.

However, this actually doesn’t apply once you’re already famous, as we know from the examples like Michael Jackson and Bill Clinton… But it DOES apply when you’re a relatively nobody. Think about the early Eminem.

In fact, there’s a Stanford Business School showed simply being talked about, whether positive OR negative, will increase the sales of an emerging artist (you) by 45%.

So how do you take advantage of this law when you’re not famous yet?

Pietro Aretino, this little Roman servant boy in the 1500s, wanted to be a famous poet so he published satirical poems making fun of the Pope’s love for a pet elephant (true story by the way). This attack made Pietro IMMEDIATELY talked about by the public.

Slanderous attacks on existing people of power works. Again, think early Eminem where he would make fun of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Keep in mind though that you should use this tactic sparingly once you’ve gotten the attention of the public, because it will become stale.

LAW 7) Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit

You would be surprised at how often certain screenwriters get the credit for dialogue, scenes, and even storylines that they never even created.

Stuff that was ghost written by a producer or even by another writer who was paid, or even things completely improvised by the actors.

This happens all the time in comedy, which is why I love Louis CK and Jerry Seinfeld, and don’t like Kevin Hart. Because Jerry and Louis write all their own stuff and have an integrity about it, while Kevin Hart has ghostwriters and he doesn’t publicly talk about it.

However, look how FAST Kevin Hart blew up. He used this law and he grew even faster than Louis, and in certain audiences he’s way more popular and makes more money.

This happens a lot in the industry where the director or the producer get a lot of glory when really it was the writer, the actors, the cinematographer, the whole team coming together. But yet the top people take the credit.

LAW 8) Make other people come to you – use bait if necessary

Otto Von Bismarck said “When I have laid bait for deer, I don’t shoot at the first doe that comes to sniff, but wait until the whole herd has gathered round.”

In other words, attract and control the situation.

Don’t get caught up in the moment and celebrate the first victory you get without thinking about the larger picture and how what you’re doing will affect that. Lottery winners are notorious for losing their money because of this.

When something doesn’t go your way, and especially when something DOES go your way, don’t react emotionally and instead think very calculated and measured so you can effectively take action.

In order to do that:

And that’s one of the main pillars of indiefilmTO, is State Control.

That is, the psychology of getting over writer’s block, depression, influencing yourself, putting yourSELF in a PEAK STATE and working at your best – even when you don’t feel like it. And we go more in depth on that in our email list.

LAW 9) Win through your actions, never through argument

In the first century AD, Mucianus was waging war and his engineer suggested that he should use a different type of boat than what they currently were using and more importantly, a different boat than Muscianus preferred.

Instead of being rewarded for being right, the engineer was sentenced to death.

We all have this tendency to be like “if I’m right, they should listen! If I’m really talented, I should be hired! If I have a great film, they should buy it!”

Yet the results don’t come from just saying that, and in fact it doesn’t even come from demonstrating it once or twice. 

LAW 10) Infection – avoid the unhappy and unlucky

We have a saying at indiefilmTO: “You are the average of the five people you hang around with most.”

If you’re around toxic people who don’t believe in you, I don’t care how hungry you are, or how DEDICATED you are… that will affect your STATE and their negativity will seep in you and hold you back.

I like to give this story of how when I was in Trinidad my uncle was catching crabs (um, that sounds slightly more dirty than I intended).

My uncle was fishing for crabs and putting them into a bucket to sell them. He had his back turned I was looking at them and there were just piles of crabs on top each other, and I was like, why don’t they just escape, it’s shallow enough for them to leave.

Then almost on queue, this one crab – one AMBITIOUS little crab – started to climb it’s way out and I was trying to warn my uncle.

He didn’t even turn around, “That’s okay Curt, watch what happens.”

And again, right on queue, the other crabs started PULLING the ambitious crab down. And then soon the ambitious crab just stopped, went in the corner, and jerked off and starting Snapchatting and putting inspiration quotes on his Instagram.

That’s what toxic friends do.

As soon as you start to get some success they’re like “Wait. You’re supposed to this person who had this previous role in this friendship. I don’t like this new dynamic so I’m gonna pull you down subtly, with my cynicism and skepticism.”

They don’t do it consciously, but that what happens, which is why it’s so important to surround yourself with FELLOW ambitious filmmakers and again, you can sign up on our email list if you want weekly encouragement, confidence and motivation from me OR just join some master mind group. I don’t care, as long as you take action:

LAW 11) Learn to keep people dependent on you

I like to say: “As soon as you become dispensable, you will be disposed of.”

So why is it that you’re not getting the clients you want, the festival awards you want, the funding you want, the distribution you want, etc.?

In large part it’s because they’re not dependent on you. What do I mean by that?

I mean, it makes no difference to a distributor to take your film versus someone else’s, or fund your film vs another, or choose you as a client vs. someone else, etc.

There’s this great book called So Good They Can’t Ignore You [not an affiliate link], and it’s all about becoming indispensable. So to sum, if you want power then:

LAW 12) Use selective honesty and generosity to disarm your victim

This is related to Law 3 and like I said before, I don’t condone either of these two since I have the belief that if you try to hide something, it will come back to bite you.

That’s why every email you get comes from me personally. I give my actual email address and my FULL NAME, Curt Jaimungal. Go look me up, I have nothing to hide. You can check my high school yearbooks, you can look at my Spyro The Dragon cheat codes from when I was 12.

Even though I don’t condone this law, I DO want you to know how it’s being used against you so you can identify it and change accordingly.

There was this guy named Lustig who went to Al Capone and asked to borrow $50,000 and said he will double it by two months or so. Al Capone thought this guy was a Con Artist but thought, “Hey if he loses my $50,000 then I can just break his legs and take his stuff.” Business as usual.

Lustig got the money and what do you think he did with it?

Nothing! He just kept it safely at home. Here’s why.

When two months came, he went to Al Capone and basically said “Sorry, my plans didn’t work out. Here’s all your money back.”

…Think about it from Capone’s point of view. Most people don’t pay back things in full, if at all, so Capone was completely thrown by this guy’s “honesty.” So much so that Capone actually GAVE him $5,000 to reward “an honest man.”

LAW 13) When asking for help, appeal to people’s self-interest – never to their mercy or gratitude

This is something that we talk about at length in our pitching course. When you’re trying to influence someone, always think about the OTHER person. Not yourself.

They don’t care if you’re broke. They don’t care if you’ve been in this industry for 8 years and just need a break. They only care about ONE thing… “What’s in it for ME.”

Here’s where most people get it wrong. It’s not always about money.

This is the common belief/trap we fall into as indie filmmakers, so we look up “how do we make a business plan?” when really, investors don’t give a shit about your business plan (actually they care way more about the team than your business model).

 ROI is not always money; but it is always self-interest.

LAW 14) Pose as a friend. Work as a spy

The mastermind who was behind Napoleon’s defeat was a guy named Charles.

Now Charles would get his opponent – in this case, Napoleon and the commanders – to talk endlessly about themselves, very rarely saying a word himself.

Why would Charles do this?

The networking adage “Get The Other Person To Talk” exists for a reason: it WORKS. People’s favorite subject is themselves.

In Napoleon’s case, what he and his commanders ended up doing was sabotaging themselves because they would reveal intricacies about their plans and strategies. Intricacies Charles would later used against them.

Again, I don’t recommend this Law at all.

In fact, I’m usually the one talking the most in conversations because I have so many things to say. And I love the sound of my voice.

I just had to tell you the raw manipulative way things are done to expose the game being played around you. And to protect you by showing you how to identify when it’s being used against you.

LAW 15) Crush your enemy totally!

Although I am RUTHLESS when it comes to taking ACTION and getting RESULTS for filmmakers but I’m not that ruthless that I want to crush someone “totally” like I’m a brown Voldemort.

Although enemies can make the best allies, some people can’t be reasoned with.

LAW 16) Use absence to increase respect and honor

In the book Caravan of Dreams, one man said to the other “Why do I not see you more often?” And the other man replied “Because the words, ‘why have you not been to see me’ are to sweeter to my ears than ‘why have you come again?’”

Now as a PA, you want to just show up ALL THE TIME and be omnipresent because you’re working your way up. But once you’ve hit a certain level, the fact that you’re not around all the time can work to your advantage.

You want to give people a chance to miss you, rather than saturate them.

This applies to your audience too. Think about the franchises and even storylines that have been oversaturated now. What was once amazing and new and innovative, is now mundane and monotonous.

This also applies to relationships, obviously, think of when you were friend-zoned because you’re “always there her.”

Takeaways:

LAW 17) Keep others in suspended terror – cultivate an air of unpredictability

Once you’re famous people just assume whatever you do is for a reason.

This can work to your advantage if you arbitrarily do things that are unpredictable.

Paul Rosenberg, this guy who bought tons of art from Picasso, wanted to buy another one of Picasso’s paintings but Picasso said (out of the blue) that he’s “NEVER working with Paul again!”

Paul was shocked and couldn’t figure out why. After a little while, Paul then offered Picasso DOUBLE of what he originally proposed for that painting.

Something similar happened with 50 Cent. Keep in mind, although 50 acts like a gangster in his videos, he’s actually very calm and collected behind the scenes.

The music execs wanted him to do songs in a certain way, and no one was listening to him meeting after meeting after meeting.

So 50 went to his office one night and told his crew to smash his own TV and break some things. Then to take pictures of it and leak it online as “50 Cent was furious after a studio meeting!”

The next meeting they had, 50 got his way.

LAW 18) Do not build fortresses to protect yourself – isolation is dangerous!

Isaac Newton was notorious for being isolated and no one knew what he was up to. He actually invented Calculus, the Theory of Gravity, and breakthroughs about Light before ANYONE else.

But he never published. He wanted it to be perfect before putting out there, so he just kept it to himself for years.

(Sound familiar? We all have this dangerous tendency with our art.)

Then, when Newton was in his old age, someone else independently came out with Calculus and he was like yo wtf bro.

Newton quickly published his work, like “I came up with that before you!” but it didn’t matter. Until he died people were saying that Newton stole from the other guy. This then happened again with his theories on light. All because he didn’t publish and kept himself isolated.

Why is it that artists are so innovative in their younger years, then in their senior they start sucking?

Why do directors fall back on the same tropes they’ve always done and make the same movie for 30 years? (*cough* Woody Allen).

LAW 19) Know who you are dealing with – do not offend the wrong person

This governor named Inalchuq once beheaded one of Gengis Khan’s messengers who came in peace by the way.

Gengis Khan responded by declaring war, killing Inalchuq’s people and pouring quote “molten silver into his eyes and ears.”

While back then, beheading someone was considered offensive, now people get just as enraged by accidentally using the wrong pronoun.

Be careful of who you offend (pray to God that it’s not a blogger).

Hollywood is known for being fickle, and relationships matter. After you’ve gotten your craft down, and your psychology is mastered, connections become your biggest bottleneck.

LAW 20) Do not commit to anyone

Alcibiades, a statesman of Athens, was honored by the Spartans and Athenians because they loved the fact that he had some clout with the Persians.

The Persians honored him because he had influence over the Greeks.

By not getting over emotional, being a MASTER of his state, he was not swayed to any one side and instead played them both off of each other.

A lot of directors and producers are screwed over by exclusivity deals and the fact that they don’t own their own IP’s. They commit to one side early and regret it later. Keep your mobility.

LAW 21) Play a sucker to catch a sucker – seem dumber than your mark

When you’re seen as too smart, people are very careful around you. By pretending to know less than you do, you disarm people who might have thought of you as a threat.

Think of all those Film Noirs where where someone is embezzling money or there’s some serial killer on the loose. Then as the detective dies he sees their face, and it’s his secretary or his wife.

We just assumed because she was a sultry woman that she knows very little, but she was playing them all along.

Now sometimes we wanna show how amazing and bright we are as artists but it can backfire, especially if you’re trying to gain power since people will have their guard up.

LAW 22) Use the surrender tactic – transform weakness into power!

The Melians were told to surrender by the Athenians and they refused, even though they were MUCH weaker. The Athenians went in and conquered them, killed the majority and sold the rest into slavery.

When a comedian’s bombing on stage, the worst thing they can do is pretend like they’re not bombing. Sure it might save some temporary ego, but the audience will turn on you like that *snaps fingers*. Believe I know, I used to do standup.

What you should do is openly acknowledge that you just bombed, like “wow that didn’t work.”  You can comment how the premise sucked, or the punchline was stupid, etc.

In other words, agree with the audience, be at their mercy temporarily, and then you can get back control.

In the film industry, sometimes people take advantage of you and treat you like a servant, especially PA’s and I’ve seen a couple storm off sets saying “THIS IS BULLSHIT, I’M NOT DOING THIS.”

And you know what?

And no one will ever hire them again. As much as we talk about standing up for yourself, and even crushing enemies…:

LAW 23) Concentrate your forces

Are you always distracted?

Jumping from your cell phone to your computer, to Facebook, to YouTube? Do you have multiple tabs open right now??

I like to operate by the concept of “Intensity x Time”. So while you can spend 4 hours writing a screenplay, if you were distracted throughout then your intensity is at like a 0.5.

Not if someone else is writing and they are FOCUSED, they have NOTHING else around them except that paper. The internet is off, their phone is on airplane mode, then they can get just as much done in an hour if their intensity is at a 2.

This also applies to your skills.

Think about what you’re really good at. Maybe it’s film AND playing sports or making music, etc. How can you combine ALL your forces into one?

Your army is strongest when combined. Maybe make a movie about a musician, or use your sports connections to get your film played at a stadium. Whatever it is, you know yourself and your skillsets better than me.

How can you concentrate your forces?

LAW 24) Play the perfect courtier

The perfect courtier holds as much power as the King yet he’s not in any danger because no one feels threatened by them. They can observe from the sidelines, while others target the highest authorities.

Do you know who Charlie Munger is? No one talks about Charlie Munger, but he’s maybe 40% if not 50% responsible for Warren Buffet’s success.

The media may criticize Warren Buffet for economic decisions or perceived shady dealings but very rarely do they talk about Charlie Munger. He gets half the wealth and power, with none of the blame.

Seinfeld was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, yet in the 90’s, Jerry got all the attention and just like anybody that gets too popular, people started criticizing Jerry for being not funny, or a hack, or how he doesn’t change his comedy act every year like Louis CK does.

Yet they would rarely talk bad about Larry, even though Larry did the same routines he’s been doing for years when he did standup, and in fact, people now credit Larry David to making the show Seinfeld great.

Don’t aim for the most visible spot. You want to be the one in the shadow that holds just as much clout, but where you can avoid being targeted.

LAW 25) Re-create yourself

Listen, your parents, your friends, the media, everyone is gonna be telling you what to do, what to wear, what NOT to wear, what shows to watch to be seen as cool, what career you should choose…

At the end of the day, this is YOUR life. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.

And more importantly, don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you about your abilities. Don’t listen if they tell you what you’re CAPABLE or NOT capable of doing. What you can and can’t do.

This world has enough pressures.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon has “The Rocking Chair Test.” When you’re 80 years old, and you’re on your rocking chair looking back, would you regret your decision to take action and follow your dreams?

When you look at things through that lens, choices become much easier. You can do whatever the fuck you want to do.

LAW 26) Keep your hands clean

In the fable The Monkey And The Cat, the Monkey grabs the paw of the Cat and uses it to fish chestnuts out of the fire. The monkey gets what he craves, without hurting himself.

Keep your hands clean. Don’t be the cat.

In fact, many Executive Producer’s stay Executive Producers because they get others to do the dirty work for them. They choose someone just outside their inner circle, someone who’s incentivized by a bone they throw.

That innocent person then goes on do the tasks that seem harmless enough, but what they’re actually doing is clearing the field for the Exec, spreading the information the Exec fed them, undermining people they don’t realize are the Exec’s rivals, advancing the Exec’s cause, dirtying their hands while the Exec remains spotless.

Again, I don’t recommend you use anyone. And when it comes to mistakes I break this last advice because I make a point of displaying my failures. To me, failures are how you grow, they’re my battle scars! I wear them with fucking pride.

LAW 27) Play on people’s need to believe to create a cult-like following

We have the need to believe. Whether in God, or that there’s good in this world, or even just belief in ourselves.


People will use this need against you.

This is how cults are formed and you can think of any marketing where you “BELONG” to a tribe (a la. Sports, the video game console war, Apple vs everything else, and even which TV Shows you defend religiously) are taking advantage of that need.

LAW 28) Enter action with boldness

Hesitation puts obstacles in your path. Boldness eliminates them.

Sarah Silverman had this joke about when someone says to her “You know.. I’m thinking about learning the–” You’re never gonna learn it.

You’re never gonna go to Egypt. You’re never gonna swim with the Whales. If you’re just “thinking” about it, then it’s likely never gonna happen.

How many times do we tell ourselves “you know, I really should lose some weight.” Or “You know I really should figure this whole distribution thing out.”

Because of this, we have a belief at indiefilmTO that you have to take MASSIVE ACTION NOW.

In fact, we never leave site of a goal without taking SOME action towards it. If I tell myself “I’m serious about losing weight…” I will register and appointment with a trainer THAT MOMENT so I commit myself.

Or when someone texts me for some script I haven’t finish, or a document I gotta write, I immediately text back “I’ll have it to you in 32 hours.” That COMMITS me to taking action and I now I get my shit done.

LAW 29) Plan all the way to the end

While it’s stupid to stick to a plan and continue in the same direction despite how things change (look up the Iraq War), you should always plan with the end in mind.

This seems paradoxical to the boldness above which is about MASSIVE ACTION NOW, but for big plans and directions, think of the end game first.

Joshua Waitzkin was the guy who the book and movie Searching For Bobby Fischer was based off of. He wasn’t taught chess in the regular way, where you memorize openings.

Instead he was taught to study the endgame. The thing most people learn LAST. But he had an advantage and even though he didn’t know openings like other kids, he knew where he was leading them.

When you’re starting a business or a film, it’s really helpful to think of the end goal and what success looks like specifically so you know where you are on the barometer.

For example, if it’s to make X amount of dollars, cool, now you have structure things in that way beforehand to allow for that. Or if it’s simply to change a certain amount of people’s lives, then cool, what factors need to be in place for you to accomplish that, etc.

LAW 30) Make your accomplishments seem effortless

One of the reason’s Louis CK’s a great comedian is that he makes his jokes seem so effortless. As if he’s coming up with them on the spot.

He’s even fumble over words, act like he’s thinking, pretend to make a mistake… All for the illusion of effortlessness. Yet no one sees the 100’s of hours painstakingly gone into developing each bit.

No one’s work seems like genius when you know what went into it.

Sometimes it’s important to talk about the work, and sometimes it’s important to make your accomplishments seem effortless.

David Copperfield does something similar. It looks so effortless and literally like “magic” but that’s because of all the work he’s done before hand.

LAW 31) Control the options – get others to play with the cards you deal

Milton Erickson, co-creator of Neuro Linguistic Programming (one of the things we teach at indiefilmTO by the way), was having a problem with some of his patients.

He teaches behaviour change but yet a lot of the patients would relapse into old habits, blame him, and then never go to see him again.

So what did he do?

He started telling new patients “You should have a relapse. You should go back to square one.” And NOW people, when faced with the choice of staying on their path or relapsing, would choose staying on their path and getting better.

People need to feel like they have some say, so present people the illusion of choice.

In fact, there’s a study done where if you ask kids “do you want your vegetables?” they’ll say “NO!” and not eat any. But if instead you ask kids “Hey do you want 1 cup of vegetables or 2 cups?” They will say “…1 cup.” and eat it!

LAW 32) Play to people’s fantasies

To an individual, there’s often no difference between fantasy and reality. If they want to believe something, they’ll believe it.

In the 1500’s, Marco Bragadino told people he could turn wood into gold. And people started to believe him, so they paid him to do it for them. What they didn’t know is that he was just taking the previous person’s gold, giving it to the next person, and so on. It was a scheme!

Even after he was exposed, people tried to do the same thing for 100’s of years. People will believe what they want to believe.

Listen, if someone is telling you that you can get for sure get distribution if you follow “this one trick.” Or if you click another “Top 10 Ways To Get An Agent Tomorrow!”… that’s just people trying to turn your wood into gold.

Caveat, even we have funding tips, but I never claim to have the answers; I have tests. Unconventional tests that have gotten results for other filmmakers and people in the startup world.

LAW 33) Discover each man’s thumbscrew!

You have to realize that all people have weaknesses. Every single human has weaknesses.

I don’t, because I’m a higher being but most people so here’s what a 17th century Cardinal did: He systematically found out the weaknesses of everyone around him, and then he made himself useful to those people (Law 11), until he no longer needed them.

He worked his way up to the King, who at the time was just a little boy.

Again, I don’t advocate taking advantage of others but I wanna expose the game being played around you.

If others sense weakness, they may exploit it.

If they sense you don’t value yourself, they’ll give you less points. If they sense you have no other investors, they’ll give you basically nothing for your script.

Just remember this: You are that little boy who is a King, and when you start to gain power, sooner or later that Cardinal will show up.

LAW 34) Be royal in your own fashion – act like a king or queen to be treated like one!

Most people don’t know this but Caesar didn’t come from royalty. In fact, he had to flee most of his teenage years because things weren’t safe. Then when he was 25 years old, he was at sea when he was captured by Cicilian Pirates.

They wanted a ransom for him of 20 Talents of Silver (which was about $600,000 by today’s standards) and Caesar laughed. He said, “I’m worth at least 50.” Mind you, Caesar was a relative nobody at this time.

The pirates agreed and while they were waiting for the ransom, Caesar had some alone time with the pirates and would converse with them like HE was the boss. He went so far as to tell the pirates to keep it down while he slept. He even told them that when he escapes he’s gonna come back and crucify each of them.

Years later when Caesar came into power, sent a fleet to sea, found the pirates and did just that.

You heard the stories of Spielberg basically claimed an empty lot at Universal Studios as his own when he just a teenager. How?

He acted like he owned it. And when people would see him around he would say “yea come to my office, lot 49” or whatever.

Yes this is the standard “fake it til you make it” advice, except that it’s not just the attitude… There’s the ACTION along with it.

As we get older, we accept limitations that are most of the time SELF IMPOSED.

Like the baby Elephant that they tie to a rod with a rope for it to stay in place, and it tries to break free but it’s too weak.

Then when it gets older, they still put the same rope over that rod, and even though the Elephant is strong enough to literally rip that rod from the ground now… it doesn’t even try. And it stays in place.

Because it remembers when it was younger it couldn’t. That belief stayed with the elephant.

So when people scoff at “fake it til you make it” I wanna ask you… who are you REALLY? Is it REALLY faking it, to act like you’re worth more than you think you’re worth? OR are you actually worth WAY more than you give yourself credit for?

LAW 35) Master the art of timing

Jerry Seinfeld was asked why he ended his show on Season 9 when it was the NUMBER ONE show on TV. Number one shows don’t just stop. It’s unheard of in Hollywood. I mean, just look at how Hollywood is only milking sequels now.

You know what he said? “Sense of timing.” He developed an unbelievably good sense of general TIMING, from doing standup, where the difference between a joke working and bombing is milliseconds.

They would say “yea but the ratings are going up and up, don’t you wanna know how high that goes?” And he said something that’s now part of my philosophy: “We won’t know how high it can get until it starts to go down.”

What we’re advocates of at indiefilmTO is the startup methodology applied to filmmaking.

When it comes to startups, you know what the number one factor that determines success is? No it’s not funding. No, it’s not even the team! It’s TIMING.

LAW 36) Disdain things you cannot have – ignoring them is the best revenge

Catherine of Aragon wouldn’t have a son with King Henry the 8th. So did he woo her daily? Did he send her txt’s saying “please baby, I love you. Come over?”

No. Instead, he ignored her and made plans to have a son with Anne Boleyn.

Ignoring somebody gives them no power over you. They can’t reason with you. They can’t influence you. They’re gone.

I used to be a dating coach and when a guy or girl would ask me how to get over their ex, I would tell them the same thing: Block them. Delete them. Never talk to them again.

If you can’t have something, you could spend all day analysing “Why did happen like this? Why did I say it like that?” You can analyse your past forever and still not get an answer.

The only thing replaying and romanticizing the past gives you an endless loop you can’t solve, and so you’re stuck there. It’s consuming. Now these people that are out of your life have more power over you than the people and in your life.

Just remember:

LAW 37) Create compelling spectacles

P.T. Barnum was the KING of this. He essentially invented the modern day circus.

With waterfalls outside his circus and fire shot 20 feet in the air, he attracted so many people who otherwise had never once been to a circus.

In fact, Dan Lyons of Telefilm says if you wanna be a film producer, you should study P.T. Barnum.

There’s this bank or real estate company in Manhattan, and I don’t remember it’s name but it’s offices are a huge empty room. With two chairs in the center.

Why do you think they did that?

It’s not practical for people to sit on those chairs, and that space could be used BUT… They convey their status with it. You don’t see anything like that in Manhattan since real estate is so expensive, you have to be really rich to afford to “waste” space like that. But is it a waste to them?

Instead of disparaging, which is easy and unproductive, become curious, which will lead to insights you can adapt in your own… “Hm…I wonder why they created such a spectacle?”

LAW 38) Think as you like but behave like others

Be careful of acting too “showy.” Now I know that’s in almost direct opposition the previous Law but this Law applies more when you have no status and you have people “above” you.

When I started indiefilmTO last year, I was talking to someone who was kind of a big player in the industry. We had a pleasant conversation and then when he was asking me about indiefilmTO, I told him about how I’m wanna to change this whole industry with the community and all these new methodologies we’ve developed.

Then he started speaking in like, a very insulting manner, so much so that I didn’t even comprehend he was talking about me at first.

“You young kids think you can change things, you can’t do anything. The industry is the way it is” or whatever, and I was like… It’s people like him that is exactly what’s wrong with the industry.

Anyway, the point is I broke this Law there. If I wanted to build a relationship with him, it’s dangerous to position myself as so different than what he believes in, because he will be threatened.

Granted, I don’t want to any thing to do with that guy, but I’m just illustrating a point.

On your journey to greatness, others are gonna treat you differently as soon as you start to grow out of the norm. For example, your toxic friends (which are now your former toxic friends, right?) will say subtle snide remarks when you’re working out and now you’re fitter than them. Or they’re conservative and now you’re liberal or the worst is when you become vegan. Everything changes.

LAW 39) Stir up waters to catch fish!

One of the fundamentals of war is to know your enemies weaknesses (Law 33) and when to fake an attack on it so that they go to protect it. Then they leave themselves exposed. Very Machiavellian.

Some people might be like “Curt, this is film. This isn’t war!” Or “This isn’t chess bro.”

What those people don’t realize is that if they not playing, then chances are they are being used as a pawn in someone else’s larger scheme, as they sit back and say “there’s no game.”

You don’t have to use this tactics, in fact, I don’t recommend most of them.

But you have to be honest about how the world operates so that you can protect yourself and help make people’s lives better through film.

Robert Greene says “When the waters are still, your opponents have the time and space to plot actions that they’ll initiate and control. So stir the waters, force the fish to the surface, get them to act before they are ready and steal the initiative.”

How do you do this?

Again, I don’t condone playing with people’s emotions. Not only is it unethical, but some fish are better left at the bottom of the ocean.

LAW 40) Despise the free lunch

Louis XIV was very strategic with how he built power. He would actually spend a lot and give lavish gifts to people who didn’t like him that much. Not as flattery or bribery, but as “Hey I think you might like this.”

Now while he was spending lots of money doing this, his connectedness, his influence, and his nobility grew, as those people started to like him. Simultaneously, he was taking the money from his enemies. Two birds with one stone. Very iftological!

Now what’s great about this Law is that it punishes the person who is constantly trying to take value. Instead, it rewards those who are generous and give.

One of the things we tell our students is to constantly having your ear to the ground to see, what does a distributor need, or this random connection that I made last week, what does that person need? How can I help them and add value while not expecting a single thing in return

LAW 41) Avoid stepping into a great man’s shoes

When Alexander The Great’s father died, Alexander didn’t wanna just be in his father’s shadow so he raised the bar as high as it could go and conquered the world.

There’s a story that Alexander looked at a map of what he conquered, and cried, because there no world left to conquer.

Now if Alexander The Great had a son who also wanted to conquer, NO ONE would give him credit for his success. “It was cuz of your Dad” they’d say.

We all have idols, but it’s important to not wanna be “the next Tarantino” or make “the next Star Wars.” Carve your own path. Have people say they wanna be the next you!

I remember when I was in University, I started this club called University of Toronto Television and it became the fastest growing club on campus. During Club’s Orientation Day, some cocky teenager came to me and said, “I’m the next big thing, you know 8 years from now, I’m gonna be exactly where you are.”

I said “Great. And in 8 years from now, you’ll be where I was.”

LAW 42) Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter

When Steve Jobs left Apple in the 80’s, the company went downhill for years. There’s a great book called Steve Jobs [not an affiliate link] by Walter Isaacson which catalogues the downfall.

While not all of it was because Steve left, it was a huge factor. So much so that after he died, Apple again lost its magic.

There are usually a few key people at the top of any organization that are responsible for its success.

Without leaders, even the greatest empires can fall. The Roman Empire, Alexander The Great’s dynasty, even Genghis Khan’s. The people fight with each other, scattered direction, and just a general loss of morale.

No action step here since I don’t want to be responsible for what you do with this information.

LAW 43) Work on the heart and minds of others

Remember that racist rant by Michael Richards at the Laugh Factory? Well he did the opposite of this Law. And he paid the price.

Same with Marie Antoinette who was narcissistic and despised the people “beneath” her. And she paid the price.

Being nice and benevolent are not bad things; they don’t make you weak.

The fact that someone’s concerned about whether or not their kindness makes them weak, is what makes them weak. The fact that someone does flattering things disingenuously, is what makes someone weak.

To sum it up. Don’t be an asshole.

LAW 44) Disarm and infuriate with the “mirror effect”

When Larry David first showed up to meetings with Jerry about what was then called The Seinfeld Chronicles, Larry would not take suggestions well and would often yell “that is NOT what the show is. The show is THIS way.”

Jerry had to calm him down and assuage him, like ”Hey, that’s not how you talk to people. Here’s how exec’s talk, etc.” After changing how he how spoke, Larry got his way.

We talked about Alcibiades before, but what I didn’t say was that after he charmed the Athenians, they accused him of profaning some sacred statues, so he fled.

Then he charmed the Spartan’s, impregnated the King’s wife, and fled.

Then he charmed the Persians and helped Athens win the war against Sparta. (believe me, it’s not easy to charm a Persian. My ex’s Persian parents would look at me like “I am going to break every bone in your upper body.” *smile*)

So how did he do this?

He would adapt the values and customs of whatever culture he was trying to charm. He would dress like they dressed, talk like they talk, and eat how they ate. (also known as mirroring, and you can build rapport with body language)

Sometimes we think someone doesn’t like us “cuz they’re an asshole!” but really, they mistreat you because they don’t see you as being like them.

LAW 45) Preach the Need for Change But Never Reform Too Much at Once

“A politician stands on a podium “Who wants change!?” The whole crowd says “I DO!”  The politician then asks “Who wants to change?!” …Silence.”

We love our comfort zone and think everyone needs to change… “But not me.”

Many leaders lose the public’s favor because they change too much, too fast. Even when the change is for the better.

LAW 46) Never appear too perfect – Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity

Generally only a few people “win” in this industry. Not by my definition of “win” but by society’s (money, fame, etc.) and generally it’s been a zero-sum game in a lot of ways.

I don’t think it has to be. In fact I know it doesn’t; that’s why I started indiefilmTO. Traditionally though, it has been a zero-sum game and so as a consequence, there are way more people at the bottom than the top.

People who aren’t at the “top” will grow to look at you with disdain if you’re too perfect. They’ll start to cheer for you to fail. You see this now with celebrities that WE BUILT UP by paying attention to them, buying their movies, watching their sex tapes, researching about their earnings etc. Then they get “too big” and all of a sudden the highlight of our day is a “Top 5 Celebrity Rehab Pictures” Buzzfeed article.

Now let’s talk about Louis… It’s rare for someone to be at the top of the game for so long and still have a growing fan base, so how does Louis CK do it? One of the reasons is that he doesn’t claim to be a God. He points out his own flaws and makes fun of himself regularly.

LAW 47) Do not go past the mark you aimed for – in victory, learn when to stop

When you’re in a negotiation over your funding your movie, and someone offers you $250,000 but you feel like you can squeeze an extra 25k out of them… Don’t push your luck.

Know when to push forward, but also know when to gracefully accept. You’ll likely make more enemies by pressing (even if you win). Sure you can be merciless and “crush” your enemy, but don’t create new enemies by overreaching. Just watch Breaking Bad to see what happens.

Learning when to stop is a skill you’ll build with time. This is actually why good luck is often worse than bad luck. Why?

Because at least with bad luck, you can grow from it, you learn about patience, timing, and the need to be prepared for the worst.

Now what do you get from good luck? The opposite. It deludes you into thinking your brilliance will carry you through.

LAW 48) Assume formlessness

The Spartans were the best soldiers the world has ever seen. Yet they lost the war with Athens.

Why?

They were outnumbered. They were unwilling to change their views. They didn’t wanna spread to new territories, they didn’t even want to trade. The times were changing yet they clung to old methods and didn’t adapt.

Sparta, home to the world’s most powerful soldiers, collapsed.

This is what’s happening today in Hollywood. They are banking on sequel after sequel because they have no new IPs. Ticket sale profits are going down each year. Cinemas are closing. More and more people are watching Netflix.

Talk to studio Executives and they’ll tell you same thing. The Hollywood system as a whole is outdated, and resistant to change.

Nothing is guaranteed. And just like I was making fun of Woody Allen for making the same movies for the past 30 years, you too need to be every evolving and adapting.

I always say there are two types of filmmakers.

The fixed filmmaker: The filmmaker that thinks, “I just want to be a great director, or a great writer, or a great filmmaker, and I just wanna tell my stories.” AKA. I wanna do things the way they’ve always been done.

The forward filmmaker: The filmmaker that thinks, “I don’t wanna just be a great filmmaker, but an OUTSTANDING one. And to do that, I don’t need to do the sound design, and marketing, and business, and networking… But I do need to know it, so I can understand the whole playing field so I leverage every single fucking advantage I can. Utilize things in combinations that have never been done before. And not just plan this film, but see how it fits into the larger picture of my life, and this world, 5 years from now. Even 10 years from now. Think about how the world will be, how I want it to be, and work backwards with methodologies that probably seem fucking nuts, but I don’t care.”

indiefilmTO is for the FORWARD filmmaker. If somebody does things the way everyone else does things, then they’re gonna get the same lousy results as everyone else. (stuff like trouble getting funded even though your films are great, stuck hoping someone will notice you and just give you that “break”, wondering if you’ll ever be able pay the bills doing what you love)

If you realize the existing path leads to a dead end, and that you’ve gotta be a fucking ENTREPRENEUR where you need to be, so you can be an artist where it counts, then that’s what we’re here for.

Life moves in only two directions. Growth or decay. Every decision you make nudges you. You grow or you die. Which one will you choose?

So a lot of the things that you have heard so far have been about domination vs  subordination, alpha vs beta, slave vs master and that is true. That’s the game of power and the game being played around you, and you have to accept that.

But the thing that I am interested in is talent and results.

I want you to be insanely talented which you hopefully are, but I want you to be really fucked talented and make movies like nobody can and I want you to change lives like nobody else can.

I also want you to get the results that you want. The results that get you to make the film you want to make. The results that allow you to share your creation and get the recognition you need, results that don’t make you end up broke. Make films without you having to “film this on the side”. Having to feel like you have to sell out or sell your soul in order to just make some money making films.

That’s what IndieFilmsTO is all about. It’s those results. So if you want, sign up below and you can hear directly from me and I’ll email you every day and you’ll probably get sick of me but that’s okay.

Comment below and tell me what law really resonated with you. What law did you actually take in and put into practice? Which laws did you disobey and what were the consequences with that.

Keep being a entrepreneur with your films, keep playing the game of power , keep using every single advantage that you have, ethically and I will be here to help you whenever i can and however I can!

Thank You!