Make friends in the industry instead of trying to kill the competition.

With an eye toward promoting independent voices and visions, Indican Pictures distributes an eclectic mix of genre films, animations and documentaries among which are Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints, a cult favorite for its vigilante flare, Monteith McCollum's Independent Spirit-awarded Hybrid and Rosario Roverto Jr.'s social comment comedy, A Wake in Providence.

What does a producer do after finding tremendous success with more than 100 independent films and having served as the head of a top indie studio for more than 10 years? If you're Larry Meistrich, founder of the now-defunct Shooting Gallery and producer of such Oscar-nominated films as Sling Blade and You Can Count on Me, you could invent a whole new kind of distribution company and attempt to change the face of indie film exhibition.

Always have a plan before you jump into a project.