Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Be true to yourself.

Don’t let anyone else steer the direction of your film, your vision and your creativity. Let your own voice do the talking.

There may be an “I” in the word film, but it takes more than one person.

Admit now that you can’t do this alone and be open to others’ ideas. You will truly unlock something you never thought possible.

Know your strengths and weaknesses.

I’m a great leader and motivator, but I’m a terrible editor and bookkeeper. So I have others do the books and cut the film. Sure I’m involved, but I learned a long time ago that the addition of another’s eyes makes my work that much better.

You don’t need lots of loot to make a movie.

Have an idea? Shoot it! You can find almost everything you need for free, from actors to equipment to crew—you name it. The film that got us into Sundance and won me the directing award cost $65,000. Most of this was spent on travel. Had we not traveled at all we probably would have spent less than half that.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who do what they say they’re going to do… and everyone else.

Know which one you are now. People want to work on projects (even for free), so long as they know that the project will actually get done. I worked on tons of shit when I was younger—a lot of which went nowhere.

Say what you mean and mean what you say—and don’t jerk people around.

If you’re a lying sack of you know what, you may still get people to work with you once… but that’s it. The people that I work with now, I’ve worked with consistently for the last four years. Everything I said we would do, we have done. It wasn’t quick and it sure wasn’t easy, but we stuck it out together and together we will reap the rewards.

Want to write a screenplay?

Write it.