Categories: Articles - Screenwriting

Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker

Published by
David Paterson
Josh Hutcherson in Gabor Csupo’s Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

1. The budget doesn’t matter. $5,000 or $50 million, there’s always someone to tell you “there’s not enough money.”

2. Everybody breaks shit—no one admits to it.

3. Don’t use your wife’s car as a crew transportation vehicle.

4. When a PA says they understand what you’re saying, they usually don’t.

5. An unpaid PA can eat three times as much as union actor

6. An awful film with a star has a 100 percent better chance of getting picked up than a brilliant film with no-name talent.

7. The quickest way to end a friendship is to shoot in your friend’s house.

8. Straight-to-video DVD deals suck. You’ll never see a dime.

9. Some of the best films never see the light of day.

10. Weathermen are usually wrong; always plan for rain.

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David Paterson

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