Do you want to know the top 3 reasons you will fail in filmmaking? Or better yet, would you like to know how to avoid the excuses and become a filmmaking success? If so, you're in the right place.
Every week I share my filmmaking thoughts in a newsletter broadcast to nearly 30,000 filmmakers. And if you're serious about filmmaking, my newsletter offers tips and tactics on how to get your movie made, seen and sold without waiting around and asking permission.
(I can't stand asking for permission to make movies.)
With that said, whenever I do an email blast, I get a lot of responses from filmmakers. And while most of the responses are positive – I also get a lot of email from filmmakers telling me why they can't make a movie. These responses are full of limiting excuses.
And in our short time together, I'd like to help you avoid these.
3 Reasons You Will Fail In Filmmaking (Avoid The Excuses)
In order to save you the trouble, I thought I would take a moment to echo the top 3 reasons you will fail in filmmaking.
Excuse #1 “I Don't Have The Money”
I get this one. This was my excuse for almost a decade. Then I got smart. I started hanging out with other filmmakers and instead of focusing on what we lacked, we started focusing on the things we had. One question changed everything: “Given the resources that we have right now, what is the movie we can make this year?” Answering this question enabled us to produce our first feature.
And this was before crowdfunding. Do you understand how crowdfunding changes everything?
Excuse #2 “I Don't Have The Equipment”
A decade ago, I saved up an entire summer and bought a used Arri BL 16mm camera and a few rolls of 16mm film. I then spent a weekend shooting my first short. After that, I spent the entire fall and winter saving up enough money to process the film, transfer it to video and then edit it.
These days, you can get an inexpensive movie camera for a few hundred dollars that will produce footage without the fuss of film. The days of saving all summer to capture footage are over.
Excuse #3 “I Don't Know Anybody In The Movie Industry”
This is probably the excuse that makes me the most concerned for your future. Do you realize that you don't need to know anybody in the movie industry? At least not yet. For your first few features, forget about Hollywood. Instead focus on building your audience.
Utilize crowdfunding to raise money and test your movie concept. Build your mailing list. Then tap into internet movie distribution. Seriously, does it matter how your movie gets into iTunes?
The truth is, everybody starts at the same place. You get an idea for a project. You get an idea for the person you want to become. You wonder if you are crazy. Then your friends and family make fun of you. But you decide to take action anyway. You pick up a pen and paper and make a check list of how to make your movie.
A big reason filmmakers fail at filmmaking is because many believe the excuses. But not you. You are smarter and more creative and capable of making movies.
The question is – will you take action?
Or will you sit around coming up with excuses why you can't make your movie?
