Filmmaking can be challenging. Many times you face obstacles you never imagined. And sometimes the thought of quitting just makes sense. Do you ever fight the urge to quit filmmaking?
Fighting The Urge To Quit Filmmaking
Picture this! You leave your small town and move to New York City so you could go after your filmmaking dreams. And because you don't have much money, you rent the edge of some dude's cockroach infested kitchen floor – sleeping on an inflatable air mattress.
It gets better.
You start working with an indie producer and things are going well… You are moving towards the realization of your filmmaking dreams! You are a filmmaker.
Then your girlfriend (who you met at college) decides not to move with you. Instead she gets a new boyfriend – without telling you! Then on Monday you go into work, only to find out that the movie project you were banking on totally fell apart. You are now unemployed.
And now you're looking at the last few dollars in your bank account, wondering what's next…
How do you pay rent?
I am not sure if this sounds like a comedy. But it's a true story. I actually described my time in New York City. And believe me, when that stuff was happening – I was NOT thinking about making movies. I was worried about survival!
The reason I share this is to remind you that all filmmakers are human. And even the most successful filmmakers have probably fought the urge to quit filmmaking from time to time. But they didn't. Is the price of seeing your movie on the big screen is worth the headaches?
I wish I could answer this question for you. But I can't. Only you can decide if you should continue fighting the urge to quit filmmaking. But I can tell you this… If you stick with it, you'll get there eventually.
In the meantime, you may want to find a day job to pay the bills. This will help you maintain your sanity. Then you can work on your film projects during the weekend and upload them to YouTube.
