Why You Need A Plan

I have said many times that the most common mistake for beginning filmmakers is biting off too much in the beginning. Don't make this mistake. The first thing is to ask yourself the simple question: Why am I wanting to do this?

Examine your heart and think about the things that really excite you. There is no wrong answer and your plans may change over time but it is vital to attempt to arrive at an answer to this classic question. Then pin it up somewhere that you will see it often.

Becoming a filmmaker involves a lot of time and dedication and you can't do it unless the goal is something you really want. You might want to write it out as a "mission statement" as some filmmakers recommend.

Discover Your Business Plan

Now that you have defined what you want to do with filmmaking you can start to figure out how to get there. On 4Filmmaking.com I assume that you want to learn how to be a well known independent filmmaker making films that are both artistically satisfying and financially successful. I am now going to describe the classic plan that has been used in some style by most of the successful independent filmmakers in Hollywood. You can use it as a beginning point to create your own plan.

The Unpleasant Fact About Filmmaking

I would not be fully honest if I didn't begin by warning you that your chance at succeeding in being a famous and successful independent filmmaker are extremely small. There are many other people wanting to do it and only a few are going to succeed. You will have to be relentless following your filmmaking dreams, make the most of your abilities, keep going despite discouragements and hope for some luck along the way.

The Not-So-Secret Plan for Succeeding as an Independent Filmmaker

Step 1 is to direct a series of very short movies while you study, take classes, read books, meet other filmmakers and always do everything you possibly can to get smart and find filmmaking collaborators. Your films will be 3 to 10 minute short films that you can film in a day or two on a weekend, starting using only your friends and the promise of free food and drink at the end of the day.

Creating films requires many skills and many helpers working together. That's why you must be seeking out collaborators, other smart and talented folks who share your filmmaking dreams and compliment your skills. The first step is where you learn the basic skills of filmmaking.

Step 2 is to create better and better short films until you have one good enough to get you film festival exposure.

This will start to get you noticed, give you more chances to meet with fellow filmmakers gaining more partners, and get a sense of audience reaction to your films. You will see that acquisition agents follow the festival circuit to negotiate for the best indie films from the very best filmmakers. This second step is about increasing your artistic filmmaking horizons and learning how indie films get marketed.

Step 3 is to keep developing finer and finer story ideas until all your friends are convinced you have a Great Idea.

The Great Idea has to be a story that can be filmed for very little money. You write it into a dynamite feature length screenplay. You will also create a brilliant short version drawn from the feature screenplay that can possibly be made for what you can afford out of your own pocket. You will show this short version at film festivals and to anyone who might consider financing the feature length version.

This short film is a calling-card, a teaser and marketing tool to convince investors how wonderful you are so they can pay you to turn your Great Idea into the Great Movie.

Step 4 is to produce the movie, show it at film festivals to great acclaim, sell it to distributors, and watch it become a huge success. At the same time you will need to be developing additional ideas so you will have an answer to the query, "What's the next project?"

After step 4 you will be on the map and you will get phone calls from agents who wouldn't have given you the time of day last week but now they want to discuss paying for your next project. A different take on this plan is to skip making the short film version by coming up with a totally perfect feature film that can be shot so cheaply that you don't need big financing.

Does This Plan Work?

If you look in the Internet Movie Database you will see that George Lucas got started by making 5 very short films that almost nobody has seen. Then while he was in film school he made a 15 minute SciFi short called Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB. The film got him first prize in the National Student Film Festival.

That allowed him to win a scholarship to work with Francis Ford Coppola at Warner Brothers. They soon were friends, made a company together and the first movie they made was the feature length version of THX 1138. The small success of this film helped him get financing to make American Graffiti. The larger success of American Graffiti got him money to make Star Wars.

Now George Lucas is the most recognized independent filmmaker in the world.

© 2007 Copyright, Jerry Anderson