Life/Work Hacks & Strategies For The Film Professional Or WannaBe
Be It Starting Out, Maintaining, Or Finishing Strong
The most anxiety-prone time for me professionally was when I was just starting out. I had decided I wanted to make movies and there was nothing else I wanted to do. I truly felt it was all or nothing. It wasn’t that “failure is not an option” bullshit, because failure was the likely outcome; that I got. I had no experience. I knew no one in the industry. I had no money. But I was living in NYC and was willing to throw myself fully into it. I had certain privileges that I didn’t recognize at the time, but I felt desperate as could be. The lessons I learned then still serve me to this day.
These aren’t your New Years’ Resolutions. After all, it’s now February; we’ve moved on. We all need TO DO lists to go strong all year long, right? Perhaps the stuff I learned to do way back when could work out for you now, whatever stage you are at. I do find myself wishing that some friends and collaborators could make these mantras for themselves now —- and inevitably I find myself not doing something on the list throughout the year, and knowing that I truly should have. It would be better if I had. It’s still hard to fully practice what one preaches.
And FWIW if you are relatively new to HopeForFilm, I did realize that my very first post sort of mapped out what I am aiming to do here overall on HFF, and it is probably best to take a quick glance at it before reading further. Thanks, and onwards!
Film Biz Life/Work Hacks (updated from comments 1/16/24)
these really aren’t “hacks” but until I find the right word, it will have to do!
Show up. Get in the room. Meet people & build relationships.
Connect. Connect Authentically. As peers & on a human friendship level.
Be over prepared. Know what you do when it goes wrong. Know what you do when it goes right. Know what you do when you just need to do something else.
Stay in shape; stay in good health in all aspects possible— physical, mental, process. Stay out of the ruts.
Develop creative practices & work routines. Repetition builds habit. Habit builds instinct.
Have side hustles & maintain financial security — but don’t let them take much time or energy.
Protect and provide the time you need to truly focus on yourself and your work.
Stay audience-aware even when you don’t give a fuck what others think of you.
Build your community. Connect people & they will connect you (but do it meaningfully).
“Filmmaking is too difficult to tackle alone. Get your band together.” Develop that core group of collaborators who will become your "band." — James Lantz
Get the bandS together. As much as I love collaborating and growing together as a team, I find it so helpful to have multiple teams and then applying one teams' methods or solutions to another team's challenges. As much as I have some standby recipes, I keep trying out new spices and additions. (in reply to JL’s note above)
Develop a group of trusted allies to get feedback notes from before you are finished (script, film, pitch) — and train them to not just say you are wonderful but to actually push you to do better.
Thank people for their help — and mean it; we should be grateful for every bit of attention or focus anyone is able to give.
Share your enthusiasm for people & their work. The fact that in this crazy upside down world that good stuff still gets done is a wonder.
The “best” powerful thing we can do is share with others when they need it most.
Give unexpected gifts. No one is appreciated enough and when they are— particularly when they don’t expect it —, they remember it.
Create & maintain lists of people you want to meet and connect with. You need to make an extra effort to make things happen.
Don’t aim to meet the boss. They can’t help you. Connect with and then motivate the up & comings who have their ear. They likely do the part (most?) of the work that matters most to you anyways.
Become an expert in something & build out from there. Don’t discount how much someone at some point needs the master of some obscure or forgotten wisdom.
How are people going to find you? When you are in the room, do they know it’s you? Can you be recognizable? Always wear the same outfit?
Prepare slowly and steadily over time the things you don’t like to do but become urgent to have when you do need them — be it your taxes, your invite, premiere, party lists, the lists of people you want to collaborate with. This is basically another recommendation to created lists.
Capture, organize, & archive all your ideas, goals, processes, contacts. Develop a method for this, and regularly improve it (or at least try to).
Think & strategize in all directions — set long, medium, and short term goals. You don’t need to do it all now. (HT:Christine Guenther)
One size will never fit all. Find you own way.
Don’t forget to live a life that extends beyond productive and creative activities or professional pursuits (HT: Andrew Wright)
Keep adding to this list.
Each of these items could and probably should be a post of its own. Let me know in the comment section below if there are any you’d particularly like me to start with. Thanks for reading. Here’s to building it better together.
Perhaps you want to check out my first post on Maintenance:
PS. If you ONLY get this newsletter in your inbox, you are missing out. Seriously. Give the Substack App a try. Not only will you be able to easily access all my posts, but also those of anyone else you subscribe to. You can all post hearts and comments via online or the app and that goes a LONG way towards fostering community. We are all in this together and I know you have a lot to add (so please do). Plus posting “likes” helps drive others to the material you think is worthwhile. Finally the app has a nifty “chat” feature, a bit like Twitter and bit not; the writers you follow (like me) initiate conversations that all subscribers can participate in. I’m digging that. And folks are sharing good ideas to help generate and improve these posts. And we need your help too. Thanks.
Wow great reminders. Especially the part about keeping in touch with contacts. With covid I got out of that habit. Now it’s time to renew that list and get back! Thank you!
This is gold. Thank you.