How To FILMSTACK: 30+ Actions To Bring Us All Happiness, Wisdom, Love, and Wealth.

Okay, not quite the $$$, but we ARE building a community that gets things done.

our earth gives us so many treats; best to enjoy them while they are here.

What a year 2025 has already been for FilmStack!

And don’t forget this is still emmin-effin Early Days. I’ve been on the ‘stack for three years now, but even if you just joined yesterday, you are still an Early Adopter. Some of the pleasure of being here in the beginning is that there is plenty of room to experiment, to make mistakes and then fail better next time. Also more than enough time to get your game on.

The fact that you are now reading this, means you are on the field. You are part of the team. I know I — and others out there — have great plans for you. We want to see your talents shine.

Not only does FilmStack have a great bench, we have a great bench of coaches primed to unlock all of your abilities. The path you are on has all sorts of efforts and exercises ahead to sharpen the skills. Some are quite easy while others might be a bit of a stretch. Don’t discount any. It is the whole that matters, the well-being of a deep and rich ecosystem that you are a small part of.

That said, I have found that people like their tools, games, and experiences to come with a set of operating instructions. Did I tell you I have a movie pitch for the day all the operating instructions vanished? Things work out better in the long run when you find your own way, right? Or so I like to think, but nonetheless, I get it. The clock is a tickin’ and most are just too ready and willin’ to leap frog over those that might be prone to a bit of the dillydally. Saddle up, Sally, let’s go for a ride. I have the instructional handout for you, my pitch be damned.

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How To FilmStack, 2025 Edition.

1. Be yourself. Warts and all, yes. That. But also those secret ways that you don’t even yet know how much you shine. Explore. Take risks. Everything in life in this old system of cinema we are in wants you to conform and behave, but we need the other realm too. We are building the new, and you are truly wonderful here. Do whatever you want (as long as you don’t hurt/hate others or restrict their opportunity) please. Let your phreakphlaggphly. Evolve daily. We are with you.

2. Recognize the power of building an audience. This is that gift that newsletter platforms are. They are —we are— a good machine. They double our hope, and then some. You have all of your reader’s email addresses. You can take them with you to where ever or whatever you do next. Business. Support. Friendship. And a whole lot more. Whatever happens to our world over the next few decades, I think the audience-ownership thing will be key for all creative artists and cultural industries. Get started now.

3. Recognize the power of being part of a community. Filmmaking is f’n hard. It takes a ton of stamina. And careers in cultural industries are f’n-f’n hard. Although we all do much of the same thing, it is very easy to feel alone. Very. We could learn from one another. We could lend a hand. We could be each others support animal. And we should. The fact is everything is in place to do this. All it takes is doing it. And know what happens once you start doing it? Things get better. We can change things. And little things lead to larger things. It starts with you recognizing you belong. FilmStack is you being part of something bigger than yourself.

4. Recognize the missed opportunity sc-Indie Film had to make something sustainable, and how we can’t afford to be fooled again. “What are you upset about today, Ted?”. It is actually the same thing every day. For forty years, we’ve been well-positioned to build something better, to actually focus on the sustainability of a cinema ecosystem prioritizing the art, artist, and audience. But we didn’t. We focused on the transactions. We focused on getting individual careers launched. We focused on finding the genius. And now we are teetering on the brink. We don’t have to let them win. We can play to win. And then win.

5. Recognize that FilmStack is part of a chain that is part of the means to an end; it is not the end all be all unto itself. You can improve your art. You can improve your life. You can improve all you are part of. And you can improve your world. Incremental and operational improvements matter a great deal, particularly when many people start doing them. They may have the power. They may have the capital. They may have the control. But WE make the cracks that is where the light gets in. We are planting the seeds. We are speaking secret alphabets. Keeping looking towards what Utopia may be, because that is the only destination worthy of all that you have to offer.

6. Capture and provide access to our Institutional Knowledge. One of the reasons that So-Called “Indie” Film is a 40 year history of doing the wrong thing, is because we failed to capture, share, and advance all of our learnings. Cinema-makers were forced to reinvent the wheel every time. Let’s stop that, okay? Now that we are all publishers on this platform, and others, we can make sure we go far and wide with what we’ve learned and thus leave everything better than we found it.