Woohoo! Feel the wave rise!

FilmStack and NonDē is THE COMMUNITY UPRISING cinema needs now.

Can we now call it “Hot FilmStack + NonDē Summer”?

As an OG “movies & series” writer on this newsletter platform, I’ve hit this new stat, but it is not about that (although I must admit I am pretty thrilled).

This is about the WE and not about me.The community here is what carried me there. You’ve wanted to discuss:

• how to build something,

• how not to be dependent on the corporate structure,

• how to be sustainable when you do it for the love and not for the money.

And that’s what I want too. THANK YOU.

It is probably not a coincidence that we hit this #1 mark in the same week that The Ankler’s Richard Rushfield did the HFF Friday Takeover, Ted Gioia — aka The Honest Broker — named dropped FilmStack, NonDē, Taylor Lewis, and myself. That, and I hit my 17 year goal of the Kevin Kelly “1000 True Fans” plateau. Wow.

Makes up a bit for the bad shit that also went down this week. But that’s for another day.

Your commitments took me us well past this initial peak. Thanks again.

But there were probably other factors that got us here too. Filmmaker Magazine’s now-departing but longtime editor-in-chief Scott Macaulay pointed out in his newsletter’s look back at his 33-year reign that my output in this kind-of-stuff has always been high:

“Producer Ted Hope was a very active early contributor, with four bylines in issue four, Spring, 1993: a roundtable discussion on the role of the 1st AD; an article on script breakdowns; a profile of up-and-coming DPs; and an interview with the late Richard Brick, then New York’s film commissioner.”

He gave last week’s financier round-up a nice push, while showing the subject of this newsletter is nothing new:

“Another important article appeared in issue 13, Fall, 1995, that had an original portrait of Tim Roth by Nan Goldin on the cover: Hope's spirited "The Death of Indie Film" and "Long Live Indie Film" coupled with a provocative rejoinder by his business partner at the time, James Schamus, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” It was a pretty fascinating conversation spilling across our pages, and both pieces are still very worthwhile reading today.”

So if this has long been the conversation — but that conversation has never been enough — how do we make sure that this era is one of action? Where do we go from here?

Alex had a good recommendation.

I like the idea of a NonDē Win List. As someone who has never really been satisfied with the results of his actions, they have always recommended I list them, so that when that dark wave of despair washes over, I remember all that I have done, and know that “this too shall pass”. We’ve gotten through it before. We’ve grown. We will get through it again for sure, and perhaps even better.

So what would be on the said list. Of course I think all of what I mention above qualifies. And then there’s more.

The first time I felt that warm thing rise up my spine, was when Taylor Lewis pointed out to me that the AI was tracking it.

Around that time, a few FilmStackers started embracing the term too, using it in their descriptions of who they are and what they are doing. To me, that made it clear we needed something other than “indie” to be a more accurate description.

Definition, community, and embrace are key — but this is still a business. We need point up on the board. The success we’ve had with INVISIBLE NATION has been totally gratifying. If you are not up on it, it is because you are not reading Vanessa’s newsletter. And if so, what’s wrong with you? Please subscribe!

REBEL(LIOUS) Video Podcast with Jen Esposito & Cat Yezbak - for your summer viewing, listening, thinking, dancing, + with Lisa's THUNDER Karaoke, for your singing pleasure! Nighttime edition + words

There were reasons why our film — and so many others — were not going to get corporate support.

On The NonDē Win List I’d also include two films that I’ve featured in my “Hopeful Conversations”: SECRET MALL APARTMENT and YOU, ME & HER.

"almost like distributors try to gaslight filmmakers into thinking their films have no value! "

"Stand behind your art, nobody will represent it like you."

All three of these films practiced NonDē distribution to real success and innovation. And certainly ENO qualifies (and was cited in Distribution Advocates’ HFF Friday Takeover):

"designed to help build the muscle of sharing"

Both NO OTHER LAND and UNION should be on The NonDē Win List too. Lingo On Docs had a great two-parter on UNION you should check out.

But what are the other NonDē wins? I think we are in the REALLY early days frankly. To be honest, this isn’t even the wave yet. We are still water churning beneath it all, gaining momentum.

The other Ted gave us a list of how to move this forward.

These five points are what I’ve been trying to do since I launched this newsletter almost three years ago. It may be slow work, but today it seems like it is starting to work. We will keep rolling our boulders up the hill. Maybe a next gen Robert Redford will reach out to give a hand. Maybe there is some billionaire who shares our dream of a better world.

But if they don’t show, who needs them? We don’t.

We can build it better together.

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The NonDē Win List ( a work-in-progress).

1. NonDē Distribution wins accumulate:

   1. INVISIBLE NATION

   2. SECRET MALL APARTMENT

   3. YOU, ME & HER

   4. ENO

   5. UNION

   6. NO OTHER LAND

2. HopeForFilm newsletter hits #1 Rising Substack in “Culture” 07.13.25

3. The Label launches, “NonDē's first film label is moving cinematic culture forward” and “The New Thing In NonDē” a collaborative venture from Taylor Lewis and Ellis J. Sutton 06.06.25

4. Google AI defines/attributes NonDē to me, Ted Hope (and Taylor notices) 06.06.25

5. Heather Turman is the first artist to display NonDē in her Substack discription (to the best of my knowledge). Approximately 4/16/25

I know of quite a few new ventures now brewing in the NonDē realm — some of which I am aiding and abetting — so watch this list gain some momentum. And until then…

Let’s build it better together.