indie film hustle podcast

Why Filmmakers are Always So F*ckin' Broke

I'm truly PISSED OFF guys and am tired of seeing my fellow indie filmmakers and artist struggle to make a living doing what they love. I decided to put together a lists of steps that every indie filmmaker needs to do in order to thrive in the film business.

Since this website is call INDIE FILM HUSTLE the terminology I'll be using will be aimed at filmmaking or screenwriting but all of these concepts can be applied to any art form.

PLEASE NOTE: If you were to ever listen to a podcast of mine, this is the one. I'll be laying out the steps in the article but I go MUCH DEEPER into each one on the podcast. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

Right click here to download the MP3

indie film syndicate, indie film hustle, filmmaking course, online film school, filmmaking, indie film, social media

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

INDIE FILM SYNDICATE Filmmaking Community
THIS IS MEG Crowdfunding Campaign
IFH 005: Do I Need to Move to Los Angeles to Make it in the Film Business?
Aaron Sorkin Master Class
Werner Herzog Master Class
Robert Townsen - Hollywood Shuffle
Spike Lee - She's Gotta Have It
Kevin Smith  - Clerks
FreeFilmBook.com (Your FREE Filmmaking Audio Book)
IFH's Online Film School
Intro to RED Cinema Camera - Online Course
Six Secrets to get into Film Festivals for FREE!
Action Items:

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If you like Why Filmmakers are Always So F*ckin' Broke & What They Can Do to Change It,
then click below: Werner Herzog’s Teaches Filmmaking MasterClass Media
Werner Herzog, Werner Herzog Masterclass, Masterclass, Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed, Rogue Film School, filmmaking, Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Into the Abyss, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Fitzcarraldo, Little Dieter Needs to Fly

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Indie Film Hustle Podcast: Filmmaking | Film School | Screenwriting | Film Marketing | Independent Film | Cinematography

IFH 088: Why Filmmakers are Always So F*ckin' Broke & What They Can Do to Change It

SPECIAL SUNDANCE EDITION of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast

I wanted to do something special for the Indie Film Hustle Tribe this year. I’m in Park City, UT interview some AMAZING filmmakers, producers, agents and actors. In celebration of Sundance I’ll be releasing a podcast a day during the week.

I wanted to launch this special Sundance Film Festival series with a bang. In this episode I speak to indie film favorite and all around amazing human being Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings, Sin City) and his remarkable partners Josh Waller, Daniel Noah and Lisa Whalen (Company X) over at their company SpectreVision.

I have to say that this is by far one of my favorite interviews I’ve ever done. It was part filmmaking masterclass, branding lesson, James Lipton interview and party. I learned a ton from the gang and really felt the passion these friends and partners have for making the kind of films they want to see.

All of these Sundance Series episodes will be co-hosted by Sebastian Twardosz from Circus Road Films and a co-production with Media Circus PR.

Indie Film Hustle Podcast: Filmmaking | Film School | Screenwriting | Film Marketing | Independent Film | Cinematography | Film

IFH 130: Elijah Wood and the SpectreVision Team – Creating a Brand & Making Killer Films

Inside the Spec Script Market with Agent David Boxerbaum
SPECIAL SUNDANCE EDITION of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast

We all have heard about screenwriter selling a spec script for seven figures (see Max Landis) but who is the power brokers who are helping that process along? Enter Paradigm Literary Agent David Boxerbaum.

David is a senior agent at Paradigm, and his impressive client roster includes the likes of David Guggenheim, writer of Safehouse; Ken Marino, writer/producer of Wanderlust and writer of Role Models; Maria Maggenti, writer of MTV’s Finding Carter; and Ransom Riggs, writer/co-executive producer of the upcoming supernatural horror thriller, Black River.

At the age of 26, David was listed as one of the Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation 35 Under 35,” making him one of the youngest people ever to make the list. He is known for his impeccable taste and his strong industry relationships which help him garner six- and seven-figure sales for his clients in a shrinking spec marketplace.

What is an agent like David Boxerbaum looking for in a screenwriter? How does an agent work with a client to build a career? How do you approach a Literary Agent? All will be answered in this episode. Enjoy!

All of these Sundance Series episodes will be co-hosted by Sebastian Twardosz from Circus Road Films and a co-production with Media Circus PR.

Indie Film Hustle Podcast: Filmmaking | Film School | Screenwriting | Film Marketing | Independent Film | Cinematography | Film Festival | Filmmaking Podcasts I Moviemaker

IFH 131: Inside the Spec Script Market with Agent David Boxerbaum

Rebel in the Rye & How to Become a Producer with Jason Shuman

SPECIAL SUNDANCE EDITION of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast

Every once in a while we get a real Hollywood producer on the show. Jason Shuman is a producer and director, known for Lone Survivor (2013), Role Models (2008) and Bangkok Dangerous (2008) and this year's Sundance hit Rebel in the Rye (2017), written and directed by Danny Strong. Now not only is Jason a very accomplished producer but man is he a nice guy.

He was so generous with his time and knowledge. He was dropping knowledge bombs left and right. Jason Shuman started producing with indie films like one of my faves, Comic Book Villains (2002) and moved quickly up to studio films with horror classic Darkness Falls (2003) (based on a short film).

IFH 132: Rebel in the Rye & How to Become a Producer with Jason Shuman

I ran into many filmmakers while fighting the blizzard at this year’s Sundance Film Festival but one of the most impressive of the bunch was director Sydney Freeland. Sydney has had a challenging journey to become a director and her story is inspiring, to say the least.

Prior to making her first feature-length film, Sundance darling Drunktown’s Finest, Sydney Freeland previously worked as a production assistant, as a writer, and as a camera intern. Freeland worked in a number of areas, including; National Geographic, Walt Disney, The Food Network and Comedy Central. Freeland garnered her first taste of success with the six-minute short film, Hoverboard, utilizing Kickstarter to help fund the short. The film was inspired by her love of Back to the Future Part II.

Drunktown’s Finest is her second venture into filmmaking. The 95-minute long film is a coming-of-age story about the complex issues surrounding identity and the struggles faced by Native American people. The film’s name is inspired by a controversial 20/20 segment on ABC News, which branded the town of Gallup, New Mexico as “Drunk Town, USA“, after the increase of instances of alcoholism on the border of the Navajo Nation.

Freeland wrote, directed Drunktown’s Finest as means to combat the negative stereotype of her home community. Sydney Freeland, who is herself a transgender woman, is also directing a digital series about queer and trans women called Her Story.


Photo by: Netflix
At this year’s Sundance Film Festival Sydney Freeland is premiering her latest film Deidra & Laney Rob a Train, which was financed completely by Netflix. Two teenage sisters start robbing trains to make ends meet after their single mother’s emotional meltdown in an electronics store lands her in jail. Coming to Netflix March 17. Here’s the trailer.



We sit down and discuss how it was like to work with Netflix, if the rumors of creative freedom are true and what Sundance has done for her career.

All of these Sundance Series episodes will be co-hosted by Sebastian Twardosz from Circus Road Films and a co-production with Media Circus.

IFH 133: Sydney Freeland: Working with Netflix & Maintaining Creative Freedom

Today's guest is writer/director/actor/producer Claudia Pickering. She recently wrote and directed the feature film "Frisky" for just $5000. I wanted to have her on the show to discuss the tricks of the trade when making a feature for such a low budget. The film has also played at countless film festivals and won a ton of awards.

Two twenty-somethings move to San Francisco to chase their career but end up chasing tail instead.

When two twenty-something women move back to San Francisco, where they had met on exchange years earlier, their high career aspirations quickly become sidelined by their sexual interests. While wildly crass and charismatic in their public personas, they are in fact fundamentally at odds on many levels. Their opposing beliefs surrounding responsibility and romance, combined with their close quarters while crashing in an acquaintance's living room, find them thrust onto a fast track to discovering what their friendship is really made of. Based on true events, Frisky is an honest, tongue-in-cheek look at what it is to be a woman in the limbo years between college and "the real world".


★★★★  "This fearless, fun comedy offers a welcome female take on twentysomethings finding themselves amid aimless drifting, partying and hook-ups, its simple story bolstered by a sharp script and charismatic comedic turn from writer/director Claudia Pickering." - Empire Magazine

Here's some info on Claudia: 

Claudia Pickering’s comedy filmmaking career began with acting which lead to writing comedy sketches... and they just kept getting longer. To be more specific, it began when she and her mate Anna convinced Danny Trejo - movie star, ex-convict and face of Old El Paso - to perform a Backstreet Boys-style dance under a dimly-lit bridge. They did not ask the 65-yr old to take off his shirt, he did that all on his own as they evidently have that effect on people.

Since then, International film festivals have showered her two feature films Frisky and Winning Formula with official selections and awards, which is a nice change from when she and her mate Tori used to steal stickers in first grade and wear them on their school uniform collars as though they had been legitimately awarded them.

It surprised the pants off Pickering when Frisky was distributed by Madman and optioned by Jungle Entertainment to create a TV show, which is handy as she is likely to be pantsless for a large portion of the show itself. She did manage to keep her pants on, if you can call yoga tights pants, while directing the Resting Pitch Face webseries for Google and is currently in development on 3 features through her company Cliff House Productions with mixed pants status. One of her extracurriculars includes running the Freshflix Film Festival in Sydney (Vivid) and Los Angeles (AiF) which is mostly just an excuse to take photos at the media wall to update her LinkedIn profile.

The above projects have allowed her to avoid the field of Architecture in which she holds a Masters degree - a method superior to holding her breath until she faints, which was her avoidance tactic of choice up until about age three.

Claudia Pickering's Tips For Budget Filmmaking

Use Craigslist to advertise for cast and crew, also ask your network.
Offer profit share for people to work for free.
Use the majority of your budget for post-production sound and color.
Offer bigger credits for those working for free
Do most of the dirty work yourself.

Enjoy my conversation with Claudia Pickering.

IFH 222: How to Shoot and Sell a $5000 Micro Budget Feature Film with Claudia Pickering

So how marketable is your film idea or screenplay? I know so many screenwriters and filmmakers who spend months and sometimes years on an idea that is cool to just themselves. Depending on what you are attempting to achieve with your story, you should always figure out if you idea is marketable or if you have a fighting chance of selling the screenplay or final film.

Paul Castro, the writer of the Warner Brothers feature film August Rush (Starring Robin Williams) shares with us his thoughts on how to test and find marketable ideas.

Bulletproof Screenplay Podcast: Screenwriting | Screenwriters | Screenplay | Movie Scripts | Storytelling | Screenwriting Podcasts | Screenwriting Contests | Writers

BPS 009: How Marketable is Your Film Idea or Screenplay?

If you are fans of episode  IFH 088: Why Filmmakers are Always So Damn Broke & What They Can Do to Change It, then you are going to love this one. I wanted to put together an episode as a wake-up call for the IFH Tribe. I wanted to scare the hell out of you a bit but in a good way. So many people talk about their dreams and so few actually doing anything about it. 

This episode is hopefully the kick in the ass you need to get start TODAY and follow your dreams. I share some personal and raw things in this one in hopes that it moves you into action. Disclaimer: I am a bit RAW in this episode so don't listen with small kids in the room. 

I hope this helps you on your path. Enjoy!

Indie Film Hustle Podcast: Filmmaking | Film School | Screenwriting | Film Marketing | Independent Film | Cinematography | Film Festival | Filmmaking Podcasts

IFH 237: Why You Need to Get Up Off Your Ass NOW & Follow Your Dreams

You are in for a treat. This week's guest, MICHAEL HAUGE has been one of Hollywood’s top script consultants, story experts, and authors for more than 30 years.

He coaches screenwriters, novelists, filmmakers, professional speakers, internet marketers and corporate leaders, helping transform their stories and their audiences using the principles and methods of Hollywood’s most successful movies.

Michael has consulted on films starring – among many others - Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts and Morgan Freeman, and has presented lectures and workshops to more than 70,000 participants worldwide.

He is the best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell (now in its 20th Anniversary Edition) and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read. According to Will Smith,

“No one is better than Michael Hauge at finding what is most authentic in every moment of a story.” - Will Smith

After our interview with Michael Hauge and I decide to bring one of his best courses to the Bulletproof Screenplay Tribe. We called it the Screenplay and Story Blueprint: The Hero's Two Journeys. (Click here for a special discount)

Bulletproof Screenplay Podcast: Screenwriting | Screenwriters | Screenplay | Movie Scripts | Storytelling | Screenwriting Podcasts | Screenwriting Contests

BPS 010: How to Write a Screenplay That Sells with Michael Hauge

Please note: Throwback Fridays are archival episodes from the Indie Film Hustle Podcast. After many requests from the IFH Tribe to bring back some of the show's best episodes, I decided to create Throwback Fridays. These episodes will not be posted every week but at least twice a month...if not more. There is so much amazing info and knowledge bombs in many of these past episodes and I don't want them to be lost in the sea of IFH Content so I'll be putting a spotlight on them in Throwback Fridays. Enjoy!

Lloyd Kaufman & Troma: How I Make Money Selling Movies

What can I say about Lloyd Kaufman? Director. Writer. Producer. Indie Filmmaker. Innovator. Nice guy. Pain in the ass of mainstream media. I believe all of those statements are true and then some.

Lloyd Kaufman is one the original indie filmmakers going back to the 1970's. The Troma Universe was born in 1974 with a series of highly original, raunchy comedies such as Squeeze Play!, Stuck On You!, Waitress!, and other film titles ending with an exclamation point.

In my favorite decade, the 80's, is where Lloyd Kaufman really made a name for himself. His 1984 sleeper hit The Toxic Avenger launched his career and his production company Troma Entertainment. Creating his own brand of independent films, Lloyd Kaufman discovered there was a market for his "unique type" of films.

The success of The Toxic Avenger was followed by a string of commercial and artistic triumphs in a similar vein, blending fantasy, comedy, bad ass action, and a bit of eroticism in a style that can only be described as “Tromatic”.

These films, including the Class of Nuke ‘Em High trilogy, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, and Troma’s War, were often ignored or scorned by the intelligentsia of the time but spoke to an entire generation (including yours truly) of young people who rejected the pandering, commercial films of the mid-to-late 80’s. Some of his fans include Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Mike Judge, Peter Jackson, and Trey Parker.

Related: How a 17 yr old Directed & Sold Her 1st Feature on 16mm Film

Always one to help indie filmmakers, Lloyd Kaufman just wrote his most recent book Sell Your Own Damn Movie!, the latest installment of his acclaimed series of books on guerrilla filmmaking that includes Make Your Own Damn Movie: Secrets of a Renegade Director, Direct Your Own Damn Movie! and Produce Your Own Damn Movie!  The books have inspired Kaufman to teach a successful series of Master Classes at colleges and institutions across the country and the world!

To say this was an enjoyable and entertaining interview would be an understatement. Enjoy my conversation with the one and only Lloyd Kaufman.

THROWBACK FRIDAY: Lloyd Kaufman & Troma: How I Make Money Selling Movies

The Filmmakers Podcast meets the Indie Film Hustle !!
Giles Alderson (The Dare) and Alex Ferrari (This Is Meg) chat together about making indie films, podcasting and how Alex made his latest film On The Corner of Ego and Desire at the Sundance Film Festival when the festival was in full swing right under the noses of the every day public and staff.
We start at the beginning though and how Alex got started in film-making and his ups and downs before he finally made his first feature film This is Meg.

Alex discusses how being the problem as a first timer filmmaker/director and being the issue is one of the reasons why your film might not get made but sometimes it's good not to happen too early or he would have self imploded and destroyed himself with all that came with it.

Being so close before it gets taken away is brutal and devastating.

How he went after his dream and made This Is Meg. and wrote the Scriptment with the star of the film Jill-Michele Melean .

He decided to do what he preaches about and went out and made a movie. "Just do it. Find the resources you know and make it happen". and How he put it out on various platforms including Hulu.

People always think your first film has to be a breakthrough hit . It doesn’t. Just make a film and learn from your failings

Making On The Corner of Ego and Desire, a feature film at the Sundance Film Festival during the festival was a challenge but he made it happen. Getting the cast and crew together and making the ‘director’ role a female. Wanted to make a movie about trying to sell a movie at Sundance. A this is Spinal Tap for the movie makers

How people at teh festival were happy to help out. Managed to shoot in amazing places, Molly’s, outside nightclubs, on buses and Sundance head quarters without getting kicked out.

The only issue was the party scene they had at their own Sundance party were people were having too much fun to care about someone making a movie.

But Alex tells us how making the whole movie was like improvisation Jazz. It’s emotional and semi autobiographical

Distribution side of things . Going to see where the festivals takes it.

“Get out of your own way, stop being afraid and get out and do it. Don't wait for it to be perfect”

Fail as often as you can so you can get down to the work

You have to love this,

Not only does Alex run the Indie Film Hustle podcast and website but also now hosts the Bullet proof screenwriters podcast

Links
www.Bulletproofscreenwriters.com
www.Indiefilmhustle.com
https://indiefilmhustle.com/egoanddesire/
BUY This is Meg https://www.amazon.com/This-Meg-Jill-Michele-Mele%C3%A1n/dp/B074DQQN1M
Twitter @indiefilmhustle @IamAlexFerrari

WATCH World of Darkness documentary: https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Darkness-Documentary-Kevin-Lee/dp/B07BS35KQ2
Follow us at www.thefilmmakerspodcast.com
T @filmmakerspod @gilesalderson

The Filmmakers Podcast

Ep 54 HOW TO MAKE AN INDIEFILM AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL with Alex Ferrari

Indie Film Hustle is dedicated to showing you how to hack filmmaking & the film business. Interviews with Acadamy Award® / Oscar nominees and industry professionals giving you the real deal from the inside with no BS, just the truth on what it takes to survive and thrive doing what you love. 

We discuss cinematography, RED Camera, Arri Alexa, Blackmagic camera, post production, color grading, filmmaking, visual effects, motion graphics, film festivals, editing, film crews, directing, producing, film business, screenwriting, movie scripts, film distribution, film marketing, VOD, VHX, iTunes distribution, DIY filmmaking stuff, short films, feature films, video training courses, web series and much more in this podcast, all in an effort for you to survive and thrive in the jungles of the film business. 

Hosted by Filmmaker Alex Ferrari 
http://www.indiefilmhustle.com

IFH 222: How to Shoot and Sell a $5000 Micro Budget Feature Film with Claudia Pickering

IFH Filmmaking & Screenwriting Podcast Network

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