Everyone Has Two Careers. Their Career, and the Film Industry

Ok seriously, who here hasn’t considered making a movie before?  Unless you come from a country that doesn’t have the luxury of watching motion pictures, I defy anyone to honestly tell me that they’ve never once felt the urge to make their own movie.  If you tell me that you haven’t, then I don’t believe you.  Simple as that.

The desire to make movies is in our genetic makeup.  It’s the modern day equivalent of story telling.  There has been storytelling as long as there has been human interaction, and there always will be.  Movies just happen to be, arguably, the most popular form of story telling around today.

Making It Happen

However, there’s a lot of distance between the eager young film buff with a handicam and a book off of the shelf of the local bookstore, and the director of the latest 100 million Hollywood Blockbuster.  Sadly, the stark contrast between the common person and the A List of the Entertainment Industry causes a lot of people to chalk up the desire to make movies as a mere pipe dream.  Well, let me tell you that it is NOT a pipe dream.  The difference between you and most of the people in Hollywood is that they wanted it bad enough to pursue it.  If you want to make a movie, then you have the right to!

Learn By Example

Don’t think that you need credentials or tons of experience to make a movie.  This is a defeatist way to look at it.  If you truly want to make a movie then just do it.  Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re chasing an unattainable dream.  Take Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight for example.  He had a tangible love for film making and story telling, and did it out of passion for his entire adolescent life.  He directed his first feature film at the age of 26 on the weekends with a humble budget of $6000.  This film, which was called “Following” led to him being tapped to direct his phenomenal project “Memento”, which led to “Insomnia” which led to “Batman Begins”.

What can you learn from Mr. Nolan?  Just create.  Learn from your mistakes.  Have others critique your work.  Align yourself with motivated people.  If making movies is truly in your blood, then don’t wait for permission to do it… just do it.  Much like how the storytellers of yesteryear didn’t need written approval from giant corporations to tell campfire tales and bedtime stories, you don’t need anyone’s permission to sit down and make that first movie of yours.  You have to start somewhere and sometime, and you’re never going to become a talented movie maker until you become a movie maker in the first place!

Make It Worthy Of Being Watched.

As far as making a quality movie, what is truly important is content.  If you have good content, it doesn’t matter how it’s presented, as long as its presented clearly.  Good content is the most valuable asset you can have when you make your movie.

The Saw franchise was started by newcomer filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell, on the strength of a 9/12 minute short film which was reportedly made for around $7000.

Clerks, which catapulted writer/director Kevin Smith out of obscurity and jumpstarted his highly successful movie career was shot for $27,575, of which he financed himself.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

While these numbers may not seem low to you, please note that when these numbers are viewed as investments, they are actually incredibly lucrative.

Altogether, the Saw franchise has gone on to generate $548,874,868 worldwide, 78,410 times the initial investment cost.

Kevin Smith has gone on to direct 8 films since Clerk, and has made tons of money.

Afraid Of Criticism? Suck It Up!

I won’t lie to you.  There is a section of viewers who will judge your work based on whether or not it looks like a multi-million dollar movie, but that section is getting smaller and smaller every year.  Nowadays, content is what sells.  And besides, behind every successful person lies a pack of haters.  Nothing that was ever worthwhile escaped criticism.  If you are afraid of being criticized, then you are afraid of living.  I can’t put it any more blunt than that.

Now’s the Time To Make Your Dreams Come True.

With more and more highly successful movies being made on low budgets, and increasingly big bucks being invested into making movies look amateur, there’s no reason not to get into the game with your own movies.  You may end up being the best thing to happen to the film industry in years!  Just think about that.  You may end up making a nice living off of creating.  All those years of going to movies will have paid off, and the next time you go, it could be YOUR name at the beginning of the opening credits when it says “Directed by”.  YOU can make it happen!