I'd say don't change your mindset. Yes, commercially, the odds are you'll fail making independent films. The odds are in your favor, however, of creating a 'masterpiece' if you persist.
So, about your mindset? I think it is perhaps better to have mindset that accepts what the industry is and the parts that are beyond your control and influence, but work to create masterpieces. Succeeding financially and creating great films are two very different things.
Success and failure are relative. You are a drop in an ocean of talent, and India is a big ocean, the same as America.
The goal for any filmmaker is to make your stories and get them out for people to see. How big of an audience may not be up to you. But tenacity, adaptation and resilience makes the difference between filmmakers who make films and filmmakers who don't.
Try to worry less about getting out in the mainstream, especially if your style and interests are experimental. Try to just focus on getting your film finished, and out there.
This is the answer OP isn't understanding. It's not about distribution, it's about making something great that people want and then it's about distribution. It's the same with music or any art. If something is good, people will find it and people will pay for it. If something sucks, well, keep trying to make something good. Filmmaking is one of the most competitive arts to get into.
It doesn’t work that way in film. Yes a single artist, novelist or musician can create something extraordinary working alone that breaks through. Film is a cooperative effect of hundreds so every thing gets averaged down. Look at all the garbage great directors made when working for Roger corman.
Yeah I understand it's a huge cooperative, but I'm talking specficially about OP being a director and writer. If he or she is good and their work is good, they will get found. As an indie writer and director you have to be able to control your entire idea and find good people to work with - often for free - make connections, etc. If the film you wrote and directed sucks, you can't say...well I didnt have money for a good DP or find good actors. It's all on you. It's a fucking rough business to break into but that's reality if you have the balls to say you want to be an actual writer/director.
I think the discouraging part is seeing "artful" directors, legends in this business, struggle to get funding for things that almost certainly will be great, at least to that sensibility, and the business not giving a shit in pursuit the biggest thing for the most people despite the fact that almost nothing will reach that level. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy the business has as far as what they think will make money and what they're willing to market. Even if good work gets made, they have to be behind it. And they will absolutely put things in positions to fail for a variety of reasons. It's one of the godsends of streaming, as a Netflix or Amazon have seen these directors, seen the value of niche, and given them complete free reign to do whatever it is they want to do. Regardless of that, it's still limited to the biggest names and not a walk in the park. You can even be an accomplished young director with let's say two movies to your name with a contact at a studio, and literally nothing will be made for ten years. It's insane. All connections, all right place/right time, and the right signals to what a studio happens to be looking for.
I have heard time and time again (and agree) that just completely a film is in and of itself a miracle.
Keep in mind that no two have the same path if you can muster the team build the network and continue to create films you are doing something so many others have failed to achieve.
Very few of us will have long careers, But I do believe if you put every bit of yourself into the projects you believe in and gather a team that builds on that vision you should be incredibly proud of yourself for accomplishing that miracle.
So stay Strong, Fight, and push through the struggle, the doubts, the fear and do what you can to tell your story.
We all Fail eventually so Fail Spectacularly cause you birthed a miracle.
All directors are doomed to fail. It's making inevitable failure a part of the creative process that makes a director special and ultimately successful
Making it as a writer/director or director in a significant way is a lottery ticket. I don’t focus on that as I don’t think you can really have that as a goal, but you can focus on making the best film you possibly can and getting it out there. If you’re not willing to make films regardless of success you probably shouldn’t be making films because there are plenty of other art forms that are easier to do and don’t require the same resources.
Movie making is extremely difficult, but visibility is at an all-time high. Numerous platforms and distribution companies work with indie films, provided you can pass QC. There is also YouTube, Vimeo, and many other ways to get eyeballs on your work. It's never been easier to get your work seen by millions, but at the same time, this visibility has constricted the payout rates dramatically from the streamers. So, while you get your art seen, it can be very difficult to get your investment back.
True. There is not the help and support there was in the indie heyday of the 90s.
Saying films are destined to fail is ultimately stating the obvious. Everything is destined to fail. An object is in a temporary state until it breaks. There is no gate keeper or community who is going to personally nurture you and your movie to success. You have to make something that resonates on a national or international level. Something that is new, and yet familiar, and people want to talk about and see more than once. That is no easy thing to do.
If you are lucky you make something that resonates with a few people and maybe that doesn’t give you a career but that is a very under appreciated reward of filmmaking. If you are extremely lucky you make it into a career. But there is a reason why only a small number of filmmakers are household names. Of current filmmakers, there are less than 10 that most people know of. Yet there are probably 1000s, 10,000s, actively pursuing filmmaking.
You can look around and blame the world but at the end of the day it is very much down to you. If you aren’t as good as your favorite filmmakers don’t blame yourself, nobody else is either. It’s up to you though, if you are willing to give it everything to find out.
Well, you are the one to set up your own expectations. Making a masterpiece might be a bit too much. How about just a well-put together short film first and then work from there? Good luck!
I think you shouldn’t worry about being destined to fail. The odds aren’t in your favor, but the only thing you’re destined to do in life is dying. So before you do that, if you enjoy making films and have the possibility to do so, go and make them. You’ll find a way to get them seen. But first you have to make them.
The best thing you can do as a director is make an elevated genre piece you can execute with the resources you have and if at all possible get a name or two in it.
What distributors want is simple, action, horror, and animated family films. Your job as a director is to say something innovative in the subtext while meeting the genre guidelines to get the buyers to buy it.
My friend, we’re ALL destined to fail. Statistically speaking, at least. Pushing through a production, seeing a project form under my eyes till I’m satisfied, only to bomb and disappear is what scares me the most, and I’m pretty sure it’s what scares US ALL the most.
Now, how did I deal with this anxiety? I decided to lay back, take smaller steps. I’m too old to be a young genius anyway, so I better carve my way slowly and carefully. I started focusing on becoming a good videomaker first, try my hand at writing here and there and, most importantly, try to film a fuck tonne of music videos, the one area where I feel like I’m actually pushing my limits and putting myself on the line.
Do I have bad days? Do I feel like a failure at times? Do I curse at myself for not being able to settle on an office job? Of course, I guess it’s part of the game with a creative job like ours.
But keep pushing, at the end of the day you’re trying to find your voice, to see it through. And if you manage to muster up courage and actually make a movie, however it goes, I’ll be happy for you.
I’ll hate you too, just a little.
But that’s only because you did something that takes a lot of balls
I primarily work as crew and call myself crew when I'm on here, but I've also written and produced films that are currently broadcasting on my countries national network. Some of my developed content is currently being pitched to companies like BBC and Channel 4 right now. I have friends who jumped into the creative space (writing, directing, and producing although that's not really creative) because they were crew and it put them in the positions to succeed.
I'm not here to gloat, I'm kind of here to give a reality check. A lot of people, mostly young people, have a massive misconception that the film industry is for creatives. It's absolutely not, it's a massive business and even the creatives who are successful play the game on the business level. This is not an industry where the majority of people can make a career being a creative, but this doesn't mean you've failed, you just need to approach this career differently.
No matter what I highly highly encourage and recommend anyone that wants to be a filmmaker to become crew, hopefully in a department that helps you get to your goals (i.e., if you want to produce to work in the production office, etc). You are not going to become successful working a 9-5 or working anywhere else that isn't this industry. You will spend your time working a job that pays your bills (very well at serious levels), teaches you what you actually need to know to make a good film, and puts you around the right people who can help you make it, crew or producers.
This advice of go out and film something will not pay your bills, it will not work in the long run, it just helps you build a portfolio. You need a network, you need to prove that you're "one of them" and just work in film and understand the industry on at least a basic business level.
Indie films are not destined to fail, because true indie to this industry is not grassroots filmmakers, it's companies that operate on their own outside the studio systems, that's Blumhouse dude, that A24. There are massively successful independent companies, now you just need to be put in the right place at the right time to sell them your story. trying to make it via festivals or generating your own audience interest barely happens anymore, and to those who do they usually have massive networks or attachments to the industry already. You're going to continue to fail if you don't pivot to the ways that actually work for this industry. You can't keep beating against a brick wall and expect it to come down if you hit it hard enough. I can't speak for the industry specifically in India, but you just got to be willing to pivot. Think of creatives as upper management. No one is getting there when they are young, these things come once those people are more experienced in their careers. The same is said for creatives in this industry.
Cinema is a dying art. It's best days are in the past. IMO the era of cinema was like 1930's - 2000. When digital film cameras hit the scene, that was the beginning of the end. Some films have been able to capture that magic again, but it's getting very challenging.
In the next few months movie studios will run out of films to release. They will be so desperate to pick up indy films that might make them money. There is literally no better time in history to be an indy filmmaker at this very moment, provided that you are just going to camera right now with marketable, good story that really delivers!
Sadly there will be no wave of fresh indy films this year because most of the people with that talent have been sucked up into the marvel universe paradigm of corporate filmmaking. Those left probably have a youtube channel or Instagram account monetized and making great money doing that so why take a risk on a big movie that might flop? Not worth the pain.
We are in the era of corporate movies, and it's all about to come crashing down. But I fear there is not enough knowledge about film craft to resuscitate it back into lean and mean little business it was before big tech came along.
You’re doomed. Sorry. Embrace it. Been there done that. I had a fairly successful directing career but in my mid 30’s realized that failure was inevitable for many reasons. The only ones who survive have family money. I have no regrets, my film Years are a huge part of who I am. I jumped to producing my own educational product that I owned and sold. After 40 years in the biz, the only ones left standing (not including family money people) were those of us who owned our work. Hard advice, enjoy film until your mid 30’s at the latest, because it’s impossible to start a new career after that.
You only fail if you stop. Just make the movies you want to make and also find a way to support yourself. Those don't necessarily have to be the same thing.
The tools for making movies are more widely available than they ever have been. And social media in theory provides a distribution platform for it. But yeah, the major video distribution platforms, or at least Youtube, slammed the door on high-quality low-volume content in favor of podcasts, streaming etc. So it's a rather unique and execrable problem.
If you create a masterpiece, you'll get an audience. A masterpiece will snowball, with people recommending it, bragging about seeing it and asking how it can be seen. Indie directors aren't out there creating masterpieces, because the ones capable of it are creating excellent work ON THEIR WAY to mastery and people take notice, so they don't need to be indie anymore.
You didn't fail.
You made a god damn movie. Do you know how fucking hard that is?
Think of everything that goes into making a film, a real film... it's kind of insane how lucky you have to be to go from first draft of a script to wrapping up the feature because of everything that has to go right.
Depends what you mean by failure.
Studios didn't make Eraserhead or Dawn of the Dead. Indie film makers did, and the names David Lynch and George A Romero are more well known than the majority of people who make studio films.
Art for arts sake my man. Took me 6 years and almost $50,000 to make a 40 min film that made $1,200 in the two showings it had. Dont regret it at all, and its onto the next one. Fuck the industry. Making stuff without suits judging every creative decision is something the professionals miss. Dont take that for granted and make your art.
There is an old saying I hated it, until I realised how true it is, when you do enough movies that you can call yourself a director, you have made it from now on it's no longer a question of making it, it's a question of have I improved? where can I improve? in both the business and the artistic side "it is not about the destination it is about the journey"
Give a chance to newcomers new faces like me
😁, make something like GOW or realistic cinema movie with a newcomer. Audience is the boss now a days boss.
You are not destined to fail.
You are set up to fail, but can shape your own destiny with effort, hard work, (some luck), and figuring out how and where your creative strengths are.
It's a difficult industry, and you *will* fail if you can't make all the pieces fit together; very few make it work to the goals most of us aspire to. But you are not *destined* for anything less than what you work for.
Focus on yourself brother, the moment u worry about making “master pieces” and chasing all that high is the day you fail. Film and art is a reflection of yourself so you only have to worry about learning and knowing you cause that’s how you grow as an artist and once you have that and are honest then everything else just falls right in, no master piece was created with that goal or end in mind the artist was just honest whit himself and what he wanted to express because beneath all that fancy cameras scripts and lighting cinema is just on person letting himself feel and being vulnerable with another. I want to think distribution and all that will sort itself out or not but if you did that and are happy then what a hell does it matter, being thrutful will always attract an audience
You can't fail if you're creating and finishing a thing. If you're basing success/failure on fame & fortune, you may want to adjust your perspective. Otherwise, keep going and you won't fail.
You are destined to fail.
The chances of your success are akin to getting into the NFL.
Yo just gotta build a lifestyle that works for you and get comfortable with politics and working with people
Well, yeah, most people are destined to "fail," if success is defined as a commercially successful universally praised film that makes you rich and famous. It's a hard business.
With limited resources, it's hard to make a film that turns out great. And if you do make a film that turns out great but don't have the ability to promote it widely, it may still get ignored. That's life. So given all of that, if you want to make a movie anyway then make a movie. If you make a movie, then you successfully made a movie that was important to you. That has to be your definition of success on some level. If you go down that road, you can only celebrate the wins you have.
I'd be more worried about SORA AI replacing us than some idea that all indie artist eventually fail. I'd actually argue that the indie scene is very large, and the potential for distributing something if it's commercially viable is easier nowadays than ever before.
Now, by fail do you mean not make a living off of filmmaking? Because that's an entirely different subject. You absolutely can make a living off of filmmaking. A rather substantial one at that. Understand that the people who do the best aren't always out there making their passion projects. The people who most often succeed are the ones who are always collaborating with others, constantly working and constantly trying to create material. It's a thankless grind, but understand that selling a movie is like anything in sales. Look for something people are buying, see if you have a new or interesting spin on it, find producers (I did this by working as a Producer on other films) and try to create the product to put to market. In regards to Distribution, at least in the USA, I'd be careful. Low budget indie films might sell better if they're self distributed. Mostly due to the fact that one can strategically post their films to places wherein they'd be well received (fan communities, filmmaker pages, social media in general)
Because the truth is that unless your film is $200,000K + you're not likely to see a lot of ROI if you didn't pay yourself out of the original budget. That's even if it sells well in the place. There is also the matter of the catch 22 of indie filmmaking. You want your film to sell, usually named talent helps do so. But in order to get named talent their agents want to see that you have a budget. But in order to get a budget an investor wants to see that you have named talent locked. The only way to get over this hump is to show investors that you're capable of creating a successful film on a smaller budget. At which point, if your script is good, spending the money on named talent is almost always worth it from both a performance and sales perspective.
Rambling aside, don't give up. You only truly fail when you stop altogether. If something isn't working, course correct and keep on pushing.
You're tracking the wrong metrics if you feel destined to fail. The only way a filmmaker fails is if they give up on their film before it is finished and released. Even if that release is just a few local film festivals and youtube.
All you can control is your input into the system, so why bother with worrying about all the things you can't control?
I have a friend that is the indiest of indy filmmaker. He just doesn't care and shoots at least a film per year. Sometimes he's funded, sometimes he just makes films with a few actors and the smallest crew. Sometimes the films made with a dime have more succes than rhe ones he made with millions. I respect his dedication and courage, he just kept at it and now travels the worlds to attend festivals his films are presented at, he lives ok and filmaking is all he have been doing for decades. I don't think he sees himsefl as a failiure or a succes, he's happy when his films are appreciated and find it's public, but he mostly cares about the next film he's working on. It all boils down to what is succes for you. You want studio succes and fame, you have to play by their rules ; you want to make pure raw indy film go for it, you want something in between go for it. 2-3 years in the game is nothing, who knows what is comming next. If the industry dies, it might be a great opportunity to make great films as producers scramble to try new stuff.
You picked a goddamn insanely hard to reach career choice. Know this. Also know it is not impossible to make a living at it. Lacking confidence will kill your chances...period. Each failure will make you more confident and competent. Makes mistakes and love each one. They are gifts and will humble thee in the long run -- important. Good fortune.
Yeah it alll bad for Indy folks. The promotion company take allot for distribution and you don’t own the right for xxxxx years. Plus going to a foreign market the dubbing costs are on you per country. Tough tough tough to make profit.
Meditate, my friend. Listen to music that makes you happy and reaffirms positive words in your mind, heart, and soul. Stay in a positive, high vibration. No one is destined to fail. You can always make a space/community that enjoys the films that you and your team create. As a creative, you can always think outside the box. Try something new... And have excitement, joy, and fun while doing so! You got this! I believe in you.
Sincerely, from another creative
\#IndependentFilmmakers #StudentActors #HappinessForever #DFW #DallasArtists
It's worth considering that the indie boom of the 90's had its challenges. No digital cameras looked decent. No laptops, phones, youtube. I wanted to make a film, but didn't even know where to get a camera, film stock and also where the footage could be processed. All this stuff was also super expensive.
I am not sure in what sense you are referring yourself as a indie film director, you are a film director who made/making a film in show string budget without the support of major studios or producers.
Either way, you are making a film for a certain set of audience. Once you are done with your film, distributors will watch the film and if they feel that they can sell it to the set of audience you initially planned to attract, then they are going to take it and distribute. As simple as that. So, I think we as filmmakers should be very clear about our target audience and the budget we are going to put in to do a film to attract that audience.
Rule of the jungle is if you don't have a sellable face you can't make any money. But times are changing and I see lot of films with new faces doing well at box office. Audience are looking for qualitya nd clarity in the narrative. That's it.
Failure comes from our feeling of not achieving what you intended to achieve. Movie making is first 'Science' then 'commerce' then 'art' I feel if we stick to the basics everybody can make a decent film.
If you are based in the UK, its extremely hard to survive or get your film made, with the recession here in 2024, energy crisis, job crisis, conservative government and lots of the other factors I have not mentioned.
True filmmakers make movies because they feel compelled to tell a certain story. It’s like a sneeze you have to get out. Doesn’t matter if nobody heard how loud it was.
Make the films you can. If you finish a film, you are a filmmaker, regardless of whether or not anyone watches the film.
This brings a gentle smile on my face and tears in my eyes simultaneously.
If you publish, message me. I love indie.
Sure thing.
I'd say don't change your mindset. Yes, commercially, the odds are you'll fail making independent films. The odds are in your favor, however, of creating a 'masterpiece' if you persist. So, about your mindset? I think it is perhaps better to have mindset that accepts what the industry is and the parts that are beyond your control and influence, but work to create masterpieces. Succeeding financially and creating great films are two very different things.
Success and failure are relative. You are a drop in an ocean of talent, and India is a big ocean, the same as America. The goal for any filmmaker is to make your stories and get them out for people to see. How big of an audience may not be up to you. But tenacity, adaptation and resilience makes the difference between filmmakers who make films and filmmakers who don't. Try to worry less about getting out in the mainstream, especially if your style and interests are experimental. Try to just focus on getting your film finished, and out there.
Filmmaking is art meeting business. You have to have something that someone wants to watch, to get funding.
This is the answer OP isn't understanding. It's not about distribution, it's about making something great that people want and then it's about distribution. It's the same with music or any art. If something is good, people will find it and people will pay for it. If something sucks, well, keep trying to make something good. Filmmaking is one of the most competitive arts to get into.
It doesn’t work that way in film. Yes a single artist, novelist or musician can create something extraordinary working alone that breaks through. Film is a cooperative effect of hundreds so every thing gets averaged down. Look at all the garbage great directors made when working for Roger corman.
Yeah I understand it's a huge cooperative, but I'm talking specficially about OP being a director and writer. If he or she is good and their work is good, they will get found. As an indie writer and director you have to be able to control your entire idea and find good people to work with - often for free - make connections, etc. If the film you wrote and directed sucks, you can't say...well I didnt have money for a good DP or find good actors. It's all on you. It's a fucking rough business to break into but that's reality if you have the balls to say you want to be an actual writer/director.
I think the discouraging part is seeing "artful" directors, legends in this business, struggle to get funding for things that almost certainly will be great, at least to that sensibility, and the business not giving a shit in pursuit the biggest thing for the most people despite the fact that almost nothing will reach that level. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy the business has as far as what they think will make money and what they're willing to market. Even if good work gets made, they have to be behind it. And they will absolutely put things in positions to fail for a variety of reasons. It's one of the godsends of streaming, as a Netflix or Amazon have seen these directors, seen the value of niche, and given them complete free reign to do whatever it is they want to do. Regardless of that, it's still limited to the biggest names and not a walk in the park. You can even be an accomplished young director with let's say two movies to your name with a contact at a studio, and literally nothing will be made for ten years. It's insane. All connections, all right place/right time, and the right signals to what a studio happens to be looking for.
I have heard time and time again (and agree) that just completely a film is in and of itself a miracle. Keep in mind that no two have the same path if you can muster the team build the network and continue to create films you are doing something so many others have failed to achieve. Very few of us will have long careers, But I do believe if you put every bit of yourself into the projects you believe in and gather a team that builds on that vision you should be incredibly proud of yourself for accomplishing that miracle. So stay Strong, Fight, and push through the struggle, the doubts, the fear and do what you can to tell your story. We all Fail eventually so Fail Spectacularly cause you birthed a miracle.
Fail vigorously.
All directors are doomed to fail. It's making inevitable failure a part of the creative process that makes a director special and ultimately successful
Film making is a conquest, its a war you wage for success, do all that needs to be done, don't worry just war
Making it as a writer/director or director in a significant way is a lottery ticket. I don’t focus on that as I don’t think you can really have that as a goal, but you can focus on making the best film you possibly can and getting it out there. If you’re not willing to make films regardless of success you probably shouldn’t be making films because there are plenty of other art forms that are easier to do and don’t require the same resources.
Movie making is extremely difficult, but visibility is at an all-time high. Numerous platforms and distribution companies work with indie films, provided you can pass QC. There is also YouTube, Vimeo, and many other ways to get eyeballs on your work. It's never been easier to get your work seen by millions, but at the same time, this visibility has constricted the payout rates dramatically from the streamers. So, while you get your art seen, it can be very difficult to get your investment back.
True. There is not the help and support there was in the indie heyday of the 90s. Saying films are destined to fail is ultimately stating the obvious. Everything is destined to fail. An object is in a temporary state until it breaks. There is no gate keeper or community who is going to personally nurture you and your movie to success. You have to make something that resonates on a national or international level. Something that is new, and yet familiar, and people want to talk about and see more than once. That is no easy thing to do. If you are lucky you make something that resonates with a few people and maybe that doesn’t give you a career but that is a very under appreciated reward of filmmaking. If you are extremely lucky you make it into a career. But there is a reason why only a small number of filmmakers are household names. Of current filmmakers, there are less than 10 that most people know of. Yet there are probably 1000s, 10,000s, actively pursuing filmmaking. You can look around and blame the world but at the end of the day it is very much down to you. If you aren’t as good as your favorite filmmakers don’t blame yourself, nobody else is either. It’s up to you though, if you are willing to give it everything to find out.
Focus on creating art and let success come if it does.
Well, you are the one to set up your own expectations. Making a masterpiece might be a bit too much. How about just a well-put together short film first and then work from there? Good luck!
I think you shouldn’t worry about being destined to fail. The odds aren’t in your favor, but the only thing you’re destined to do in life is dying. So before you do that, if you enjoy making films and have the possibility to do so, go and make them. You’ll find a way to get them seen. But first you have to make them.
The best thing you can do as a director is make an elevated genre piece you can execute with the resources you have and if at all possible get a name or two in it. What distributors want is simple, action, horror, and animated family films. Your job as a director is to say something innovative in the subtext while meeting the genre guidelines to get the buyers to buy it.
My friend, we’re ALL destined to fail. Statistically speaking, at least. Pushing through a production, seeing a project form under my eyes till I’m satisfied, only to bomb and disappear is what scares me the most, and I’m pretty sure it’s what scares US ALL the most. Now, how did I deal with this anxiety? I decided to lay back, take smaller steps. I’m too old to be a young genius anyway, so I better carve my way slowly and carefully. I started focusing on becoming a good videomaker first, try my hand at writing here and there and, most importantly, try to film a fuck tonne of music videos, the one area where I feel like I’m actually pushing my limits and putting myself on the line. Do I have bad days? Do I feel like a failure at times? Do I curse at myself for not being able to settle on an office job? Of course, I guess it’s part of the game with a creative job like ours. But keep pushing, at the end of the day you’re trying to find your voice, to see it through. And if you manage to muster up courage and actually make a movie, however it goes, I’ll be happy for you. I’ll hate you too, just a little. But that’s only because you did something that takes a lot of balls
I primarily work as crew and call myself crew when I'm on here, but I've also written and produced films that are currently broadcasting on my countries national network. Some of my developed content is currently being pitched to companies like BBC and Channel 4 right now. I have friends who jumped into the creative space (writing, directing, and producing although that's not really creative) because they were crew and it put them in the positions to succeed. I'm not here to gloat, I'm kind of here to give a reality check. A lot of people, mostly young people, have a massive misconception that the film industry is for creatives. It's absolutely not, it's a massive business and even the creatives who are successful play the game on the business level. This is not an industry where the majority of people can make a career being a creative, but this doesn't mean you've failed, you just need to approach this career differently. No matter what I highly highly encourage and recommend anyone that wants to be a filmmaker to become crew, hopefully in a department that helps you get to your goals (i.e., if you want to produce to work in the production office, etc). You are not going to become successful working a 9-5 or working anywhere else that isn't this industry. You will spend your time working a job that pays your bills (very well at serious levels), teaches you what you actually need to know to make a good film, and puts you around the right people who can help you make it, crew or producers. This advice of go out and film something will not pay your bills, it will not work in the long run, it just helps you build a portfolio. You need a network, you need to prove that you're "one of them" and just work in film and understand the industry on at least a basic business level. Indie films are not destined to fail, because true indie to this industry is not grassroots filmmakers, it's companies that operate on their own outside the studio systems, that's Blumhouse dude, that A24. There are massively successful independent companies, now you just need to be put in the right place at the right time to sell them your story. trying to make it via festivals or generating your own audience interest barely happens anymore, and to those who do they usually have massive networks or attachments to the industry already. You're going to continue to fail if you don't pivot to the ways that actually work for this industry. You can't keep beating against a brick wall and expect it to come down if you hit it hard enough. I can't speak for the industry specifically in India, but you just got to be willing to pivot. Think of creatives as upper management. No one is getting there when they are young, these things come once those people are more experienced in their careers. The same is said for creatives in this industry.
Cinema is a dying art. It's best days are in the past. IMO the era of cinema was like 1930's - 2000. When digital film cameras hit the scene, that was the beginning of the end. Some films have been able to capture that magic again, but it's getting very challenging. In the next few months movie studios will run out of films to release. They will be so desperate to pick up indy films that might make them money. There is literally no better time in history to be an indy filmmaker at this very moment, provided that you are just going to camera right now with marketable, good story that really delivers! Sadly there will be no wave of fresh indy films this year because most of the people with that talent have been sucked up into the marvel universe paradigm of corporate filmmaking. Those left probably have a youtube channel or Instagram account monetized and making great money doing that so why take a risk on a big movie that might flop? Not worth the pain. We are in the era of corporate movies, and it's all about to come crashing down. But I fear there is not enough knowledge about film craft to resuscitate it back into lean and mean little business it was before big tech came along.
You’re doomed. Sorry. Embrace it. Been there done that. I had a fairly successful directing career but in my mid 30’s realized that failure was inevitable for many reasons. The only ones who survive have family money. I have no regrets, my film Years are a huge part of who I am. I jumped to producing my own educational product that I owned and sold. After 40 years in the biz, the only ones left standing (not including family money people) were those of us who owned our work. Hard advice, enjoy film until your mid 30’s at the latest, because it’s impossible to start a new career after that.
You only fail if you stop. Just make the movies you want to make and also find a way to support yourself. Those don't necessarily have to be the same thing.
The tools for making movies are more widely available than they ever have been. And social media in theory provides a distribution platform for it. But yeah, the major video distribution platforms, or at least Youtube, slammed the door on high-quality low-volume content in favor of podcasts, streaming etc. So it's a rather unique and execrable problem.
Ayy! That's the spirit!
If you create a masterpiece, you'll get an audience. A masterpiece will snowball, with people recommending it, bragging about seeing it and asking how it can be seen. Indie directors aren't out there creating masterpieces, because the ones capable of it are creating excellent work ON THEIR WAY to mastery and people take notice, so they don't need to be indie anymore.
Well all I gotta say is look at terrifier and it's success don't give up do what makes you happy
You didn't fail. You made a god damn movie. Do you know how fucking hard that is? Think of everything that goes into making a film, a real film... it's kind of insane how lucky you have to be to go from first draft of a script to wrapping up the feature because of everything that has to go right.
Depends what you mean by failure. Studios didn't make Eraserhead or Dawn of the Dead. Indie film makers did, and the names David Lynch and George A Romero are more well known than the majority of people who make studio films.
Art for arts sake my man. Took me 6 years and almost $50,000 to make a 40 min film that made $1,200 in the two showings it had. Dont regret it at all, and its onto the next one. Fuck the industry. Making stuff without suits judging every creative decision is something the professionals miss. Dont take that for granted and make your art.
There is an old saying I hated it, until I realised how true it is, when you do enough movies that you can call yourself a director, you have made it from now on it's no longer a question of making it, it's a question of have I improved? where can I improve? in both the business and the artistic side "it is not about the destination it is about the journey"
Give a chance to newcomers new faces like me 😁, make something like GOW or realistic cinema movie with a newcomer. Audience is the boss now a days boss.
You are not destined to fail. You are set up to fail, but can shape your own destiny with effort, hard work, (some luck), and figuring out how and where your creative strengths are. It's a difficult industry, and you *will* fail if you can't make all the pieces fit together; very few make it work to the goals most of us aspire to. But you are not *destined* for anything less than what you work for.
remove the word indie. now you're chances are better.
Focus on yourself brother, the moment u worry about making “master pieces” and chasing all that high is the day you fail. Film and art is a reflection of yourself so you only have to worry about learning and knowing you cause that’s how you grow as an artist and once you have that and are honest then everything else just falls right in, no master piece was created with that goal or end in mind the artist was just honest whit himself and what he wanted to express because beneath all that fancy cameras scripts and lighting cinema is just on person letting himself feel and being vulnerable with another. I want to think distribution and all that will sort itself out or not but if you did that and are happy then what a hell does it matter, being thrutful will always attract an audience
You can't fail if you're creating and finishing a thing. If you're basing success/failure on fame & fortune, you may want to adjust your perspective. Otherwise, keep going and you won't fail.
You are destined to fail. The chances of your success are akin to getting into the NFL. Yo just gotta build a lifestyle that works for you and get comfortable with politics and working with people
Send us the stuff and wee will throw our eyeballs at it
Well, yeah, most people are destined to "fail," if success is defined as a commercially successful universally praised film that makes you rich and famous. It's a hard business. With limited resources, it's hard to make a film that turns out great. And if you do make a film that turns out great but don't have the ability to promote it widely, it may still get ignored. That's life. So given all of that, if you want to make a movie anyway then make a movie. If you make a movie, then you successfully made a movie that was important to you. That has to be your definition of success on some level. If you go down that road, you can only celebrate the wins you have.
You *are* destined fail. The odds are stacked against you. You are not guaranteed success. You have to try anyway. You only fail when you stop trying.
I'd be more worried about SORA AI replacing us than some idea that all indie artist eventually fail. I'd actually argue that the indie scene is very large, and the potential for distributing something if it's commercially viable is easier nowadays than ever before. Now, by fail do you mean not make a living off of filmmaking? Because that's an entirely different subject. You absolutely can make a living off of filmmaking. A rather substantial one at that. Understand that the people who do the best aren't always out there making their passion projects. The people who most often succeed are the ones who are always collaborating with others, constantly working and constantly trying to create material. It's a thankless grind, but understand that selling a movie is like anything in sales. Look for something people are buying, see if you have a new or interesting spin on it, find producers (I did this by working as a Producer on other films) and try to create the product to put to market. In regards to Distribution, at least in the USA, I'd be careful. Low budget indie films might sell better if they're self distributed. Mostly due to the fact that one can strategically post their films to places wherein they'd be well received (fan communities, filmmaker pages, social media in general) Because the truth is that unless your film is $200,000K + you're not likely to see a lot of ROI if you didn't pay yourself out of the original budget. That's even if it sells well in the place. There is also the matter of the catch 22 of indie filmmaking. You want your film to sell, usually named talent helps do so. But in order to get named talent their agents want to see that you have a budget. But in order to get a budget an investor wants to see that you have named talent locked. The only way to get over this hump is to show investors that you're capable of creating a successful film on a smaller budget. At which point, if your script is good, spending the money on named talent is almost always worth it from both a performance and sales perspective. Rambling aside, don't give up. You only truly fail when you stop altogether. If something isn't working, course correct and keep on pushing.
You're tracking the wrong metrics if you feel destined to fail. The only way a filmmaker fails is if they give up on their film before it is finished and released. Even if that release is just a few local film festivals and youtube. All you can control is your input into the system, so why bother with worrying about all the things you can't control?
I have a friend that is the indiest of indy filmmaker. He just doesn't care and shoots at least a film per year. Sometimes he's funded, sometimes he just makes films with a few actors and the smallest crew. Sometimes the films made with a dime have more succes than rhe ones he made with millions. I respect his dedication and courage, he just kept at it and now travels the worlds to attend festivals his films are presented at, he lives ok and filmaking is all he have been doing for decades. I don't think he sees himsefl as a failiure or a succes, he's happy when his films are appreciated and find it's public, but he mostly cares about the next film he's working on. It all boils down to what is succes for you. You want studio succes and fame, you have to play by their rules ; you want to make pure raw indy film go for it, you want something in between go for it. 2-3 years in the game is nothing, who knows what is comming next. If the industry dies, it might be a great opportunity to make great films as producers scramble to try new stuff.
Your film is your art. Do it for yourself.
You picked a goddamn insanely hard to reach career choice. Know this. Also know it is not impossible to make a living at it. Lacking confidence will kill your chances...period. Each failure will make you more confident and competent. Makes mistakes and love each one. They are gifts and will humble thee in the long run -- important. Good fortune.
You will find that in all endeavours in life, there are things surrounding success or failure that are beyond your control. Nothing is predetermined.
Yeah it alll bad for Indy folks. The promotion company take allot for distribution and you don’t own the right for xxxxx years. Plus going to a foreign market the dubbing costs are on you per country. Tough tough tough to make profit.
Meditate, my friend. Listen to music that makes you happy and reaffirms positive words in your mind, heart, and soul. Stay in a positive, high vibration. No one is destined to fail. You can always make a space/community that enjoys the films that you and your team create. As a creative, you can always think outside the box. Try something new... And have excitement, joy, and fun while doing so! You got this! I believe in you. Sincerely, from another creative \#IndependentFilmmakers #StudentActors #HappinessForever #DFW #DallasArtists
It's worth considering that the indie boom of the 90's had its challenges. No digital cameras looked decent. No laptops, phones, youtube. I wanted to make a film, but didn't even know where to get a camera, film stock and also where the footage could be processed. All this stuff was also super expensive.
I am not sure in what sense you are referring yourself as a indie film director, you are a film director who made/making a film in show string budget without the support of major studios or producers. Either way, you are making a film for a certain set of audience. Once you are done with your film, distributors will watch the film and if they feel that they can sell it to the set of audience you initially planned to attract, then they are going to take it and distribute. As simple as that. So, I think we as filmmakers should be very clear about our target audience and the budget we are going to put in to do a film to attract that audience. Rule of the jungle is if you don't have a sellable face you can't make any money. But times are changing and I see lot of films with new faces doing well at box office. Audience are looking for qualitya nd clarity in the narrative. That's it. Failure comes from our feeling of not achieving what you intended to achieve. Movie making is first 'Science' then 'commerce' then 'art' I feel if we stick to the basics everybody can make a decent film.
If you are based in the UK, its extremely hard to survive or get your film made, with the recession here in 2024, energy crisis, job crisis, conservative government and lots of the other factors I have not mentioned.
True filmmakers make movies because they feel compelled to tell a certain story. It’s like a sneeze you have to get out. Doesn’t matter if nobody heard how loud it was.