Updated: Apr 10, 2021
In this series, we consider how the four major steps outlined in The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss relate to indie filmmakers. In this post, we discuss "Step III: A is for Automation" with a twist for the filmmaking community.
In this section of his book, Tim Ferriss doubles down on his belief that you are at your best when your time is spent doing the most important work: the 20% of the input that provides 80% of your output. To achieve this, he discusses the importance of automation and outsourcing as a means of divesting yourself of tedious, time-consuming tasks that take you away from providing the true, unique value that you alone bring to your business endeavors.
Since filmmaking is as much a creative endeavor as it is a business one, we'd like to replace "Automation" in this context with "Augmentation". As a filmmaker, you can't (and shouldn't) do everything yourself. A "Jack of all trades but master of none" does many things well, but will often fall short of the greatness needed to compete in any industry.
Filmmakers often understand this when it comes to film production, hiring Assistants to handle production tasks that, though necessary, would otherwise detract from the Producer's and Director's ability to steer the ship. But filmmakers often fall short of augmenting their creative abilities with the skills needed to operate the business of film. The result is that many (if not most) films don't make it into formal distribution and lack the assets needed to effectively promote themselves to their target markets.
As a filmmaker, you are a creative who is seeking opportunities to promote your work, demonstrate your skills, and build a network that will expand your reach into and across the film industry. As an indie filmmaker, you do this on shoestring budgets, on borrowed time, and with limited resources at your disposal. This is why it is important to focus your time and effort on what you are good at, while augmenting your skills with the support of others who can fill in the gaps.
In the business of film, there should be a production team and a distribution team. The production team brings the project to life; the distribution team helps bring the project to light. When building your next film budget, consider building in the cost of a few key resources (described below) to address what we believe to be critical gaps for indie filmmakers.
Branding and Marketing Strategy
The brand of your film is the persona it has in the marketplace. It is what differentiates your film from other content, facilitates a connection with your target audience, and sets expectations for the value and quality of your work. This is something that should be built from day one in parallel with the production of your film.
Having resources dedicated to the definition, growth, and proliferation of your brand is what will ensure that there is an audience waiting for you when your film is done. Without a brand, you have no identity. Without an identity, you don't exist.
Film Asset Management
The marketing of your film to film festivals, distributors, and would-be audiences requires far more than a complete film. Social media requires carefully curated BTS photo and video. Print marketing requires well-identified production stills and variations in your cover art. Digital marketing requires a variety of micro-video content for teasers. Public Relations requires headshots and bios.
If you plan to market and promote your film (which by all means you should), you'll need to develop and keep track of all of the critical assets. This takes dedicated effort throughout the production lifecycle and well into distribution.
Quality Control Management
The QC process is a requirement for all methods of film distribution. An efficient QC process simplifies onboarding to a distributor and reduces distribution costs (which will ultimately be billed back to the film). By focusing on QC from the beginning of your project, you will be sure to have all film artifacts available and in their appropriate formats when the time comes for distribution. Being uber-prepared for QC is a selling point for your film as distributors are looking for the easiest path to exploitation.
Web and Social Account Management
Every film project needs a digital presence to facilitate audience engagement and to optimize its prevalence in search engine results (SEO). Building and maintaining a web site and social media content is a key responsibility for a dedicated member of the team and its importance shouldn't be placed in the bucket of "other duties as assigned". Your digital presence is how most prospective viewers will find and research your content so it must be available wherever your audience lives.
Social Media Marketing
Facebook (via Facebook and Instagram) offers a host of social media marketing tools that enable you to target very specific audiences with your ads. As there is both an art and a science to social media marketing, you would be well-advised to hire a specialist in this area who can facilitate split testing, audience targeting, audience re-targeting, engagement analysis, conversion analysis, and cost analysis. Operating in a competitive market means that you need to have as many eyes on your content as possible. Social media marketing is one of the best methods for making that happen.
Public Relations
A PR team will help you get out into the community by getting your film, your cast, and your team in front of curated audiences. From podcasts to vlogs to digital magazines, curated audiences enable you to leverage preexisting brands to sell your film. PR companies have staff dedicated to maintaining relationships, facilitating engagement, and scheduling interviews. Having a team that specializes in this area minimizes the groundwork that you would have to do to facilitate this on your own.
Distribution Negotiation
Distribution deals are all about contract negotiation. Though there is certainly a legal aspect to contract review, just because a contract is legally sound, doesn't mean that it's in your best interest. Understanding how and when to negotiate with a distributor is a skill in itself. It comes down to understanding and positioning your leverage to get the best deal possible. Having someone responsible for contract review and negotiation will ensure that you don't get taken advantage of in the process.
Augmentation is all about expanding the skillset of your team to give your film the best chance for success. When budgeting for your next film, don't forget to budget for your distribution team. Just as being a great writer, director, or producer takes a specific set of skills so do branding & marketing, social media marketing, and public relations.
As always,
Be Better. Be Creative. Be Engaged.
If you're looking for someone to help you on your creative journey, feel free to reach out to us. We'd love to work with you!
Updated: Apr 10, 2021
In this series, we consider how the four major steps outlined in the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss relate to indie filmmakers. In this post, we discuss "Step II: E is for Elimination".
As a filmmaker, you are (by all accounts) an entrepreneur. You work tirelessly to build a business based on the development of your own products and services backed by financing from those who would benefit from a contribution to the cause. As an entrepreneur, you hustle for each opportunity, all the while believing that the next opportunity could be the best opportunity.
The problem here is that though 'hustle' may be the name of the game, it is not the gatekeeper to success. In fact, 'hustle' (the verb) is defined as "moving hurriedly or unceremoniously in a specified direction". 'Hustle' (the noun) is defined as "busy movement and activity". Indie filmmakers don't have the time nor the financial reserves to be busy for the sake of being busy and moving hurriedly in the wrong direction is a losing proposition.
So what is a filmmaker to do? Well, first off, eliminate 'hustle' from your vocabulary. This business isn't about hustling yourself or others into getting what you want; instead; it's about doing the right things, with the right people, at the right times. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn't mean feeding from the firehouse by seeing the potential in every meeting, every event, every job opportunity, and every new connection. It means carefully identifying the things that bring you the biggest bang for your buck and investing your time and energy in those things again and again.
Vilfredo Pareto was a renowned Italian economist. Though his name may not be familiar to you, his principle (so named the Pareto Principle) probably is. Today, we've come to know it as the 80/20 rule. This rule suggests (and has been notionally proven to be true) that 80% of the output comes from 20% of the input, whether that input be good or bad. For example:
80% of the land in Italy at the time Pareto lived was owned by 20% of the people
80% of sales across major industries are produced by 20% of its clients
80% of the results achieved through a fitness program can be attributed to 20% of the exercises and habits
When applied to filmmaking, this universal rule continues to hold up. 80% of profits come from 20% of the audience. 80% of financing comes from 20% of the investors. 80% of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into completing a feature film and getting it through distribution was the result of the efforts of 20% of the team.
Now, Pareto's Principle wasn't designed to instill the belief that 80% is good enough. In fact, it's quite the contrary. What the principle tells us is that by focusing on and continuing to maximize and duplicate the sources of the value-driven 20%, we can eliminate the 80% that underproduces leaving us with ample time and energy to reap the benefits of the 20%.
As an indie filmmaker, you can apply this your life by asking yourself two simple questions:
What 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
What 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
Though the answers to these questions will take time, introspection, and honesty with yourself, they will soon come to show you what you should eliminate and what you should keep. The things you decide to keep will provide a set of characteristics that you should continue to seek out in new sources as these will help you to build on your desired outcomes and happiness.
Here are a few areas you should consider when identifying things to eliminate:
Film festival submissions - Choose only the ones that have the potential to actively market your film to your target audience. Think of each one as an investment for which you have identified a specific rate of return.
Film jobs - Consider each job for its potential to get you to the next level in your career. Simply working for hire with no opportunities for advancement creates short-term benefit without long-term gain. Eliminate or refuse the jobs that don't lead you to your next job.
Networking - Success in this business is not based on who you know; instead, it's based on who your friends are. Building trusted relationships is far more important than building a list of contacts. With this in mind, networking should be about identifying the types of people that you want in your circle and those whose circle you wish to be a part of. Eliminate any time spent on "putting yourself out there" or exchanging business cards in favor of getting to know a handful of people who can help you build your career.
The process of elimination is all about efficiency (using your time wisely) and effectiveness (doing the right things). Leveraging the 80/20 rule is a great way to help you do the right things, with the right people, at the right time.
If you'd like to learn more about the process of elimination as described by Tim Ferris, we encourage you to read The 4-Hour Workweek for more amazing insights.
As always,
Be Better. Creative. Be Engaged.
If you're looking for someone to help you on your creative journey, feel free to reach out to us. We'd love to work with you!
Updated: Apr 10, 2021
In this series, we consider how the four major steps outlined in The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss relate to indie filmmakers. In this post, we discuss "Step I: D is for Definition" with a focus on "Cautions and Comparisons".
When meeting with filmmakers, we always begin our discussions with the end in mind. We want to know what their goals and aspirations are so that we know how best to guide them. The most common response we get is something along the lines of "to get my film funded, produced, and into distribution". The challenge with this type of thinking is that it's too short-term in nature. Though the lifecycle of a film from funding to distribution can be three to five years, setting your goals around a single film doesn't help build a career as a filmmaker.
Unfortunately for many indie filmmakers, there is still a pervasive belief that a single film will be the springboard to a fulfilling and sustainable filmmaking career. This belief that their next project, if only funded and completed, will be the best thing that film-going audiences have seen since [insert comp list here], is characteristic of the Unicorn Dreamer (UD) mindset.
In this day and age, this type of thinking is what creates an endless sea of movie shelf-ware and shattered dreams. After all, unicorns are far from the norm. By definition, unicorns are rare and exceptional. Additionally, the business of film today isn't built on single projects; it's built on franchises, brands, and slates, none of which are sustainable on the back of a single film.
In this new wave of filmmaking, where content creation and consumption are distributed across a wide variety of digital media, filmmakers need to shift from the UD mindset to a Content Creator (CC) mindset. As a Content Creator, a filmmaker's brand is built and sustained on the development of a portfolio of consistent, curated content that serves an identifiable market.
Here’s the difference between the mindset of Unicorn Dreamer vera us a Content Creator:
UD: Build and finance a budget for my next film.
CC: Build and finance a budget for my content portfolio. This include generating a continuous flow of financing for a slate of content, marketing, branding, and audience engagement.
UD: Identify cast and crew for my next film.
CC: Identify a team of cast and crew who will work with me on building my portfolio and who will stick around for the long haul.
UD: Get a distribution deal.
CC: Identify the best distribution method(s) for my content by evaluating self-distribution and traditional distribution options.
UD: Leverage my distributor's brand and industry influence to market my film.
CC: Own my personal branding and marketing to include every piece of content in my portfolio. Continuously engage my audience from day one to build an appetite for my work. Leverage my distributor's brand, my personal brand, and the brand of all of my content contributors to market my portfolio.
As you can see, the main difference between the UD mindset and the CC mindset is in the level of control you take in crafting your future. In this highly-competitive and saturated industry, indie filmmakers have to change their thinking to ensure their survival. When competing for viewership against big box studios and social media content creators, indie filmmakers have to get on board with building their own personal brands and creating opportunities for consistent audience engagement.
As always,
Be Better. Be Creative. Be Engaged.
If you're looking for someone to help you on your creative journey, feel free to reach out to us. We'd love to work with you!