Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast

Why Do You Want to Be a Filmmaker? On today's show, I ask the simple question "Why do you want to be a filmmaker or screenwriter?" This single question is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself. Understanding the answer can set you up for success in your career or ultimate failure. It has taken me over 20 years to honestly answer that question and it has made all the difference i...

How to Shoot & Sell Digital Series (The Bannen Way) with Mark Gantt Today's guest is Mark Gantt. He's a man of many talents, actor, director, writer, and producer. He's best known for co-creating, producing and starring in the award-winning The Bannen Way for Sony Pictures Television.  Financed by Sony’s Crackle distribution arm, this unique web series/feature film had a compelling cast which incl...

Film Finance & How to Raise REAL Money for Your Indie Film with Franco Sama Film Finance is a mystery to most filmmakers. How many of you need money for your next film or series? I'll wait...yeah me too. Today's guest is film producer Franco Sama from Samaco Films. Franco is an Executive Producer and an expert in finding money for independent films. Here's a bit on Franco. Independent feature film...

How to Break Down & Story Map Your Screenplay with Daniel Calvisi Today guest is author Daniel Calvisi. Dan wrote the book Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay. He breaks down stories and shows you how to map out your own by analyzing how the masters construct their screenplays. Here's a bit more on today's guest. Daniel Calvisi is a story analyst, speaker, screenwriter and the author of St...

How to Sell Your Indie Film Using Ninja Facebook Hacks with Kyle Prohaska We all want to make money selling our feature films or streaming series but getting peoples attention in this noisy world is pretty impossible. We don't have the marketing budget of the studios to reach our audience. What is a filmmaker to do? Why not use the most powerful marketing tool ever created...Facebook. Now I know F...

How to Go From a 6K Micro-Budget to Directing a 100K Feature Film with Joshua Caldwell Ever wondered what happens to those directors who make a micro-budget feature film? Do they ever sell that film? Do they ever get to direct a feature film again? Today guest is filmmaker Joshua Caldwell, a rare returning filmmaker on the show. He directed a $6000 feature film called Layover. I wanted to bring Jo...

The AFM Wrap Up (Indie Film Hustle Edition) I had the pleasure of attending this year's AFM (The American Film Market). This was my first time actually walking the entire market. I met a ton of people, made great connections and really got the inside look at how films are sold internationally.  In this episode, I discuss the major takes away from AFM, what an indie distribution pipeline looks like...

Sundance Wants to Help You Distribute Your Indie Film with the Creative Distribution Fellowship Yup that's right the Sundance Institute wants to help you distribute your film. Liz Manashil (listen to her interview here), the manager of the Sundance Creative Distribution Fellowship reached out to me to get the word out on the fellowship. It turns out that, believe or not, they haven't been getting...

Total Transparency: How Much Revenue a $100K REALLY Film Generates with Liz Manashil Have you ever wondered how much revenue a real indie film can make in the marketplace? Wouldn't you like to see the real and raw numbers for a nontheatrical film with no major film festival premieres? Today's guest has been brave enough to do just that. Filmmaker Liz Manashil decided to open up the accounting book...

Top 10 Tips for Low budget Filmmakers Making an indie film can be rough, especially for beginners. Many times filmmakers go off halfcocked and jump into making a film without really thinking it all through. Here are a few tips that will help you on you filmmaking journey. CHOOSE THE RIGHT SCRIPT Look for character-driven stories with no stunts or effects, limited locations, a limited cast and util...

If you ever wanted to know some of the secrets of how to write a comedy then today's guest might be able to help. Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis are the authors of Now That’s Funny! The Art and Craft of Comedy Writing, a new book that provides an intimate look into the minds of twenty-nine of Hollywood’s funniest comedy writers from movies and TV shows like: Saturday Night Live Frasier The Simpso...

How to Create Suspense Like Hitchcock with Jeffery Michael Bays Have you ever wanted to know how Alfred Hitchcock became the master of suspense? How Hitch used the camera and lens to create terror in the audience? Well, you can watch all 52 films Hitchcock directed or if you want to get a head start on you Hitchcock education you should listen to today's guest, Jeffery Michael Bays, the author of...

How to Sell Your Indie Film at the American Film Market with Johnathan Wolf Have you ever wondered how films are sold internationally or domestically for that matter? Today on the show we have Jonathan Wolf, the managing director of the American Film Market or AFM as it's known. The American Film Market generates over $1 Billion in the seven-day event. Buyers from around the world come to buy, sel...

Blair Witch Project: Directing an Indie Film Phenomenon w/ Eduardo Sanchez Who hasn't heard of the now legendary indie film rags to riches tale of  The Blair Witch Project? Every film student from Los Angeles to Mumbai heard the story of how two young film students spent $27,000 (mostly from friends, family and credit cards) to make a little indie horror film that ended up grossing $250 million wo...

Understanding The Hero's Journey with Chris Vogler We have all heard about Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey by this point but what is it really. Chris Vogler, the author of The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers and the man who brought the Hero's Journey into the film industry, breaks down the ordinary and special worlds of the hero's journey. Enjoy. These videos on screenplay structur...

How NOT to Direct a Television Pilot with Dave Bullis Before I get any hate mail I wanted to let you know that our guest today reached out to me and offered to do this episode. So I didn't ask a fellow filmmaker to come on the show and tell us all how not to direct a television pilot. Dave Bullis is a director, writer, and director. He approached me with this idea and I said let's do it. The more...

Today on the show we have writer/cinematographer/director Julian Galea. He directed a micro-budget film called Love to Paradise. Set in the magical Mediterranean islands of Malta, this indie travel romance proves it’s not love until it’s paradise. When American tourist Giovanni falls for local artist Carmen, they embark on a passionate and unforgettable journey across the Maltese islands only to b...

How to Create an Amazon Exclusive Streaming Series with Chris Sobchak This week on the show we have filmmaker Chris Sobchak. Chris co-created an Amazon Streaming Series with star Nicole Sobchack, “Please Tell Me I’m Adopted!” follows free-spirited, wide-eyed, disaster magnet Tiffany who is forced to move in with her newly married sister, roping them into crazy, often culturally-current escapades w...

How to Make a Killer Horror Film in One Location with Michael Williams If you have a micro or no budget feature film shooting in one location will make life a lot easier. Now, how do you make that one location look great and not boring through your film? Indie Filmmaker Michael Williams did just that with his new horror film The Atoning. Check out the trailer below.   Michael Williams began creati...

How Screenwriters Can Navigate the Hollywood System with Scott Meyers For screenwriters, navigating the shark-infested waters of the Hollywood system can be a daunting task. You never know what the producer or studio is looking for. How do you pitch your story properly? So many questions. I hope today's guest can help guide you a bit through those waters. Scott Meyers has been a professional Holly...

Anytime I location scout a property we are going to shoot at I always look out for the boobie traps that might hurt the shoot. Finding an dealing with locations can be a nightmare, especially when you have little or no budget. Today on the show I have locations guru Brian L. Tan. Brian is the founder of Wrapal.com, a site built to help filmmakers and property owner find location love. We discuss a...

How to Have a Sustainable Career in the Film Business with Straw Weisman I always talk about "hustle" and that "you have to keep moving forward no matter what" to make it in this business. Today's guest is the most authentic example of those concepts I've ever met. Straw Weisman is a writer, director, producer, post supervisor, movie trailer writer/producer, film consultant, and film market guru....

The Indie Film Hustle Tribe Interrogates Alex Ferrari with Rob Alicea Today’s episode is a first for the IFH Podcast. I had Indie Film Hustle Tribe Member Rob Alicea reach out to me with a crazy idea. He wanted to interview me for the podcast. He thought that the tribe would like to know more about me and my personal journey. I have to say I was skeptical. I didn’t think you guys would be that int...

Trailer Editing Techniques to Cut a Badass Movie Trailer I've probably edited over 500 movie trailers, network promos, and commercials in my career. So many indie filmmakers and feature film editors think they can just throw together a trailer for their feature film and make it work. Over the years, I've shared my Trailer Editing Techniques with many of the indie filmmakers that have walked into m...

How to Cast a No Budget Indie Film with Backstage's Veronika Lee Ahhhh casting. It’s probably the last thing a director or producer wants to think about during production. But it’s true: casting can make or break a film. A bad casting decision can be glaringly obvious at the worst possible time. So it’s important to get started thinking about your process early on.  On today's show, we have castin...