Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast

Secrets of Indie Film Producing with Suzanne Lyons This week on the show we have a returning guest, Indie Film Producing guru Suzaane Lyons. Suzanne Lyons is president/producer of Snowfall Films, Inc. and to date has produced or exec produced twelve feature films with budgets that range from $200,000 to $10 million.  Suzanne has worked with talent that including Brenda Blethyn, Christopher Walken,...

'Blue Jay' & Directing Mark Duplass with Alex Lehmann On today's episode I have the pleasure of interviewing first-time feature film director Alex Lehmann. And his first film is a hell of way to launch a directing career. His new film is called Blue Jay starring Mark Duplass (who also wrote and produced) and Sarah Paulson (recent Emmy Winner for The People vs OJ Simpson). Blue Jay just had it's wo...

How a Camera and Hustle Created a $30 Million Empire with Joel Holland Get ready to be inspired. I want to bring this week's guest onto the show for a while now. Joel Holland is the founder and CEO of VideoBlocks, the first subscription-based provider of stock video and audio, with over 100,000 customers in the television and video production industry, from NBC to MTV to pro-sumers and hobbyists l...

What if I told you you could production design an entire house with for a hundred bucks. Can't believe it? How about if I throw in labor, delivery, setup and guys will come and pickup all the furniture when you're done? I didn't believe either until I did it.  In this episode I discuss the little loop hole/trick I used to furnish an entire house for my film BROKEN. You can get thousands of dollars...

How to Record Audio for Your Indie Film on the CHEAP! I was lost when it came time to record audio for my film. So since my podcast on How to Build a Pimp'd Out BlackMagic Cinema Camera Rig on the CHEAP! was such a hit with the tribe I decide to put a list of the gear I used to record audio on This is Meg. I go into great detail on each piece of gear, how I used it and what worked and didn't work....

Well, the first IFH Podcast episode went live September 2015. That’s a short time to be able to produce 100 podcast episodes, but what can I say I'm a hustler = ) I’m so glad I finally got around to launch Indie Film Hustle, because the podcast has done wonders for my brand, my career and my life. The results were far beyond what I had ever imagined. It allows me to reach more people than I could...

How to Write a Screenplay with FAST with Jeff Bollow Have you ever wanted to learn how to write a screenplay fast? I know I do. This is why I invited on the show award-winning producer/director, best-selling author, film festival organizer and public speaker, Jeff Bollow. He is the author of Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed. Jeff Bollow began as an actor at age 12 in his na...

When I began my filmmaking journey with my first feature film, This is Meg, I had no idea what camera I'd be shooting with. I had access to both RED Cinema and Arri Alexa Cameras for free if I wanted them but I choose against using them on this film for the following reasons: The infrastructure need to make those camera work was complicated and expensive (even if you are getting the camera bodies...

Can you imagine having a front row seat to the start of the filmmaking careers of Will Smith, Bruce Willis and Michael Bay? Well this week's guest Screenwriter Doug Richardson did just that. In 1989 20th Century Fox hired Doug to adapt Walter Wager’s novel 58 Minutes into the first sequel to the hit franchise Die Hard. In 1990, it was released as Die Hard 2, Die Harder. Around the same period, Dou...

Gravitas Ventures: Confessions of an Indie Film Distributor If you have ever given any thought to the process of distributing your feature film, you know it can be nutz! The film distribution landscape has changed, and changed again as I'm writing this article. Finding a good and reputable film distributor in today's world is hard to say the least. So I wanted to bring onto the show a film distrib...

How to Break-Through Your Fear & Shoot Your First Feature Film Fear, the one thing that stops most indie filmmakers from moving forward and following their dreams. Fear of shooting their fist feature film, writing that screenplay, making that short film or just taking the first few steps towards their goals. Fear has been a strange bedfellow of mine throughout my career. It has slowed and out righ...

From Dusk Till Dawn to Nickelodeon with Director Joe Menendez This week on the show we have the very talented director Joe Menendez. Joe is an award-winning filmmaker of both a successful feature film director and a prolific television director/producer as well -- having moved seamlessly between both mediums his entire career. Joe Menendez has directed over 95 hours of television (both single and...

How to Brand, Market and Build an Audience Using Social Media & Marketing Hustle So I had the plesure of speaking at the HollyShorts! Film Festival at a "fireside chat" with my brotha from another mutha RB Blotto from Stage32.com. We sat down and discussed How to Brand, Market and Build an Audience Using Social Media & Marketing Hustle.  I had a ball and as promised I recorded the evening for thos...

What is this guy talking about? No money = better filmmaker? He must be nuts. We'll I'll have to disagree with you. As I  am going through my adventure on the making of my first feature film THIS IS MEG, I have discovered that is the truth.  Having less resources has made me a better filmmaker.  When you have no money and limited resources you discover new and creative ways to solve problems. The...

This podcast episode comes straight from the heart. Diversity in the film industry is a problem. The numbers do not lie. Original Source: Fusion.net Original Source: GirlTalkHQ.com The film business needs to have many points of views and not just a select few. The more points of views you have, the better the industry as a how will be.  Filmmakers can not use their gender or race as an excuse for...

Life After Winning Sundance with Diane Bell I always talk about not counting on the "lottery ticket" mentality that so many filmmakers today count on. Winning Sundance is not a distribution plan. Well I was involved in a project, written and directed by Diane Bell, that did just that. It won not one but two awards at Sundance. She didn't count on winning, hell she didn't think in her wildest dream...

We I have a MAJOR treat for the tribe this week. I have no other than Jim Uhls, the master screenwriter behind David Fincher's "Fight Club", one of the greatest films in my generation, in my humble option. When Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club was making the rounds in Hollywood, it was a tough sale to be adapted for the screen. But then Brad Pitt got involved; add David Fincher and Ed Norton, throw Ji...

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 conce...

You knew it was bound to happen. Well the time is here. Please welcome the talented Jill-Michele Meleán to the Indie Film Hustle Tribe. Jill is the star of my debut feature film "This is Meg". She is one of the most talented actors/comedian I've ever worked with and we have worked on a ton of projects of the years.  Jill-Michele Meleán, “Jilly” was born and raised in Miami, Florida (aka Cuba). She...

What do you get when you add a stand up comedian, a fearless actress and a great personality? You get today's guest Jenica Bergere. This is one of the reason we cast here in my debut feature film This is Meg as the bitchy nut job Ruby.  Jenica Bergere began her career as a stand up comedienne becoming a paid regular at The Comedy Store as well as the Improv when she was barely old enough to vote. ...

Why You Don't Need a Screenplay to Make an Amazing Film As indie filmmakers we throw a lot of obstacles on our own path to creating a feature or short film. No obstacle is larger then the almighty screenplay. How many screenwriters and filmmakers do you know that have been working on the movie script for 3, 5, or 7 years? They keep chipping at it in hopes of cracking that nut or it gives them an e...

How Filmmakers & Artists Should Deal with Haters! Haters, a problem that artists, filmmakers or anybody who puts themselves out there have to deal with. I know of many filmmakers who are crippled by what other people think or say about them. The fact is that you are going to create anything; a poem, writer a novel, make a movie, write a song, cook a meal or build a house, there will be people who...

11 Golden Rules for Filmmakers on Social Media With social media taking over the world it is more necessary than ever to use it to get the word out on yourself, you film project or your production company. Most indie filmmakers have no idea on how to build an audience or how to use social media to promote and engage with that audience. In this podcast I go into great detail on each of the 11 Golde...

So I entitled this podcast "How to Work with a Music Composer" because it is a mystery to many filmmakers. As visual storytellers we focus so much energy and effort to the moving image. For many of us music is an after thought. What would Jaws, Indiana Jones or Star Wars be without the musical score? With technology it has become more and more affordable to have a beautiful score added to your ind...

Film Crowdfunding Campaign So today is the day. The THIS IS MEG Film Crowdfunding Campaign is LIVE! Click here to check it out: Down the Filmmaking Rabbit Hole. I've been working for months on the campaign and am very proud of what I and the team has done. So below I wanted to share the Top ten tip I have learned from the many experts, guest and successful campaigns I've reviewed in prepping for m...