Show Don't Tell: Micro-Budget Filmmaking

After a brief hiatus, Show Don’t Tell returns this week with our amazing guest Lawrence Jordan. If you’re a fan of movies, chances are you’ve seen some of Lawrence’s work. His career began as an assistant on iconic feature films like Back To The Future and Terms of Endearment, before editing countless features like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigalo, Riding In Cards With Boys and 50 Shades of Black, just...

This week, I’m joined by Adriaan Kirchner - an incredibly accomplished LA-based cinematographer with a truly stunning body of work. Adriaan has shot projects for celebrities like Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, amazing narrative films like “The Lima” (which premiered at Tribeca film festival), and has worked with countless high profile brands on commercial and branded content. During our discussion, Ad...

There is perhaps no greater asset for any filmmaker to possess than a mastery of the craft of screenwriting. And joining me today to discuss all things screenwriting, is none other than Bryan Hill - An incredibly accomplished & superbly talented writer who has worked not only in Film & Television, but in the world of comic books as well. Some highlights of Bryan's TV & Film career include: ASH vs....

No camera manufacturer has been more innovative or disruptive in recent years as Blackmagic Design. Since 2013 they have been challenging the status quo, putting out cameras like their original 2.5K Cinema Camera, the Pocket Camera, and most recently their URSA Mini Pro G2 - Each of which have given low-budget filmmakers the ability to achieve high production value like never before. Here with me...

This week, for the first time I am doing a crossover episode! And it’s with none other than the Just Shoot It Podcast… I was really excited to sit down with hosts Oren Kaplan and Matt Enlow, as they’ve not only built an amazing podcast, but are also incredibly talented filmmakers in their own right. Both Matt and Oren work professionally as directors on commercials, branded content, and narrative...

This week on the show, I change up the format to have an in-depth conversation with California based filmmaker Wes Anthony. Rather than simply interviewing Wes about his career history, we decided to chat at length about the business of filmmaking in 2019, letting the audience be a fly on the wall. We tackle the film vs. digital debate, finding a balance between being technical and creative filmma...

This week on the show, my guest is none other than Joshua Caldwell. While Josh has been working on some higher profile projects over the past few years - including his upcoming feature Southland (starring Bella Thorne) and his 2017 feature Negative - his success began with a simple $6000 micro-budget indie, titled Layover. Over the course of our discussion, Josh outlines why he chose to take the D...

On this week’s episode, I am joined by Cory Reeder of Renaissance Man Productions. Cory’s path is unlike any other filmmaker I have met - After building a successful career in Orange County working in the music scene, he moved to Los Angeles and started over from scratch. This meant taking work as a PA before he could climb his way back up to the role of director & producer full time. Cory’s tenac...

For this week’s interview, I am joined by Josh Stifter - An incredibly talented, multi-faceted filmmaker who recently appeared on Robert Rodriguez’s Rebel Without A Crew Series. As part of the show, Josh was given $7000 and 14 days to make a feature film with no crew… And he pulled it off. Over the course of our discussion, Josh outlines his experience making his movie under such unusual circumsta...

If you work in post-production (or just love great movies), chances are you've come across Vashi Nedomansky's work. He an acclaimed ACE editor who has not only cut 11 feature films, but was also tasked with creating the post workflows for Deadpool and David Fincher's Gone Girl. Throughout our conversation, Vashi and I cover a whole lot of ground - Starting from the very first few jobs he booked af...

Filmmakers often ask me how to get a competitive edge with their freelancing career or production business, and I almost always give them the same advice: It's not about the gear you have or how big your client list is. It's not even really about your demo reel. Those things may get your foot in the door, but what builds long lasting careers is the client experience. If you can get that right, bus...

Many filmmakers were told early on in their careers to specialize in only one field and to master a single skill. But as the landscape of content creation continues to evolve, creative generalists - especially those who emphasize post production - are proving that this theory may no longer hold the same weight. In this episode, I make a case for embracing a generalist approach to filmmaking, outli...

This week, I’m excited to have Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle back on the show. Alex was last on the podcast back on Episode 44, when we chatted about his film This Is Meg, and his process developing and producing his DIY film which eventually sold to Hulu. Today, Alex has returned to chat about his latest book: Shooting For The Mob. The book is based on Alex’s real life experience getting hire...

On this week’s episode, I interview two amazing filmmakers - Hannah Black and Megan Petersen - who are in post-production for their $50K micro-budget feature Drought. Having never made a feature before, they were able to write an incredible script, raise $25K in crowdfunding through Seed & Spark, and an additional $25K through the Duplass Brothers who are Executive Producers on the project. Over t...

In this episode, I sit down with Matteo Bertoli - the incredibly talented DP who shot my latest feature film White Crow. Despite working under tremendous time constraints, Matteo, myself, and the rest of our team were able to shoot nearly 90 pages of script in only 9 days. Over the course of our chat, we explain how we pulled it off without sacrificing quality. Other topics covered include: Camera...

Many filmmakers fall into the freelancing trap - They develop a relatively specialized skill, get great at their craft, gain lots of clients, but inevitably find themselves buried in work. Ultimately, this leaves them unable to focus on their passion projects (such as original feature films or new business ventures), as they are anchored to their client work day in and day out. Some people find th...

Over the years, I've learned that having too much time to work on any creative project can be a bad thing, but that having too little time can actually be helpful in some ways... So naturally, when it came time to edit my latest feature film (White Crow) I decided to give myself only 3 weeks to edit down a 23+ hour mountain of footage into a 90 minute assembly. While it may seem counter-intuitive...

In today’s episode, I interview Gabe Reiter - an incredibly accomplished commercial producer who has now entered the world of independent content creation with his new series “Bunkheads”. The series (which is now available on Amazon Prime) is a hilarious sitcom set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse, following four survivors as they not only attempt to survive the zombies outside, but als...

Succeeding in film takes far more than a basic understanding of the craft. While technical skills are undeniably important for any filmmaker to master, they alone will not equate to any type of artistic or commercial success. The degree to which any filmmaker succeeds has far more to do with their psychology and tenacity than it does their skill... For instance - Many of us understand the importan...

Filmmakers are commonly taught to focus on story structure, plot, and formula while screenwriting, with scene writing usually falling into the background of the discussion. This lack of attention can lead to scenes that are underwritten or underdeveloped, and that ultimately won’t serve the story as a whole.   In this weeks episode, we shift the focus away from general screenwriting theory, and di...

Before a film is even written, its success can be determined by the strength of the concept alone. Without a great concept, it can be extremely difficult to attract talent, producers, or investors to your project, and just as hard to market and sell the film once its done. In many respects, the concept development phase is the single most important part of the process, and one that can never be ru...

In 2018, the art of marketing a feature film is just as critical for independent filmmakers to know as the craft itself. No one knows this better than today’s guest, Kyle Prohaska, who is not only an incredible DIY filmmaker in his own right, but also an expert on marketing independent features. Kyle and his company (Prohaska Studios) have successfully marketed countless feature films including: A...

For this week's interview, Jason Brubaker of Distribber joins me to share his wealth of knowledge on all things marketing & distribution. Distribber is one of the largest and most prominent aggregators for independent films out there, giving filmmakers without traditional distribution deals the ability to sell their content globally, through iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and countless other platf...

This week, Jim Cummings - Director of THUNDER ROAD - joins me on the show to demystify the process behind his massive success in filmmaking over the past few years. Jim won Sundance in 2016 with his short version of Thunder Road,and went on to win SXSW in 2018 with his full length feature adaptation of the film. Over the course of this hour long interview, Jim shares his creative process at length...

In this week’s episode, I interview Don Hardy - an extremely accomplished documentary filmmaker whose most recent feature film, Pick Of The Litter, is being released theatrically by IFC films later this month. Don and his co-director (Dana Nachman) have an incredible track record of finding success with their feature docs, beginning with their film “Witch Hunt” in 2008 - A complete DIY project tha...