Filmmaker Freedom

If you haven't seen The Joyful Vampire Tour of America doc-series yet, it's amazing and insightful. Watch it here [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY9jbQv8lzwLyxI_WG_JOdlgdHmlUcAAm]. And you can stay up to date with all of Naomi's projects and workshops and such from her website [https://www.naomimcdougalljones.com/].

My favorite indie film conversation of 2020. Hands down.

Today on Filmmaker Freedom, a super in-depth interview with Marcus Mizelle. Marcus is a multi-talented filmmaker with three micro-budget features under his belt, and that's alongside a prolific career directing music videos, working in the grip department, and being a writer/producer. And pretty soon, he's launching an entirely new kind of film festival dedicated specifically for us micro-budget folks. It's called the Micro Film Tournament, and it looks pretty rad. Anyhow, this conversation was a blast, and we touch on so many aspects of what it really takes to succeed in this brutal business. Hope you dig it :) Full Transcripts & Archive Each solo episode of Filmmaker Freedom (not the interviews) has a complete written transcript so that you can revisit the ideas quickly and easily. You can find those transcripts, as well as the full archive of shows, right here: www.filmfreedomshow.com [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com] A Weekly Newsletter for Ambitious Filmmakers Every Sunday morning, I send out a handful of stories, carefully picked to help you make films you care about, build a business, and master your psychology. Plus I share a short film I love, and various other bits of inspiration. Get it here: www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter] A Community Just for Entrepreneurial Filmmakers Want to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurial filmmakers who will push you to grow and succeed? Then Freedom Fighters is the place for you. Here's where you can learn more about this one-of-a-kind community and apply to join our ranks. (Don't worry, it's totally free, but there's an application process to make sure this community is full of the right people.) www.filmfreedomshow.com/community [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com/community] Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time! -Rob Hardy

So, you’vechosen the perfect niche [https://filmmakerfreedom.com/blog/niche?_fs=41dc2ac1-847d-483d-846d-b136288b691f]for your films. And you’vedone the research [https://filmmakerfreedom.com/blog/niche-research?_fs=41dc2ac1-847d-483d-846d-b136288b691f]to ensure it can support you financially. Now what? Well, one option is to just start making films and marketing yourself. Just taking those two prerequisite steps—finding and validating your niche—puts you ahead of 95% of other indie filmmakers in terms of building a sustainable business around your work. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t share the final piece to this niche puzzle—one that’ll help you create and communicate in such magnetic, compelling ways that when you release a new film, the folks in your niche won’t be able to whip out their wallets fast enough. It’s a technique called “audience mapping,” and it’ll be your secret weapon for creating content and telling stories that are so specific, so emotionally-resonant, and so custom-tailored to your niche, that people will feel like you’re reading their minds. They’ll feel connected to you and your work in ways that most filmmakers never experience. It’s that connection that opens the door to creating true fans, and building a sustainable long term business around films you care about. That, my friend, the power of an audience map, and you’re about to learn exactly how to create one of your own. Full Transcripts & Archive Each solo episode of Filmmaker Freedom (not the interviews) has a complete written transcript so that you can revisit the ideas quickly and easily. You can find those transcripts, as well as the full archive of shows, right here: www.filmfreedomshow.com [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com] A Weekly Newsletter for Ambitious Filmmakers Every Sunday morning, I send out a handful of stories, carefully picked to help you make films you care about, build a business, and master your psychology. Plus I share a short film I love, and various other bits of inspiration. Get it here: www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter] A Community Just for Entrepreneurial Filmmakers Want to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurial filmmakers who will push you to grow and succeed? Then Freedom Fighters is the place for you. Here's where you can learn more about this one-of-a-kind community and apply to join our ranks. (Don't worry, it's totally free, but there's an application process to make sure this community is full of the right people.) www.filmfreedomshow.com/community [http://www.filmfreedomshow.com/community] Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time! -Rob Hardy

In the Art of War, Sun Tzu tells us, “victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." If your goal is to earn a living from your films, this is wisdom to live by. I mean, what if you could virtually guarantee your film would be profitable before you ever wrote a word or shot a frame? What if you knew—with a high degree of certainty—that if you engaged a particular niche, you’d be able to build a sustainable, enjoyable business by producing films for them? That’d be pretty rad, right? It’d take so much of the pressure off when it comes to raising money and distributing your films. With that kind of certainty, you’d be able to focus more of your energy on telling stories you care about. You’d be able to spend more time doing what you love, and less time worried about whether your efforts would ever pay off. Once you work through the research strategies in this article, you will have that kind of certainty. You’ll be able to win the brutal war for audience attention before ever stepping foot on the battlefield. So let’s get to it. Full Transcripts & Archive Each solo episode of Filmmaker Freedom (not the interviews) has a complete written transcript so that you can revisit the ideas quickly and easily. You can find those transcripts, as well as the full archive of shows, right here: www.filmfreedomshow.com A Weekly Newsletter for Ambitious Filmmakers Every Sunday morning, I send out a handful of stories, carefully picked to help you make films you care about, build a business, and master your psychology. Plus I share a short film I love, and various other bits of inspiration. Get it here: www.filmfreedomshow.com/newsletter A Community Just for Entrepreneurial Filmmakers Want to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurial filmmakers who will push you to grow and succeed? Then Freedom Fighters is the place for you. Here's where you can learn more about this one-of-a-kind community and apply to join our ranks. (Don't worry, it's totally free, but there's an application process to make sure this community is full of the right people.) www.filmfreedomshow.com/community Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time! -Rob Hardy