Rule 10: Distribution Is Changing and So Should You
Piggybacking off of the last rule, let’s take a look at what the solution to that dilemma is.
There’s no reason to sign your life’s work away anymore. The resources to get your movie out in front of an audience while still owning 100% of your rights are growing in number every day.
Filmhub offers a sales platform for getting your movie to video-on-demand services like Netflix, Amazon, Tubi, Apple TV, and many others. There’s a company called CineRoadShow that books independent movies into theaters without a distributor because Hollywood is failing to provide them with enough content to satisfy their audiences. Animators are forming their own companies and creating properties like The Amazing Digital Circus, placing them on YouTube, and turning them into merchandising juggernauts.
They own 100% of it. They’re not limited by old systems. They call the shots. So can you.
Start small, if you don’t know where to begin. Book a local space, like an HOA clubhouse or bar for a night and screen your movie for the community, if only to make people aware of you and get feedback. This is really a time to be thinking on grassroots terms. We might have to build a whole new market from scratch.
Rule 11: Think About The Catalog, Not The Blockbuster
Hollywood’s obsessed with the next big hit, but indie filmmakers should play a longer game. One blockbuster might get you a paycheck, but a catalog of five, ten, or twenty films can become an investment that builds a life. Every project you finish adds to your body of work, your voice, and your footprint. It may not make you rich, but it could set you up to do what you love for the rest of your life. Think of John Carpenter: Halloween made him famous, but it’s The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and the rest that keep him legendary. Don’t burn out chasing one perfect shot at glory. Make films you love, stack them up, and let them grow an audience over time. A catalog gives you leverage that you can sell, license, or just bask in the fact that you’ve got something real to show for your years. It’s not about blowing up overnight; it’s about sticking around.
Rule 12: Be Grateful To God For Every Small Success
Filmmaking’s a brutal slog that’s filled with years of no gratification before something happens. You’ll want to quit a hundred times, and some days you’ll wonder why you even started. That’s when you pause and give thanks. Not just for the big wins but also for the small stuff: the actor who nailed a line, the sunrise you caught on camera, and the stranger who says your film stuck with them. I believe there’s a higher hand guiding this chaos, and every step forward’s a gift, not to mention the thousands of years that our ancestors suffered through to get us to here, where we sit in temperature-controlled rooms of artificial light and fresh food within arm’s reach. Gratitude keeps you grounded when you start to take what you have for granted. Look at Tarkovsky: he made Andrei Rublev under Soviet censorship and still thanked God for the chance to create. You don’t have to be a believer like me, I suppose, but acknowledging something bigger than you fuels the soul to keep going.
And that’s it. It’s not my masterclass. I have a lot to learn, still, myself. A lot of thoughts on how it is we do what we do, but I think these twelve are a good foundation to start you off with.
This is the thing we can’t help but do, so remember, it has value because you have value. Treat both accordingly and you’ll do okay.
Break a leg.
Christopher Moonlight is an animator, special effects artist and the director of the ‘Award This’ winning movie The Quantum Terror. His upcoming animated sci-fi adventure, Escape From Planet Omega-12 combines traditional film making special effects with AI to create something never seen before in independent film. You can follow the behind-the-scenes, including tutorials, tips, and tricks on his YouTube Channel and Substack.
You a******s are trash for using AI art.
AI-generated artwork is only possible because of the wholesale theft of millions of artists’ intellectual property. When you use it instead of paying human artists, you are complicit in that crime. Any publication that engages in such practices disdains and disrespects art and artists.
The idea that AI is some form of theft is based on old misnomers perpetuated in its early days and has been debunked. I addressed this in my previous article and will elaborate in my future writings. Stay tuned.