This is part of my Hungry Artist series I will be releasing on Wednesdays. It will be more broad towards all creatives and creators but everything in this series can be applied to filmmakers too.

Own you audience

It’s such a weird phrase. It’s not mine, I didn’t come up with this. The concept stems from Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 True Fans article from 2008. What it really means is having a place where you can directly interact with your audience. For me, that’s a newsletter. For others, it’s a Discord server, an SMS list, or even a private forum.

But let’s rewind a bit. There is no place where you can go and buy an audience and suddenly own them. It’s not like you can keep your audience locked in your basement and ask them to enjoy your art. What this phrase really means is having a direct way to connect and communicate with the people who genuinely care about the creative work you make, whether that’s a film, a song, poetry, a book, or even physical art like paintings or pottery.

The risk of building on borrowed land

Social media can feel like a home for your work. It is a great place to share work but it’s just a rented space. You don’t control the rules, the algorithm shifts overnight, and suddenly, the audience you thought you had access to is out of reach. Maybe a platform gets sold. Maybe your account gets flagged for no reason. Maybe your reach just… vanishes. This stuff really happens to creators and creatives that use social media as their only way to get their work in front of their audience. If that vanishes, whoa, that can be a revenue killer. Like that saying, hope for the best but plan for the worst. That’s what wearing a seatbelt is. You probably won’t get in a vehicle accident, but if you do, it’s dang good you were wearing a seat belt. You probably won’t lose your social media account, but if you do, it’s dang good you had a newsletter, forum, community chat, or any other direct to audience resource.

Think about that for a second. Imagine building an entire career, an entire creative life, on something you don’t actually control. That’s terrifying.

This is why owning your audience is so important. Social media isn’t the end goal, it’s the marketing. It’s the billboard, the trailer, the appetizer. But the real relationship with your audience happens off platform. That’s where trust builds. That’s where careers are made.

Building a direct connection

So, what does this look like? It could be a newsletter, where you send out thoughts, updates, and work directly to people who want to hear from you. I think we often times see newsletters like what I am doing, writing weekly articles. It’s great to also see a newsletter like you would just a normal email you would send a friend. It doesn’t have to happen weekly, it doesn’t have to be some big long thought out idea you have. It could be that you send something simple anytime you have made progress on what you’re working on. Maybe you want to get feedback from your audience. How do you like how this painting is coming along? I am currently editing this short film and I wonder if you think this music fits for this scene in my film? I have hit writers block with this chapter in my book, for all of you that have been reading my novel in progress, what am I missing here?

If you don’t want to do a newsletter, then there are other resources of direct connection. It could be a Patreon or a membership community where your biggest supporters gather. It could be an SMS list where you share exclusive content. It doesn’t matter which method you choose, what matters is that you create a space where you are in control of the connection.

Because when you have that direct line to your audience, everything changes. You’re not shouting into the void, hoping an algorithm favors you today. You’re speaking directly to the people who already believe in you, who are already invested in what you make, who want to be part of your journey.

With that, you can now see social media as a vessel to get your followers/fans from social media to your direct interaction platform, instead of only seeing them as a way to market your next project. Don’t get me wrong, you can of course push your art or film when it’s completed to your social followers, some may not want to be direct audience to you, but still want to buy the art you create.

The long game

This isn’t about instant gratification. It’s about playing the long game. If you start today, maybe you have ten people on your list, in your Discord, in your private space. That’s ten people who truly care. Nurture that. Keep showing up. Those ten can become a 50, and 50 become a hundred, and a hundred can become a thousand. And a thousand? A thousand people who truly believe in you? That can sustain an entire career. This month it’s 5. Next month it’s 10. This year it’s 100. Next year it’s 300. The beauty is that your audience is always growing and that will continue to motivate you to creating art and sharing what you are doing with your audience and your biggest fans.

Social media is fleeting. Platforms rise and fall. But real connection? That lasts.

Start building that today. A starving artist is someone who has no one to sell their art too. A Hungry Artist is someone who is passionate about what they create and getting it in front of their audience, so that they can have a sustainable career.

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