You can’t do it all.

Just trying to raise financing can take most of your week and usually stretches into months on end. Emails, calls, decks, follow-ups, meetings. In all that is a lot of radio silence, a lot of ghosting and a whole heck of a lot of NO’s. That’s just ONE part of the first stages of development which is the first of 5 stages of getting a movie made all the way to being seen by an audience.

So when I get attached to a new project, I always start by asking myself two things.

One: do I actually have time to put into this, and how much time can I realistically give?
Two: who else can I bring along with me?

That second question usually determines whether I can help move the project forward or not.

So that means finding another producer.

Yes I’m weak

I’m fully aware of my strengths. I know what I bring to the table. But I’m also very aware of my weaknesses. The longer you spend pretending you can do it all yourself, the longer your project stays stuck in development hell.

No film, except maybe the most micro of micro-budgets, is made by one person. Go look up any indie film, even one around the one million dollar mark, and check IMDb. You’ll see a whole line of producer credits: Associate Producer, Co-Producer, Producer, Executive Producer. Each of them fills a specific role.

Sometimes the executive producer is the one who brought in the financing. Sometimes they are the financing. Other times, they just helped make a few introductions that unlocked the right doors. That is not uncommon.

I’ve signed EP contracts for exactly that reason, to help another team find pieces of financing or to help move a package forward during development. It might not sound glamorous, but those are the moments that actually push a project closer to getting made.

Getting unstuck

This is where a lot of filmmakers get stuck. They think they need money first, when what they really need is clarity.

That’s one of the things filmmakers have told me they get out of the filmmaking lab. It’s understanding where you are stuck, a lot of times you don’t even know where you are stuck because (a saying I like), you don’t even know what you don’t know. When you start figuring out those things, that’s when you start to see clearly what your next steps are, but also as importantly, the right kind of person.

This doesn’t mean you need another producer, but maybe the right kind of person you are looking for is a marketer, or distributor, (yes even in development!) or maybe a casting director.

The first step of getting unstuck is first being fully aware of where you are stuck and why.

So many people

Right now, I’m attached to several projects in different stages of development. The one furthest along has five producers attached. It’s not because everyone’s fighting for credit. It’s because every single one of them is doing something different.

One is focused on outreach and relationships, like agents, financiers, and creative packaging.
Another is working on development, making sure the script, tone, and materials are tight.
Another is on logistics, budgeting, scheduling, and keeping production details moving.
Someone else is handling international partners, soft money, or tax incentives.

Each of them brings a specific skill set to the table. And most of them are working on other projects at the same time. This is why there are so many on one project, because most people work on multiple films at once during development, because you never really know which one will move forward.

Usually, there’s one main producer, someone spearheading the whole thing. Not a boss, but the person putting in the most time and effort to keep things moving. They collaborate with the rest of the team to get the project made.

That’s a team right there

It doesn’t matter what credit you are giving yourself, if you are a “filmmaker” you need a team, that really is the thing that gets a project moving forward, you need people with you, working together to help get this made, even on the earliest of stages. It doesn’t mean they will put in all their hours that week, but they just put in a little bit of time out of each week, but collectively, all of you together, move the project along.

Right now, wherever you are in your project, ask yourself, is my team strong enough. I don’t mean the creative team, don’t worry about them for now. The people who will do the work to get a project made. Do you have only one producer, do you need another? Do you have a producer at all? Do you need someone on the distribution side? Figure out what is needed.

Find people who believe in the story, who bring something you don’t, who can help you push the project forward in the areas where you’re weakest.

I promise you, you are not going to get this done alone.

PS: If you want to go deeper, the Filmmaker Lab is the easiest way to learn how to fund your film and avoid the traps that stall most indie projects. Details here

PPS: I also keep a few spots open each month for 30-minute Clarity Sessions. They’re focused on helping you get unstuck, make sharper decisions, and leave with a tailored blueprint. If you’re interested, reply to this email.

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