Indie Film Hustle® Podcast: Filmmaking | Screenwriting | Cinematography | Film School | Film Production | Independent Film

In today's world, personal branding is more important than ever. I wanted to discuss what personal branding is, how to go about it and examples of how other world-famous filmmakers branded themselves. What is the definition of personal branding?Personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization. Whereas some self-help practices focus on self-improvement, personal branding defines success as a form of self-packaging. The term is thought to have originated from an article written by Tom Peters in 1997. In Be, Your Own Brand, first published in 1999, marketers David McNally and Karl Speak wrote: "Your brand is a perception or emotion, maintained by somebody other than you, that describes the total experience of having a relationship with you."Individuals sometimes associate personal names or pseudonyms with their businesses. Celebrities may also leverage thei

Today on the show we have writer, producer, and actor Nick Sinakis. Nick and his writing partner created the film My Best Friend's Famous, an indie film produced for under $10,000 and made it entirely out of his apartment. He acted, co-wrote, produced and edited the film while his writing partner directed, produced and scored the film.Through a little HUSTLE (haha couldn't help myself) he managed to attract to the film MINDY STERLING (most known as Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers, Goldbergs) as well as OSCAR® NOMINEE RYAN O''NEAL (Love Story, Barry Lyndon).  The rest of the cast is rounded out with DAVID ROSS PATERSON (Saving Mr. Banks, Benjamin Button, Frost Nixon) as well as some young up and coming comedians.I wanted him on the show to, first of all, find out how he attracted his cast for such an indie film, to discuss how he was able to make his film look much bigger than a $10k indie and what he learned from Indie Film Hustle that helped him along his journey making his film.Enjoy my conversation with

We have a special episode today. I wanted to discuss a topic that NEVER gets discussed until minutes before the cameras begin to roll, shooting sex scenes. Loving making or sex scenes are like walking through a field of landmines. I've shot these kinds of scenes in my life and it's​ just uncomfortable for everyone on set. Today we have a guest who literally wrote a book on the subject, John Bucher.

Today on the show we have the chairman of the legendary Cooke Optics empire. For over 100 years, Cooke has been at the center​ of the filmmaking business. We've been listening to the community of which we are apart​. We lead by introducing new products such as /i Technology, and we remember our success is built on a simple idea - do what the filmmaker needs.Enjoy my conversation with Les Zellan.

Today on the show we have filmmaker Andrew Kortschak. In today’s digital age, where ‘releasing’ a film involves putting it on Vimeo, new filmmakers often struggle to rise above the noise and break into the exclusive industry.Andrew has a unique approach to this problem and in fact joined forces with a Silicon Valley venture capitalist to build End Cue like a tech startup: via a bi-coastal incubator model where directors cut their teeth and build their portfolios doing commercial work. On such alum of this approach is Jon Watts  - Andrew co-produced his NBR award-winning film Cop Car before he’d go on to direct Spiderman: Homecoming.To further address the pain-points of young producers, End Cue even sprouted groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to save time during the scriptwriting process. This was a fascinating conversation. Enjoy my talk with Andrew Kortschak.

Today's guest is Filmtrepreneur Luke Neumann. Luke has taken a very interesting filmmaking path. He runs a very popular YouTube channel with over 140,000 subscribers. On his channel, you'll see DIY film tutorials, filmmaking tips and tricks, aerial drone videos, short films and vlogs presented in 4K/UHD, 4K/60fps and 8K. What makes him a Filmtrepreneur is that he leveraged his audience and created multiple revenue streams.

After months of preparation, it's finally here, The Filmtrepreneur Podcast! After the success of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast and the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast, I felt there was another area of the filmmaking process that I could help filmmakers with, how to actually make money with their films. Filmtrepreneur was born.

Today on the show we have Hollywood screenwriter, director, producer, podcaster and novelist John August. He is known for writing the hit Hollywood films Go, Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Big Fish, Charlie, ​and the Chocolate Factory and Frankenweenie, the Disney live-action adaptation of Aladdin and the novel Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire. He hosts the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes with Craig Mazin, maintains an eponymous screenwriting blog and develops screenwriter-targeted software called​ Highland 2.5 through his company, Quote-Unquote Apps.Enjoy my conversation with John August.

Today on the show we have writer/director, Adam William Ward. His new film is called Wally Got Wasted. I brought him on the show to discuss the crazy misadventures he had shooting guerilla-style in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. L.A. is probably the toughest city in the world to shoot a guerilla-style film.  His stories are not on filled with knowledge bombs but are entertaining as hell. "Wally Got Wasted" is like "The Hangover" meets "Weekend at Bernie's." It follows the adventures of 3 friends who accidentally kill a scumbag, then screws up getting rid of the body, so they are forced to pretend he is alive as they are chased through downtown LA in one crazy night.Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Adam William Ward.

Today on the is one of the bravest indie filmmakers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, writer/director Benjamin Gilmour. His film Jirga was shot with a tw0 person crew, a Sony A7s Camera he purchased at a local camera shop and an ever-changing​ screenplay. Did I mention he shot this film in Afghanistan​?Three years after an Australian army helicopter raid on a small village led to the killing of an unarmed man, former Australian soldier Mike (Sam Smith) returns to Afghanistan to find the victim’s family. He sets off on a perilous journey over a terrain where both the Taliban and ISIS are active. Mike is determined to make amends and so puts his life in the hands of the Jirga – the village justice system. Jirga is screening in US cinemas in AugustThis unconventional film about the war in Afghanistan became Australia's submission for the Oscar's Foreign Language category in 2019. As we spoke on this episode my mouth keeps​​ dropping on the floor. One issue​ after another, with crazy stories and life-threati

This week I have the pleasure of having directing coach Mark Travis on the show. I was introduced to him after I watched his stellar workshop Hollywood Film Directing, which he co-instructed with Gil Bettman (he'll be on the show soon).Mark Travis has developed a new way to directing actors called The Travis Technique. Mark teaches directors how to direct the character (not the actor) in order to create instantaneous authentic performances, even on tight schedules and tiny budgets. Here's a bit on The Travis Technique.Acting is too often just pretending. And most directing is demanding and controlling and result oriented.  And consequently, the final product suffers. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you use The Travis Technique, you can achieve instantaneous and authentic performances from actors that are deeply felt by audiences.  The Travis Technique is an organic approach to directing actors that are guaranteed to create authentic characters and performances by shifting the focus from directing the

Today on the show we have renaissance filmmaker Tanner Beard. I Had the pleasure of meeting him at the Mammoth Film Festival this year. His adventures in Hollywood are pretty amazing.Tanner Beard is a film and television actor, producer and director as well as CEO of Silver Sail Entertainment and Mammoth Film Festival. SSE was created during the industry strike of 2008 with a concentration on cultivating professional media content without sacrificing the integrity and artistic vision of the content creators themselves.Tanner has since produced various projects including a travel show, award-winning short films, award-winning documentaries, commercials, music videos and multiple seasons of a web-based television series. His feature film producer credits include critically acclaimed 'Hellion" starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, and 'Legend of Hell's Gate,' which he also wrote, directed and starred in alongside Eric Balfour, Henry Thomas, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Summer Glau, Kevin Alejandro, and Lou Taylor Pucci.

Today on the show we have returning champion director Alex Lehmann. I asked him back on the show to discuss his new Netflix film Paddleton starring indie film legend Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano. Paddleton is about an unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when one of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer.I know, it sounds hilarious. The film is beautiful, touching an actually pretty funny. I wanted Alex to come back on the show (Listen here to Alex's first appearance​ on the show) to discuss the process of working with Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano and to breakdown how a Netflix feature film is shot using a Scriptment and not a traditional screenplay.We also discuss his other amazing film Asperger's Are Us and how making that passion project led​ to him working with Mark. This is an inspirational talk​ with some knowledge bombs thrown in. Enjoy my conversation with the talented and ever humble Alex Lehmann. 

So I'm conducting an experiment. Can the IFH Tribe and I get some of the most amazing filmmakers in history on the IFH Podcast? Well, let's see if we can make that dream come true. There is a list of filmmakers and screenwriters I would love to have as guests on the show. This list is pretty ambitious but hell if you are going to dream DREAM BIG. If anyone out in the Indie Film Hustle Tribe knows or has a way to contact any of these amazing filmmakers please email me at ifhsubmissions@gmail.com I know this might be a pipe dream but wouldn't it be astonishing if one or more of these filmmakers actually came on the show to share their filmmaking and/or screenwriting knowledge? I want to prove to everyone listening that if you want your dream to come true then you need to put it out into the universe and have the courage to do so. Like I said, this is just an experiment but man wouldn't be cool? Here's my humble list.Dream Directing GuestsRobert RodriguezQuentin TarantinoSteven SpielbergJames CameronMartin Scors

We all tell ourselves negative stories. I'm not good enough. I can't write that. I can't direct a feature film. These stories are killing us day in and day out. It took me 20+ years to finally change the story I was telling myself about being able to direct a feature film. When I finally changed that negative story I was able to make This is Meg, self-distributed it and even sold the film to Hulu and overseas. Once you change the stories you tell yourself you will change your life. In this episode, I do a deep dive into the negative stories we tell ourselves as filmmakers, screenwriters, and creatives. Buckle up. There are a TON of truth bombs in this episode! 

What if someone could read over 12,000 scripts that were read by professional script readers, who gave the scripts an overall score as well as scores for specific factors including plot, dialogue, characterization, theme, and voice. Then looked for connections and correlations to discover what professional script readers think a good screenplay looks like. Well, today on the show I have that man, Stephen Follows.It's a monster of a report -- 65 pages to be exact -- that examines data from over 12,000 screenplays - mostly written by amateurs, but some of them written by professionals and major Hollywood actors.  Using rigorous data analysis methodologies, Stephen and his team found some fascinating correlations.  Stephen Follows is an established data researcher in the film industry whose work has been featured in the New York Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Evening Standard, Newsweek, The New Statesman, AV Club, and Indiewire.He acted as an industry consultant an

Today on the show we Sven Pape. Sven is an A.C.E. Award-nominated editor who cut for James Cameron, Mark Weber, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and James Franco. We get into the weeds on editing, storytelling, the business of editing and much more. Oh, did I mention Sven worked with James Cameron for three years? We definitely​ go into that. Sven Pape's YouTube Channel This Guys Edit is an awesome resource for filmmakers and editors alike. Enjoy my conversation with Sven Pape.

In this episode, we discuss proving your doubters wrong. Proving to yourself that if you have a dream and you have some hustle then damn it you can do it. Why are people so scared of your success? We get into it. Enjoy!

Every week I'll be posting new videos as part of my Weekly Motivation Series to help the #IFHTribe along their filmmaking or screenwriting path. We all need some help, guidance, motivation or inspiration on our long journey in this crazy business so I hope these video help in a small way.If you like this please share it with your friends and inner circle. Keep on hustling and never give up on that dream!

Are you a bitter and angry filmmaker? Do you hate on other filmmaker's success? Be honest! Then I hate to tell you but you are a Hater. On this episode, we dive into the mindset of being a bitter and angry filmmaker. I was bitter for most of my filmmaking career. Every time a new, young filmmaker would come into my edit suite with their $3 million indie film I'd say to myself... "Why did he get a shot? I'm as good as him. I've been busting my ass for years and no one is giving me any chances. This is some BS!"It took me years to break free of that mindset. It was only hurting me and my filmmaking career. This episode might be the cold bucket of water over your head that you have been needing. Getting ready for it. And if you are not that bitter and angry filmmaker then please share it with that bitter filmmaker in your life cause we ALL have one of those in our circle of filmmaking friends. Enjoy.