I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this has been my most successful and decorated year as an indie filmmaker and I’ve been in my living room this whole time.
A THREAD.
January 2020 I was named one of the Top 10 Filmmakers of the Decade by @diversencannes, a movement promoting diversity at the Cannes Film Festival.
February 2020 I got accepted to @Kartemquin’s Diverse Voices in Docs Fellowship Program.
In June 2020 I curated a lineup of films by Black filmmakers for Juneteenth with @UtahFilmCenter. My first time curating and the lineup was INCREDIBLE.
A lot of people ask me how I balance working full time as a commercial producer and being an indie filmmaker, so I figured I’d make a thread about it.
1) understand that it’s possible to have a day job and a passion. Many people will tell you that it’s not possible. It is. It’s just about time management and setting realistic goals for yourself.
2) time management is everything. I usually wake up around 6am-7am.
The first few hours of my morning I spend focusing on outlining my tasks for the day. I have two lists, one for my job, the other for film. Knowing what’s ahead of me keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.
1) find out if you want to follow a topic or a story.
2) find out which documentary genre you want to execute your film- (poetic, observational, participatory, etc)
3) create a deck that outlines...(cont)
• longline & synopsis
• themes & genre
• story elements (b roll list, archival footage, interviews, etc)
• tentative production timing
• your target audience
• your targeted distribution plan
• mood board
• doc examples of other films similar to yours for reference
This is GOING to change throughout the course of production. But the worst advice I keep hearing is “just pick up a camera and start filming” when it comes to documentaries.
It is okay to have a flexible structure that keeps your project moving. THAT IS OKAY.
I have a full time job as an ad agency content producer. outside of that I make indie films. Most people have no idea about my 9-5. I only promote my film work. My day job doesn’t define me. It’s the primary investor in my films, and the reason I’m able to create consistently.
You can teach and make films.
You can be an office coordinator and make films.
You can drive Uber and make films.
You can produce commercial content for brands and make films.
There are so many sustainable ways to be a filmmaker that don’t involve struggling.
Hollywood is a soul crushing gatekeeping cesspool of soullessness and greed. No matter how many ways it’s painted as “just the industry”, we need to offer filmmakers more avenues of success and sustainability.
There are so many ways to work in film while being a filmmaker.
All of my documentary films follow a similar format/style. Activism centered, interview based, coupled with animation, typography, archival footage, and b roll.
Why? Because the producer + Virgo in me will not allow me to agree to a project without a definitive end date 😩
Exhibit A: Black Feminist.
52 mins. Highly educational. Distributed by @womenmakemovies. Schools LOVE this. It’s fun, upbeat, poignant, and informational.
Shot this in 2 locations with a 3 person crew of all Black women in Less than a year.
Every single time a celebrity is called out for sexual misconduct, the responses to it show me that we as a society STILL know little to nothing about sexual assault, trauma, and consent. It’s exhausting.
The problem is that so many men are conditioned to believe that sexual aggression and coercion are how you engage in sexual activity. Enthusiastic consent is demonized because men are taught they should “chase” and “pursue”. Sex is looked at as something to obtain from women.
we give girls absolute hell and shame them for being sexual beings, but throw sex in boy’s faces because their sexual desires are what “makes them a man”.
I started filmmaking in 2015. The first five years of this journey has been
- getting my masters degree in cinema producing
- producing 15 films, directing 8
- focusing on festivals & content distribution
- networking my ass off to build a film tribe
- getting into academy award qualifying festivals consistently.
- learning how to shoot on a basic DSLR so I can film my own docs
- writing bigger scripts with larger casts and crews.
- more international distribution