7 Tips To Make a Living Filmmaking...



I always say that the best way to make a living as a filmmaker is to work in corporate video production.

I’m based in London, UK and my experience is in the European market, but the principles for a great video business that I have discovered are universal and will work in any market.  I thought it would be helpful to share my 7 top tips for how to build and run your corporate video business.

1. Know and use the asset equation – Every successful entrepreneur knows and uses the asset equation.  I1 => A => I2 – Income stream 1 leads to Asset, which leads to Income stream 2.  Any income you have right now should be ploughed into buying or developing an asset.  You can then use that asset to create a second income stream.  For example, use your income from an office job to finance the buying of a camera and then use that camera to make wedding videos, which pay you a second income.  At some point, your second income will grow to be larger than your first income, and then you can give up the day job and become a professional filmmaker.

2. Own kit – Leading straight off the back of the previous point, owning your own filmmaking kit is a must these days.  If you have to hire in kit every time you’re shooting, you’re going to lose valuable time, effort and, most importantly, profit margin on each and every job, so you won’t be competitive and fast enough to grab the opportunities you find.

3. Know your market – I mentioned opportunities in the previous point, and knowing your market is the best way to find and develop the opportunities to make films for money.  You need to know what’s being made, for whom it is being made and how you can fit into that system.

4. Always say “Yes” – The single best piece of advice I was ever given when I was a young filmmaker was to find a way to say “yes” to every offer you ever get.  You never know where it will take you.  Certainly, you’ll feel out of your depth on many occasions and you’ll inevitably make mistakes, but it will help you to grow and develop as both a filmmaker and businessperson.

5. Be a lifelong learner – Never, ever believe that you have learned everything there is to know.  There will always be a new way of doing things that you need to learn.  Orson Welles said that everything that you need to know about filmmaking can be learned in a day or two.  Robert Rodriguez changed that to 10 minutes.  They’re right in some respects, but they’re both talking about the nuts and bolts of “making a film”.  Filmmaking isn’t just about how to write a script, or how to talk to actors or where to put a camera – that’s about 10 percent of it – the vast majority of filmmaking is about how to set up a viable business model, how to find clients, how to make deals, how to handle your client relationships – stuff that takes a lifetime to learn.

6. Network effectively – The best way to network is to have a specific and measurable objective from your networking encounter.  Many people seem to have aimless chats with other people they meet at networking events and just move round the room trying to speak to as many people as possible.  Wrong.  You should have a specific plan of action – identify the person or persons you want to speak to and ask yourself how YOU can help THEM – NOT how THEY can help YOU.  This will make your encounter much more fruitful and increase the chances of them keeping in touch with you, which could lead to work later on.

7. Know and use the Funnelling Effect – Essentially this principle is about using your network both above and below you to increase your opportunities for income.  So, above you, you would have relationships with agencies and production companies, who have relationships above them with many more clients than you could ever reach on your own.  Fundamentally, this increases the pipeline of work opportunities coming back down to you.  Similarly, below you, you have relationships with camera teams, editors, make-up artists, etc. and you can put work their way, while taking a commission from the jobs.  So, you’re earning both directly and indirectly.

8. Underpromise, but overdeliver – Which is what I’ve done here.  I promised you 7 tips and I’ve given you 8.  Also known as “going the extra mile” or “adding value”, etc.  Tell a client it will take a week to write the script – and then deliver it the next day.  Always impresses them and makes them think they’re working with a miracle worker!

These ideas will help you keep your business healthy.


http://ukscreen.com/blogs/7-tips-to-make-a-living-filmmaking/