Business for Self-Employed Creatives

Joining me today is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and author. His latest book, “A Filmmaking Mindset: The New Path of Today’s Filmmaker” is available on Amazon now. I’m talking with Kelly Schwarze about how the film industry is shifting and what we can do to adapt.

Buy "A Filmmaking Mindset: The New Path of Today's Filmmaker" on Amazon

Connect with Kelly:

Indie Film Factory website and Facebook

Instagram @directorkelly

00:36 "Like everybody else, when the pandemic hit and we were looking at job cancellations and productions getting shut down, the first thing I thought was, 'Okay, how do I innovate?' I've always thought of myself as kind of always having to hustle. I've never really rested on my laurels ever. So I think for us, it's always about been innovation. For me personally, it's been about trying to evolve and do different things and try different things in terms of production." 

01:45 "I get the idea of it being a very scary time, but it is what it is. And you have to look and figure out ways that you can innovate and do things that are productive, but also to reflect on how you can do things better when things do get back into practice. And I think that's another takeaway from all this, and it's definitely put the spotlight on the fact that we're able to do things that we didn't think we could do." 

03:35 "I think what we're seeing now is this big question mark, whether or not this industry has to change course, dramatically."

05:38 "Everybody is waiting for permission. And I think a lot of people are so afraid looking foolish, being intimidated by the technology of it all."

08:47 "Film School teaches you perfect world scenario. When you start having to pay for things, and you have to start looking at the economy of making money back on a project, that's when you start to really think about the reality of things."

10:51 "This is a lifetime, a career of trial and error, and missed opportunities, and bad decisions, and mistakes. But it's all a part of that process. And if you don't understand that, it makes it very difficult. So I always say like, just go out, make mistakes, and embrace every one of them."

13:34 "I believe talent is something that is acquired over time, too. But it's really about your focus and your interest. You know, if you're passionate about telling stories, you're going to figure out a way to tell stories. And if you focus on it enough, you're going to end up being the best you can be. And that's all you can ask for."

15:48 "I make a commitment to getting up every day and incrementally doing things in my life. And I think that's what we have to try to do to stay on point."

18:59 "Not every day is going to be your superstar day. You just have to be in a position to understand that and relate to it and move on. And not everything's going to turn out perfectly. It's trial and error, but also giving yourself that time to be calm. 

22:51 "We may go back to set, but it may also be a hybrid of things. You may start to see that the cost economics of keeping somebody remote is far more beneficial."

27:12 "I think it's really people's unwillingness to adapt, and to accept change, that's going to be the death to a lot of aspects of people in this industry."

31:27 "So the good thing with 'Abigail Haunting' is that it just took off, and it happened to be in the midst of a time where not a lot of new content was coming out. So we had the opportunity to, for several weeks, be in the most popular film category on Amazon. And then over Memorial Day weekend, we were like the third most popular movie. And I'm sitting there thinking this is nuts. I mean, this is crazy. We have at least over a million people that have seen this movie on that platform alone. So it's incredible, the opportunity that this whole thing has provided us in a way on a filmmaking level."

33:52 "With the way things are going with production, it's going to have to be about storytelling."