6 Reasons Filmmakers Are Entrepreneurs
If you want to make movies for a living, you’ll likely have to start a company. That alone makes you an entrepreneur, but here are 6 other reasons why.
Filmmakers often don’t like to think of themselves as business people. Often, they’d rather be creative, and focus solely on the art of cinema. Unfortunately, this is not the way to create a career crafting moving images. In order to make a career, you must understand how to make money. The easiest way to do that is to think like an entrepreneur. here are 6 reasons why.
1. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs both Must Turn an Idea into a Product.
At its core, the goal of both being a filmmaker and an entrepreneur is the same. To take an idea, and turn it into a market-ready product. For an entrepreneur, this product can be anything from software to food products, and everything in between. For a filmmaker, the product is content. Generally speaking, that content is a completed film, web series, or Television series.
This alone should be enough to see how filmmakers are entrepreneurs, but it’s not the only way the two job titles are similar
2. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs are both creative innovators birthing something that has never been seen before.
Every successful company does something no one else ever has. Every successful film brings something that’s never been seen before to the market. Some innovations are minor, others major. Both sets of innovations are born by iterating on another idea that didn’t quite make their product in a way that the entrepreneur or filmmaker thinks is the best way.
Innovation is at the core of both filmmaking and entrepreneurship. Both involve intelligent and creative people who want to change the world. Some through technology, some through storytelling.
3. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs both must figure out who will buy their product.
If either a filmmaker or an entrepreneur is to be successful, then they need to figure out who will buy their product when it’s ready to ship. If they don’t know what their target market is, then it’s impossible to make enough money to keep the company going or help investors recoup so you can make another film.
Market research is key to this. If you want to find out more, check out last week’s blog by clicking here.
4. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs both often need to raise money to create their products.
While everything else on this list is true nearly 100% of the time, this one is only true 80-90% of the time. While some entrepreneurs and filmmakers can finance their companies out of pocket, most filmmakers need to consider how they’ll pay for the things necessary to create their chosen product.
Both filmmakers and entrepreneurs must develop a deep understanding of fundraising if they’re going to be able to make their career in their chosen field a long-term sustainable one.
5. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs must both assemble a team to turn their idea into a product.
No one can make a film or build a company all by themselves. Both must build and manage a team of creatives and business people to create their product and take it out to the world. Without the ability to build and lead a team to success, the film or the company will not succeed.
6. Filmmakers and Entrepreneurs must both figure out how to take their products to market.
After coming up with an idea, figuring out who will buy their product, financing their vision, and assembling a team in order to create a product, filmmakers still need to get that product and figure out how to take it to market. For both, this is generally referred to as the distribution stage of the process.
For filmmakers, it’s relatively well-defined despite the information about it not being widely enough available. For entrepreneurs, their distribution plan will vary greatly by industry. But in either case, if the end user/viewer can’t access the product, they won’t buy it.
Thank you so much for reading. If you’d like to become a better indie film entrepreneur, you should check out my FREE Indiefilm Resource package. it’s got a free e-book called The Entrepreneurial Producer, several templates to help you organize your operation including a pitch deck template, and monthly blog digests to help you expand your knowledge base.
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7 Ways to become a leader in your Filmmaking (or Any) community
If you want to succeed in the film industry (or an industry for that matter) you’re going to have to grow a community around you and your work. Here’s how to rise to the top and lead a burgeoning community.
In any community, there are members who get more done than others. Some people rise to the top of the pile, while others tread water and don’t move their projects forward. Some people are only tolerated in their community, while others become leaders. It’s not random, the people who become community leaders do certain things to set themselves apart from the pack.
Successful entrepreneurs and filmmakers have a way of becoming leaders in their communities. The qualities required for both are remarkably similar. What are those qualities you ask? Fear, not my intrepid reader, what follows is a list of the 7 ways to become a leader in your filmmaking (or any) community.
1. Show up.
The old adage of half the battle is showing up is very true. If you always show up, then the community will begin to know you. After a while, you’ll become a face. You’ll get to know the other members of the community. If you’re always there then the organizers will eventually trust you with more responsibility. As you become more ingrained in the community, you will naturally figure out how the community functions. Once you know how the community functions, you can begin to become a leader within it.
2. Learn People’s Names
I’ll admit that I’m kind of bad at this one, but it really does make a difference. When you can greet a person by their name, then you’re going to forge a much better connection and business relationship with them. It can be hard to remember everyone’s names when you meet a lot of people at a networking event, but it really is worth the time and mental energy.
3. Actively participate
If you want to become a leader, you need to be noticed. It’s been said that only about 1 in 10 members of a community actively create content for it. If you sit in a corner and mess around on your phone, no one is going to notice you. If you ask intelligent questions, you become a part of the conversation. Take the time to actively participate, and you’ll be amazed at what it will do for your career.
4. Connect Both Online and Offline
If you only see members of your community once a month at whatever event you all frequent, your ties to them won’t be that strong. Assuming we’re talking about a professional community, connecting on LinkedIn will be the best place to do this. Google Plus and Twitter can also be good. Once you’ve known someone for a while, Facebook might not be a bad idea but you might want to add them to different lists in order to keep your personal and professional lives separate.
5. Don’t make it all about you.
The essence of community is being a part of something larger than yourself. Unfortunately, many people only take part in communities because they feel like they can get something out of it for their own personal projects. If you focus not only on your needs, but the needs of others, then you’re going to be able to get a lot farther in your community. Successful people never forget the ones who helped them get there. Not everyone you help will be successful, but if you help enough people then some of them will.
6. Help others before you ask for help.
If you have the resources and ability to help someone, you should. Time is one of those resources, so I’m not saying let your own projects or health fall by the wayside. However, helping people is key to building social capital.
7. Celebrate the successes of your community
If something good happens to someone in your community, celebrate it. Be happy for your community members who find success. Being envious of people for their achievements will prevent you from furthering your own goals. Negativity only creates more negativity. Luckily, the same can be said for positivity. If something big happens within the community, then share it. Revel in it. Take pride that you’re part of a community that is making things happen.
People remember how others respond to their success. Having found some level of success myself, I can tell you far too many respond with envy. They respond by tearing you down because they feel threatened by your success. Those people are toxic, and you need to associate yourself with people who will celebrate your successes. The only way to surround yourself with those types of people is to be one yourself.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Thanks for reading! This blog is one of 21 articles included in The Entrepreneurial Producer. As part of the celebration of the relaunch of my website, I’m giving that Ebook away FOR FREE as part of my film business resource package. In addition to that FREE e-book, you’ll also get some other templates, form letters, as well as money and time-saving resources. You’ll even get monthly digests covering industry topics you’ll need to know to be a successful producer.