Produce (Short) Movies

Your mindset and how you think is the most important factor in regards to how you will do with this process (as well as in life.)

Do you say this a lot and then settle into a night of watching TV?

As I became more frustrated with my acting career, I kept saying this over and over for months.

For a while, I became like one of those talkers in Los Angeles… you know the kind… They say things like, “I’m going to make a short film. I’ve got this great script about this girl who was seeing this guy but then something happened and yada yada yada. I know this place I can shoot and I’ve got a great camera I can borrow. All I have to do is find the male lead and someone who knows makeup and it will be great because the festivals will LOVE it and I will probably end up getting a feature film from this project’s success. Maybe I’ll go to Cannes next year to screen it. I’m sure some big distributor will want it, but I won’t rush to accept an offer when the bidding war starts. It will be so great!”

And then they do absolutely nothing… Sometimes for YEARS!

I used to have friends like this who were “writing their screenplay”… for 5 years. And it was the SAME SCREENPLAY!

I have another one that was “recycling cans to save up the money to make their short”… for 4 years. Can we say massive waste of time? Even someone at a minimum wage job will be able to save up money faster than recycling every tuna can that passes through ones hands (though I do advocate recycling for environmental reasons.)

These are excellent examples of the word PROCRASTINATION.

Brian Tracy, one of my favorite mentors, has said that successful people are action-oriented people. Successful people are always in motion and not afraid to make mistakes. And when they make mistakes, they don’t beat themselves up for it, they keep asking themselves “What is the valuable lesson” and then the move on. He also says that the most successful people are the people that have failed the most.

So go out there and make your movie and don’t worry about failing. Because if you succeed then great, and if you fail, then really you are learning how to succeed, which is also great!

Also, it’s very important in the beginning to focus on quantity, not quality. It’s more important that you DO IT, than focus on doing it WELL. You might want to read The Artist’s Way to get better at focusing on the quantity rather than quality.

As another mentor of mine, Harv Ecker, teaches in his Enlightened Warrior Training, “Ready, FIRE, Aim!” meaning take action first and then course-correct as you continue forward. Keep this in mind as you proceed with your first project (or even future projects), because the urge to stop and become more comfortable is an urge that should be overridden most of the time. If you’re uncomfortable but otherwise feel like you’re moving in a positive direction (even if it’s scary), you’re probably just breaking through your own mentally created limitations of what is possible for you. KEEP GOING! Another great book: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

SO… Once you get over all mental crap (or at least ignore it for now) Pick a Date to shoot your project.