Because of the success of this project, I now have another feature script Sara and I wrote that’s in pre-production. Someone is finally making our fucking movie. It’s a character study about suicide tourism that’s being produced by Henrik Fett. (Black Swan, Grand Budapest Hotel, Apocalypto) We’re insanely lucky, but we also worked hard to get here.

MAKE A MOVIE YOURSELF

Now, this isn’t to say you shouldn’t try to get your movie produced. Always hope that somebody will make your dreams come true — but expect that you’re going to have to bite the bullet and do all the work yourself. The only way to get good at making films is to always make films. If you sit on your ass hoping to sell a script or get one financed — you’re wasting time. You could be improving your craft.

ALWAYS WRITE

If you’re a writer — always write. I wrote Panopticon while sitting in the back of a surveillance van working as a Private Investigator. I continued writing it when I was done with my 12 hour shifts. I did the pre-production in that same hot sweaty van. When it finally felt like it was finished — when it felt like this script needed to be made — I posted an ad online for a Director of Photography and went from there.

All the key players shooting Panopticon.

FIND PEOPLE WHO ARE AS EXCITED AS YOU

Most DPs were out of our budget — but a high rate doesn’t always equal quality. Just because they own a RED or a Black Magic Cine or whatever camera is popular on the day you read this — that doesn’t mean they can execute your creative vision. There was one guy, Thomas Bailey, who had a 7D and hadn’t really shot anything of note before, but he had an eye and was an all-around creative dude. When I talked to him — we clicked. We like the same movies. From reading the script, he knew how it would best be shot. He didn’t cost much money because he had a passion and a fire to create — just like I did.

The same goes for every position on set. The actors that we cast were extremely talented and they were hungry to work on something truly creative. Most days, we shot between 10 and 20 pages. That’s insanity. If our stars Guilherme and Sylvia were anything less than professional, they would’ve broken — but they nailed it. I can barely remember what I ate for lunch much less 20 pages of dialogue.

LEARN TO DO AS MANY JOBS ON SET AS YOU CAN

Over the years, I volunteered on sets. I worked on sets. I shot a bunch of short projects myself. I edited a bunch of short projects myself. I produced a bunch of short projects myself. When it came time to make Panopticon — I did most jobs myself, because I was free labor. I had days where I wasn’t sure if I could pull this thing off, but because of my wide range of experience, I was able to figure it out. I’d gladly and gratefully collaborate with talented individuals in the future when the budget allows, but if it doesn’t — I’m confident I can pick up the slack.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP

For the things I couldn’t do myself, I begged my friends to do. I have a friend who is a brilliant musician in a band called the Dead Horse Rhythm who was kind enough to do the score of the film for me. He and his girlfriend, Amanda, who did wardrobe on the movie, even let us shoot in their house.

We were also lucky enough to have Sunny Bak, who runs the Venice Art Crawl, help us grab a few free art gallery locations down the street from our apartment.

IT’S OKAY TO BREAK SOME RULES

We didn’t get permits, which caused some complications in the production. Nearly everybody in Los Angeles has had some run-in with productions before and expects they can make decent money if one is on or near their property. We were kicked out of parks, the beach, and even back alleyways because we didn’t have permits. It’s unfortunate that Los Angeles, the center of the film industry, makes it so difficult to make a no-budget movie. Shooting like this is probably a lot easier elsewhere. But we persevered because everyone on the project was dedicated. We were just making this because we love film and had a story to tell.

PLAN YOUR PRODUCTION BUT ALLOW FOR CREATIVE FREEDOM

When you’re on such a tight budget and most of the money is coming out of your own pocket, you make sure to spend the time planning every little detail. We left a lot of room for creative freedom on set, but the production details were airtight.

BE GRATEFUL

There’s been a lot of talk about what I’ve done here, but every single person in the credits gave a piece of themselves to this movie. As much as I say “my feature” — it does not belong to me.

Every day on set, I did my very best to show how grateful I was to the people who helped bring this thing to life. The best way to run a smooth production is to appreciate the people who are there. 90 percent of our budget went to paying cast and crew and feeding them. It wasn’t much, but they knew it was all we had. If you need to decide between special effects, renting a lens, or paying the talent and the crew — pay the talent and crew — they’re the ones that make the movie everything it can be.

I’m so thankful to every single person who has given blood, sweat, and tears to bring this thing to life. What I write in this paragraph will never do enough to prove it.

SOMEDAY, SOMEONE WILL WANT TO MAKE YOUR MOVIE

Just don’t ever stop trying. If making movies is truly what you love to do, you don’t need me to tell you that. You’ll never stop anyway.

Like this article? Check back in a year when I write “Nobody wants to distribute your fucking movie.”

You can now Watch PANOPTICON on Amazon Prime.