A 90-year-old man walks into confession. He says, “Forgive me Father, I’ve sinned. I slept with two 20-year-old women last night outside of wedlock.” The father says, “That’s terrible, my son. When was the last time you made confession?” He says, “I’ve never made confession before father, I’m Jewish.” The Father says, “You’re Jewish? Well what are you telling me for?” He says, “Well, Father, I’m tellin’ everybody…”

There is little difference between oral storytelling and cinematic storytelling; both are equations of dramatic and comedic set-ups and payoffs. A film should be equally compelling when told aloud. I record all of my screenplays as podcasts and mix them to music and sound design; I feel that it is always a better display of what the film will be. Performing it out loud forces you to think hard about each moment; how can we make this stronger, what is the best version of this scene, how can we best use this moment to conduct our audience’s emotions at this point of the story? By focusing entirely on audience engagement, imagining that you are the conductor of the rollercoaster at each moment, you are already ahead of most.

2. Ideation

The ideation period for a film is different for everyone: some have scripts delivered to them and they take their pick, Stephen King scours newspapers for interesting stories, Christopher Guest tries not to think of films for a full year and then an idea will hit him. Ideas come to me over a long time and then all at once.

I never thought I was an artist, I looked at movies like a science: giant formulas of light and sound that are structured to get emotions out of audiences. I still think this way, but for years it discouraged me from having confidence in the arts.

I think about what will move people. I usually think about the drama first because I always find it easier to make something funny, it’s harder to make something realistic, or life-affirming. I say “listen to your biology”. What actually makes you cry? You find yourself crying, alone in your car or at the cinema. Bing Bong’s big scene in Inside Out. The illiterate player from A League of Their Own. Jonah Takalua. Write these moments down. Ask yourself why you are moved by them. Analyze the craftsmanship of the writing and the editing and the set-up that brought you to this moment emotionally. It’s a magic trick. It’s sleight of hand, you were distracted with the left hand using comedy or action, while the right was setting up heartbreak. It’s a punchline.

Find what moves you, find the humanity of the story, build your films from there, ask yourself: “how does this story work best over 90 minutes?”

3. Writing

There is a well-subscribed community who propagate and idolize screenplay format, it’s a cargo cult that’s maintained by these daydreamers, which almost exclusively glorifies and benefits old men. The same goes for 35MM film.

Screenwriting, as a professional fascination, is built on desires for personal approval that can be as fruitless and full of wish-thinking as gambling-addiction. Screenwriting is not filmmaking, it’s a part of filmmaking, it’s one of the blueprints, but it is not a good litmus test for the quality of a movie, clearly; Studios sign huge checks to great screenplays to then receive the worst Rotten Tomatoes scores in history. The Thunder Road Screenplay received multiple mediocre scores on The Blacklist. Yesterday, The Academy’s screenplay library reached out to have it added to their collection. The screenplay for Dunkirk is 70 pages. The only thing (Academy Award Winning Screenwriter) Diablo Cody knew about screenwriting when she wrote Juno was that “the dialogue is in the middle.” It’s ok to suck at writing screenplays if you know what will make a great movie and if you want to understand how people engage with movies in 2018, don’t study the script for Seabiscuit, get a Reddit Account like a normal person.

A movie is meant to be performed, act every scene out and write down the best dialogue. When most screenwriters write, they sit at a computer and hear the characters speaking in their minds and they write that stuff down. But by actually performing each scene aloud, you find incredible improvised moments that may take the scenes in better directions, and the dialogue is authentic and not over-scripted because it is actually coming out of human vocal cords.

Once the film is written (once you have a good draft), record it as a podcast. Record yourself reading it in a closet on the VoiceMemo App, bring it into an editing software, mix it, add music and sound design. It is easy to misinterpret an email, do not let someone misinterpret your script. Share it with trusted friends and fellow filmmakers. It is the best example of what your film will be, and most importantly, no one will ever read your script. That’s very important to remember: almost no one will read your script.

When it comes to script notes, listen to the problem, not the diagnosis. If people are saying “It feels slow here, maybe have the character do XYZ.” All you have to hear is “It feels slow here-”, you’ll know how to fix the problem.

Anyone can do this.

4. Pre-pre-Production

Start an LLC specifically for your film, you’ll need it. Open a business checking account. Run a Kickstarter campaign. Shoot a video of you discussing the project. Mimic the Thunder Road Kickstarter page; create rewards that bring people on as Associate and Executive Producers, include an email address at the bottom for people who want to invest more in the film by purchasing 1% of your film’s LLC. Create a Facebook page and global ads for your campaign that are driven specifically to people who like similar content to your Film and then narrow that audience to people who also like Kickstarter. Sell percentages of the film to cool and interested people: they will become your Hollywood.

Finding Producers

Hire your friends. Do not wait for or approach producers who you don’t know, imagining that they’ll be fair to you in a contract. Recruit producers who you like, who have made cool stuff on small budgets, who can be scrappy. Empower the juggernauts around you, and if you don’t know any, ask people who do (ask me!). There is also an incredible Facebook group called “I Need a Producer” that is open to anyone, and by posting about your project you will get submissions and meetings with talented people in your area. My Producer’s name is Natalie Metzger, she’s wonderful and always here to help:

Actual Pre-production

PRODUCTION TEAM — Set meetings. You are welcome to have them at our offices anytime. Get close with your production team. Share the podcast with them. Discuss everything. Know exactly what needs to be in the frame at all times. Basically, produce it with them until a few days before production.

LOCATIONS — Find your locations by asking on Facebook, Craigslist, AirBNB, or by dropping hand-written letters at good candidates.

CAST — Never wait for celebrities, make celebrities. Find the people who get it. Who you could tell this story with, and who are up to the challenge of making their performance a showcase of their abilities, people who can give you options in rehearsal but who will spend their own time rehearsing it to make it perfect and form-fit to the story.

CREW — Cast your crew with people your DP and Producers trust, who are also willing to be scrappy. Find people who are talented and enthusiastic. Hire people who you want to eat and drink with.

5. PRODUCTION

No jerks on set.

Work harder than anyone else. Hurry everywhere. Be incredibly kind and loud. You are a camp counselor. If people are noisy before a take, say “Quiet is nice. Quiet is nice.” Never be rude. Apologize. Always be lovely to everyone, your crew is carrying heavy equipment up flights of stairs for you.