Indie Film Hustle® Podcast: Filmmaking | Screenwriting | Cinematography | Film School | Film Production | Independent Film

Every once in a while I come across a filmmaker who is just a bit crazier than I am. This is true for writer/director Gaelan Connell who's film Blood Sand and Gold is a true indie film miracle. This mad man decided to raise $250,000 (much of which was out of pocket) and go off and make a big budget action film, just one problem he didn't have a big budget.Yes, I know $250K is a lot of money but it's not enough for what Gaelan Connell was attempting to do. Check this out, Blood Sand and Gold was shot over the course of 58 days across 5 countries and 4 continents! It has Jason Bourne/James Bond-style​ action. I mean it's nuts.

As promised in this episode, I bring to you the live recording of my workshop from the 2019 HollyShorts! Film Festival on audience building and surviving the film industry with my brotha from another mutha RB Botto from Stage32.com. We discuss the best way to build an audience online, do's and dont's, and tips on surviving the film industry from two filmmakers with a ton of shrapnel. Enjoy!

We have all been there. A film project that just goes on and on and doesn't seem to have an end in site. While you are waiting for the punishment to finish your life starts to take a downward spiral into a blackhole. You look up and five years have passed and you wondered what the hell happened? That is exactly what happen to today guest filmmaker Theo Hogben.Theo reached out to me to tell me his story in an almost 2000 word email, by the way please do not send me long emails I just don't have the time to read them. For whatever reason I started read his email and his story of his five year odyssey making his short film, A Most Savage Beast, caught my ear. His journey down the dark rabbit-hole of filmmaking is a story I know many members of the IFH Tribe have gone or are going through right now.I hope his story will inspire you to start or finish that film you've always wanted to do. To finish the screenplay you've been noodling around with for years. Get up off your butt and make it happen for yourself. Theo

We all have gone through it, a project falls apart after months if not years of you working on it. It has happened to me so many times I lost count. I based my book Shooting for the Mob on my biggest and most painful failure. In this episode, I share my experience on how to deal with a dream crushing event. "ALL filmmaking careers are forged by the failures you have in this business."You need to understand that EVERY FILMMAKER at EVERY LEVEL has gone or is going through a project falling apart. Let's discuss how we can deal with this and keep moving forward towards our filmmaking dream. 

Today's guest, filmmaker Hari Mitar Khalsa, figured out how to pay off $30,000 in student debt in 11 months working as a freelance videographer and editor. We go into a deep dive on his methods, habits and tips on how you can pay that student debt off fast.

In this episode I  speak to prolific film producer/writer/director Mike Feifer. Mike has directed over 70 films and produced over 100 feature films.

In today's world, personal branding is more important than ever. I wanted to discuss what personal branding is, how to go about it and examples of how other world-famous filmmakers branded themselves. What is the definition of personal branding?Personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization. Whereas some self-help practices focus on self-improvement, personal branding defines success as a form of self-packaging. The term is thought to have originated from an article written by Tom Peters in 1997. In Be, Your Own Brand, first published in 1999, marketers David McNally and Karl Speak wrote: "Your brand is a perception or emotion, maintained by somebody other than you, that describes the total experience of having a relationship with you."Individuals sometimes associate personal names or pseudonyms with their businesses. Celebrities may also leverage thei

Today on the show we have writer, producer, and actor Nick Sinakis. Nick and his writing partner created the film My Best Friend's Famous, an indie film produced for under $10,000 and made it entirely out of his apartment. He acted, co-wrote, produced and edited the film while his writing partner directed, produced and scored the film.Through a little HUSTLE (haha couldn't help myself) he managed to attract to the film MINDY STERLING (most known as Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers, Goldbergs) as well as OSCAR® NOMINEE RYAN O''NEAL (Love Story, Barry Lyndon).  The rest of the cast is rounded out with DAVID ROSS PATERSON (Saving Mr. Banks, Benjamin Button, Frost Nixon) as well as some young up and coming comedians.I wanted him on the show to, first of all, find out how he attracted his cast for such an indie film, to discuss how he was able to make his film look much bigger than a $10k indie and what he learned from Indie Film Hustle that helped him along his journey making his film.Enjoy my conversation with

We have a special episode today. I wanted to discuss a topic that NEVER gets discussed until minutes before the cameras begin to roll, shooting sex scenes. Loving making or sex scenes are like walking through a field of landmines. I've shot these kinds of scenes in my life and it's​ just uncomfortable for everyone on set. Today we have a guest who literally wrote a book on the subject, John Bucher.

Today on the show we have the chairman of the legendary Cooke Optics empire. For over 100 years, Cooke has been at the center​ of the filmmaking business. We've been listening to the community of which we are apart​. We lead by introducing new products such as /i Technology, and we remember our success is built on a simple idea - do what the filmmaker needs.Enjoy my conversation with Les Zellan.

Today on the show we have filmmaker Andrew Kortschak. In today’s digital age, where ‘releasing’ a film involves putting it on Vimeo, new filmmakers often struggle to rise above the noise and break into the exclusive industry.Andrew has a unique approach to this problem and in fact joined forces with a Silicon Valley venture capitalist to build End Cue like a tech startup: via a bi-coastal incubator model where directors cut their teeth and build their portfolios doing commercial work. On such alum of this approach is Jon Watts  - Andrew co-produced his NBR award-winning film Cop Car before he’d go on to direct Spiderman: Homecoming.To further address the pain-points of young producers, End Cue even sprouted groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to save time during the scriptwriting process. This was a fascinating conversation. Enjoy my talk with Andrew Kortschak.

Today's guest is Filmtrepreneur Luke Neumann. Luke has taken a very interesting filmmaking path. He runs a very popular YouTube channel with over 140,000 subscribers. On his channel, you'll see DIY film tutorials, filmmaking tips and tricks, aerial drone videos, short films and vlogs presented in 4K/UHD, 4K/60fps and 8K. What makes him a Filmtrepreneur is that he leveraged his audience and created multiple revenue streams.

After months of preparation, it's finally here, The Filmtrepreneur Podcast! After the success of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast and the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast, I felt there was another area of the filmmaking process that I could help filmmakers with, how to actually make money with their films. Filmtrepreneur was born.

Today on the show we have Hollywood screenwriter, director, producer, podcaster and novelist John August. He is known for writing the hit Hollywood films Go, Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Big Fish, Charlie, ​and the Chocolate Factory and Frankenweenie, the Disney live-action adaptation of Aladdin and the novel Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire. He hosts the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes with Craig Mazin, maintains an eponymous screenwriting blog and develops screenwriter-targeted software called​ Highland 2.5 through his company, Quote-Unquote Apps.Enjoy my conversation with John August.

Today on the show we have writer/director, Adam William Ward. His new film is called Wally Got Wasted. I brought him on the show to discuss the crazy misadventures he had shooting guerilla-style in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. L.A. is probably the toughest city in the world to shoot a guerilla-style film.  His stories are not on filled with knowledge bombs but are entertaining as hell. "Wally Got Wasted" is like "The Hangover" meets "Weekend at Bernie's." It follows the adventures of 3 friends who accidentally kill a scumbag, then screws up getting rid of the body, so they are forced to pretend he is alive as they are chased through downtown LA in one crazy night.Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Adam William Ward.

Today on the is one of the bravest indie filmmakers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, writer/director Benjamin Gilmour. His film Jirga was shot with a tw0 person crew, a Sony A7s Camera he purchased at a local camera shop and an ever-changing​ screenplay. Did I mention he shot this film in Afghanistan​?Three years after an Australian army helicopter raid on a small village led to the killing of an unarmed man, former Australian soldier Mike (Sam Smith) returns to Afghanistan to find the victim’s family. He sets off on a perilous journey over a terrain where both the Taliban and ISIS are active. Mike is determined to make amends and so puts his life in the hands of the Jirga – the village justice system. Jirga is screening in US cinemas in AugustThis unconventional film about the war in Afghanistan became Australia's submission for the Oscar's Foreign Language category in 2019. As we spoke on this episode my mouth keeps​​ dropping on the floor. One issue​ after another, with crazy stories and life-threati

This week I have the pleasure of having directing coach Mark Travis on the show. I was introduced to him after I watched his stellar workshop Hollywood Film Directing, which he co-instructed with Gil Bettman (he'll be on the show soon).Mark Travis has developed a new way to directing actors called The Travis Technique. Mark teaches directors how to direct the character (not the actor) in order to create instantaneous authentic performances, even on tight schedules and tiny budgets. Here's a bit on The Travis Technique.Acting is too often just pretending. And most directing is demanding and controlling and result oriented.  And consequently, the final product suffers. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you use The Travis Technique, you can achieve instantaneous and authentic performances from actors that are deeply felt by audiences.  The Travis Technique is an organic approach to directing actors that are guaranteed to create authentic characters and performances by shifting the focus from directing the

Today on the show we have renaissance filmmaker Tanner Beard. I Had the pleasure of meeting him at the Mammoth Film Festival this year. His adventures in Hollywood are pretty amazing.Tanner Beard is a film and television actor, producer and director as well as CEO of Silver Sail Entertainment and Mammoth Film Festival. SSE was created during the industry strike of 2008 with a concentration on cultivating professional media content without sacrificing the integrity and artistic vision of the content creators themselves.Tanner has since produced various projects including a travel show, award-winning short films, award-winning documentaries, commercials, music videos and multiple seasons of a web-based television series. His feature film producer credits include critically acclaimed 'Hellion" starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, and 'Legend of Hell's Gate,' which he also wrote, directed and starred in alongside Eric Balfour, Henry Thomas, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Summer Glau, Kevin Alejandro, and Lou Taylor Pucci.

Today on the show we have returning champion director Alex Lehmann. I asked him back on the show to discuss his new Netflix film Paddleton starring indie film legend Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano. Paddleton is about an unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when one of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer.I know, it sounds hilarious. The film is beautiful, touching an actually pretty funny. I wanted Alex to come back on the show (Listen here to Alex's first appearance​ on the show) to discuss the process of working with Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano and to breakdown how a Netflix feature film is shot using a Scriptment and not a traditional screenplay.We also discuss his other amazing film Asperger's Are Us and how making that passion project led​ to him working with Mark. This is an inspirational talk​ with some knowledge bombs thrown in. Enjoy my conversation with the talented and ever humble Alex Lehmann. 

So I'm conducting an experiment. Can the IFH Tribe and I get some of the most amazing filmmakers in history on the IFH Podcast? Well, let's see if we can make that dream come true. There is a list of filmmakers and screenwriters I would love to have as guests on the show. This list is pretty ambitious but hell if you are going to dream DREAM BIG. If anyone out in the Indie Film Hustle Tribe knows or has a way to contact any of these amazing filmmakers please email me at ifhsubmissions@gmail.com I know this might be a pipe dream but wouldn't it be astonishing if one or more of these filmmakers actually came on the show to share their filmmaking and/or screenwriting knowledge? I want to prove to everyone listening that if you want your dream to come true then you need to put it out into the universe and have the courage to do so. Like I said, this is just an experiment but man wouldn't be cool? Here's my humble list.Dream Directing GuestsRobert RodriguezQuentin TarantinoSteven SpielbergJames CameronMartin Scors