Filmmaking has changed.

With the onset of YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and the obvious changes with Hollywood hybrid streamers like Netflix and HBO, Old Hollywood seems to be in its last throws.

I believed in the dream. I watched the old documentaries of people lining the streets to see Jaws. I watched the Oscars every year with the fantasy of one day that would be me stumbling over a forgettable speech. I want to make a movie that shapes the toys that kids played with, the songs that get stuck in people's heads, the one-liners that people say walking down the streets of New York. "I'm walking here!"

It isn't gone, but it certainly doesn't look the same.

It's been up to pre-established filmmakers already within the industry to create top-notch original quality, cross-market their movies, or adapt an already well-known property in order to keep people going to the movie theater. These filmmakers also almost seem grandfathered in. I don't know anyone other than Ari Aster or maybe Robert Eggers within the last five, six years who's kind of broken into the industry as a director. It feels like there was kind of a window that shut off. I haven't heard of anyone new. And the people that I think of most are the guys who made that new horror movie from A24. (Talk to Me) And guess what? They started out as YouTubers. With the actor and writer strikes in Hollywood, I can't help but feel a clutching at a past that no longer exists. I can't blame kids for wanting to become twitch streamers rather than Hollywood movie stars. Filmmaking as a medium has changed. It's lost its sacred ritual.

But with every death, God opens a window. Or something like that.

With all the cheap cinema cameras available, AI tools and technology, and people hungering for a more niche, authentic form of storytelling, the old-school, cultural zeitgeist of Hollywood seems to be out of flavor. Hopefully a blessing in disguise as it's forcing people to be genuinely original, engaging, and top-tier level of quality even at little to no budgets. It's our time to shine. If we really want to succeed as 21st century filmmakers, it's going to take seeing the forest and the trees and being a master of both. I'm not going to spend any time talking about the techniques or the methods of actually making a film, as there's so much of that on YouTube and I find that everyone makes things very, very differently. What I do want to focus in on are the things that I wish I had known and the things that I struggled learning over these last couple years that don't really get talked about that much.

Where are your ideas coming from and are they worth making?

Are you cultivating your stream of consciousness?

Are you making a conscious effort to remember your dreams? Are you inviting an appropriate amount of chaos into your life?

There's a whole brand of painters, poets, and musicians who are able to just fiddle around in chaos a little bit and make great art out of it. As filmmakers, we don't quite have this same luxury considering it requires a good balance of your right and left brain. That said, cultivating the wild chaos side is as important as the plan that you set out in place before you begin. Test shoots are my favorite thing for this. Not only are they stress free, but often times I'll get some of my best reel content out of them. I get to figure out the best angles for light, for camera, for blocking, as well as what lenses I'd like to use, as well as it allows me to be able to work on the fly for when the weather inevitably gets bad.

To be a clear thinker, you must be a clear writer.

Whether it's working on the script idea that you've been putting off for all this time or just journaling five minutes every night, put pen to paper. Find the time, make the time. Even if those ideas don't really go anywhere, I like saving them just in case I get into a creative rut and I want to go through all my old ideas and hopefully that can inspire something new.

Put some blood back into your brain.

Find the workout you will actually do. Find a sport you like with friends. It inspires competition, new people, and in an inappropriate joke or two, no one starts out skilled, but friends make it easy to want to become so. It's also incredibly useful for building out loyal friends who you need to call upon when it's time for your ideas.

Is your idea good enough that you'll stick with it?

You don't always know how long a project is going to take. The amount of projects that I've started and have never finished because I did not know what they involved is too large to count. Knowing the given scope of a project and how much work it's going to take to execute is paramount.

Now that we have the greater picture and vision, what specifics do we need?

We have so many new, cheap, really high quality professional gear that are available to you at little to no cost at this point. Usually you'll have a friend or can rent one for a couple of hundred bucks. Every tool has their strengths. See what kind of magic or effects you can pull off with them. The results might surprise you and elevate your work at every turn. Lean into the grunge when it needs to be and lean into the beauty when you can perfect it.

It's really what is in the frame that makes something professional or artistic. Are you putting your hands to work to make sure that the thing that shows up in that 16-9 ratio matters and means something? I often times like to build an idea or shots around certain props or costumes that I find around the house or that I pick up at the thrift store or that a friend gives me. Start looking around for visually interesting and exciting props, set design, and costumes. If you want to be a good filmmaker, you need an eye for the aesthetic. You don't need a full fledged out set design. All you need are a couple of clever props and a creative way of shooting them.

Let AI be your assistant, not your master.

We are in a similar time to when digital editing and cameras took over Hollywood. Those that didn't adapt got left in the dust and lost their jobs. There are some spooky capabilities out there and I am definitely one to sit on the cautious side when it comes to AI. That said, I would be a fool not to let a tool help me do my job better. This is why we have editing software and things like Photoshop. They are tools and technology that allow us to be faster, more efficient, and more capable at the art that we love so much. Right now, the game of AI seems to be more about asking the right questions than letting AI take care of your job for you.

It's really hard to replace a talented editor.

The editor sits as the final master of your story. You're invisible and also on the front line. It's where style is finessed. About 50% of my style decisions end up happening in the edit. It's also the part of self-reflection that I love about filmmaking, where I get to spend time and slow down and look at the stuff I've shot and figure out what I would like to improve for the future.

Marketing your film once it's done is incredibly important, but we'll probably cover that another time. The important thing is that you do it. That you have an understanding of the basics so you know how to approach doing it. Know your format and what platform is best suited to display it. The reason we do this is twofold. One, everyone uses different platforms, and the easier it is for people to find and consume your content, the better. Second, SEO is greatly increased the more places you are. Make it easy for your work to show up in a search results. A lot of the platforms aren't designed for film and video, but can still be useful in pointing people towards your work. Every platform is going to give you a little bit of a different perk. For example, YouTube and film festivals are going to be the most direct way to share your films, but YouTube might take a year plus to get any viewership, but then explode. Whereas you might get it in a bunch of film festivals that really take you nowhere other than having spent a bunch of money on some laurels that didn't really mean much. But it can go either way. Ultimately, I don't know why you wouldn't try them all. You miss the shots you never take.

Also, don't forget to take advantage of all the different types of content you can get from your film. Behind the scenes, thumbnails, posters, and clips are a great way of getting proper mileage out of the project you've sunk so much work into and can help cross pollinate all the other platforms. And remember, keep it human. Don't be a sellout. Consistency and quality create victors. Follow fun and you won't get burnt out.

We still don't know what the modern filmmaker looks like, but as long as you are willing to zoom out and ask, "What are the stories that need to be told? And how do I make sure as many people get to experience them as possible?" Then no matter what the shifting landscape ends up being, you'll find a way to succeed.

I choose to believe that so long as you're willing to work hard, keep your ego out of your work, and take a radical approach to adaptation, you'll always survive no matter how this all plays out.

Go make what you love and love what you make. We are all waiting to see it.