First off some exciting news: The Instant Short Film Blueprint is finally ready! 

If you pre-ordered, you can access it here. 

I’m so happy with how this course turned out and can’t wait to make it available again later this summer 🙂

Until then…

Want to suddenly level up your work? Read on.

3 simple steps to make your next film a showstopper.

One thing that makes new filmmakers exciting to watch is that everyone comes into this art with their own set of raw talents.

There’s the technical wizards, the heartfelt storytellers, the schmoozers, the visual artists, the natural leaders, and so many more archetypes in the film world. And in the beginning, it’s often up to you to be ALL these people at the same time!

But at a certain point, you must maximize your strengths and abandon your weaknesses to take your work to the next level.

Here’s what that looks like.

1) Discover Your Unfair Advantages

Making a film involves SO MANY different skillsets, it’s impossible that you don’t have at least one unfair advantage compared to your peers. This unfair advantage is your superpower. But you have to identify it before you can leverage it into standout work.

There are 2 things you need in order to identify your superpower.

First you’ll need a body of work – even if that’s just 2 or 3 weekend short films you made with your friends. By finishing these projects, you’ll have experienced enough aspects of filmmaking to gain something important about yourself and how you work – DATA.

But you can’t do anything with this data unless you have context. That means you need feedback from your audience. You need other films and filmmakers to compare yourself against. What aspect of your work always hits with an audience? What aspect mystifies and impresses your peers?

Sometimes your advantage is a soft skill – your ability to bring people together for a project, or the way you can make any actor let loose and do their best work. Sometimes it’s a hard skill – like lighting or sound design.

But the more work & context you have, the more crystal clear your advantages will become to yourself and others.

Likewise with your disadvantages. Both are equally valuable to learn.

Example: My first superpower was output—I could make more films than my peers. In college, it became clear that this was a unique strength. I leaned into it by making two no-budget features, entering lots of film contests, and creating a new short film every month on YouTube.

Later on, the same thing happened with editing. I had no idea I was editing at a professional level in my mid-20’s until I worked with new collaborators on a project and they told me how impressive my editing was. A few months later I had my first paid editing gigs (for Netflix of all places). More work + more context = more discoveries.

Still can’t figure out your superpowers? Just ask. Ask the people you’ve worked with what they think you do best. If you start hearing the same things over and over – you know what to focus on.

PS – Definitely try to get them to tell you what you’re worst at too.

2) Play to Your Strengths

Once you know your unfair advantage, make it the star of the show.

While it’s great to try to develop your weaknesses – that’s a long-term play. Instead, this is how you make your next film a banger.

Example: You know you’re a camera and lighting whiz.

Try to make a short film that doesn’t have any dialogue – tell the whole story in images. That means more time & budget can be invested in cinematography over sound.

Make it take place in a beautiful location you’ve been dying to shoot at.

Tell a story that makes sense for you to try out some lighting techniques you’ve wanted to experiment with.

But what if you can’t figure out a story that actually checks these boxes?

Well that’s why you also need to address your weaknesses (in this case, screenwriting), by teaming up with the right people…

3) Team Up Smart

Filmmaking is a team sport, and the best way to maximize your strengths is by partnering with people who complement your weaknesses. This way, your projects are well-rounded and polished.

What part of filmmaking gets you totally confused and lost?

What part makes you want to scrap the project entirely because it’s so overwhelming or dread-inducing?

What aspects of your past films make you cringe?

Prioritize teaming up with someone who LOVES THAT PART OF FILMMAKING. Or at least is very good at it.

Using the previous example: You’re not going to make the best film if you team up with another cinematographer buddy to put this together. Your skills overlap too much. Maybe it’ll make the cinematography a tiny bit better… who cares!? Everything else in the film will suffer too much! Team up with someone who’s unfair advantage is writing.

The more relentlessly you pursue your specific advantages in your projects (and recruit others to do the same for your weaknesses), the stronger the finished film will be.

Favorites this week:

📺 TV: The Boys Season 4

I’ve been hooked since the pilot. Funny, dark, messed up, with great action. What more can you want? Also, Antony Starr (as Homelander) is incredible.

📹 Video: When the ADR is way too obvious

If anyone’s ever had to deal with ADR, this sketch should tickle your funny bone.

I used to work with Chris back in the day editing corporate videos at Netflix. Their channel has been blowing up lately which makes me so happy. Chris & Jack truly has some of the best written and executed comedy sketches on YouTube. Another favorite (riffing on The Truman Show)

That’s it for this week.

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent