filmmaking

We’re finally at our new home in Miami, and I’ve never broken down so many cardboard boxes in my life. […]

A while back, I ran a series of videos on the channel critiquing your short films. Lately, a lot of you have been asking me to bring it back. So let’s do it – with a few changes this time. Instead of critiquing a series of films in each video, I’m going to slow it down and dig deeper into each film. That means I’ll be more nit-picky, and may even go back and re-edit sections of the film to demonstrate an idea. I’m also renaming the series to “Fixing Your Film.” A bit…

I released my new short film Happiest Man Alive on the YouTube channel Monday. If you haven’t seen it, take a look, it’s only 2 min long: The film was written in a mad rush the night before (shout out to Toni for suggesting the unreliable narrator idea — the hat was right in front of me all day and it didn’t click). In fact, calling it a script is being very generous, it was some bullet points outlining a general structure, with the idea that I’d figure out the narration that…

These Friday Film Notes have been so few and far between. But good news is on the horizon! I’m recommitting myself to weekly emails here. For real. Every Friday morning. A hot fresh film-tastic piece of reading in your inbox. My god, I might have to make a burner email address to experience the joy myself of receiving such pearls of cinema wisdom, humor, and modesty. Now, you may recall from previous issues that my goal was to create YouTube videos weekly as…

Sorry for the long gaps between newsletter issues. This will likely continue for a bit as I still work on improving the systems around all my content production. Speaking of which, today I wanted to write a short issue about something I’ve had to go through many times over my 20 years of filmmaking: how to fire yourself. This issue is sponsored by Meirro: If you’ve been looking for an Apple Studio Display without the Apple prices, check out the Meirro Pro, a 32”, 6K,…

Sorry for the radio silence the past few weeks. I’ve spent the better part of this summer trying to get my life and business pointed in the same direction again. I think I’m finally making some headway… hence, a newsletter! Here’s the story of what had to change for me, because I have a feeling some of you have been stuck in the same place. Sometimes you don’t need discipline. It’s really easy to be effective day-in and day-out when you’re being pulled by the work….

Just a quick check-in/update this week. First off, I released my new short film Why You Don’t Buy Couches From Facebook Marketplace last week, check it out! Made for under $100 with just me and Toni, my iPhone, and our old couch. Projects like this remind me that there can be very little time or friction between having an idea and shooting it if you want. The film didn’t do well on YouTube – actually it bombed! Unfortunately that’s a bit expected since my audience…

Sorry for the radio silence last week, but maybe it’s for the best. Toni and I had shot most of the film by last Friday, but we saved some special effects shots for a third night of shooting, which we knocked out Monday.

So now I can give you the full breakdown of this no-budget short film shot entirely on my iPhone, entirely in our living room, with just the two of us.

I learned a lot on this one.

Just got back from NAB with Toni last night, and we had a blast. It’s probably the biggest trade show in the world for companies in the film/video/audio space, but that’s not what makes me excited to attend. Don’t get me wrong – it’s fun walking the floor, picking things up, talking to the companies etc. I was particularly interested in some upgraded Hollyland Pyro monitors, a compact cinema camera body from a smaller brand called Kinefinity, a camera slider from…

Short issue this week so I can focus on making my post-production breakdown video for The Lost Fortune of Oliver Brody. Hopefully that video will drop Monday – the same day Toni and I will be heading to Las Vegas for the NAB conference! NAB was so much fun last year – I can’t wait to reunite with creator friends from around the globe, nerding out on the latest audio & video gear, collecting unnecessary swag, and hopefully ending the trip in much better condition than I…