The issue I’ve been waiting a year to write…

Happy holidays! Hard to believe 2024 is almost over.

This time last year, I set out 3 goals for myself related to work/filmmaking.

Here’s how it went and what I’ve learned about working towards long-term goals this year…

Goal #1: Write a newsletter every week for a year ✅

With this issue, this goal is officially done.

Friday Film Notes has been the most fun experiment of 2024 for me. Partially because the size of the email list has doubled since the beginning of the year – from 6,000 to 12,000 – and watching it grow brought me back to the excitement of the early YouTube days.

But more than that, I’m just really proud I didn’t miss an issue even though there were some weeks where I was overwhelmed with work and other responsibilities. I doubt anybody would have noticed or cared if I skipped a week, but I would know, and certainly lose some respect for myself.

I think this is the power of putting your goals into writing, and making them public. It makes them feel real, and then it’s easier to hold yourself accountable to them.

But now that the goal is complete, I keep asking myself – should I continue writing an issue every single Friday?? I’m not sure.

There are some weeks where I just don’t feel I have anything to say here, and the last thing I want to do is create noise for no reason. So I’m considering switching to writing these every other Friday…

Feel free to reply and let me know what you think on this.

Goal #2: Make my biggest/best film yet ❌😅

At least it’s in progress!

The Lost Fortune of Oliver Brody, is still coming together, in fact I have a new video about our first location scouts coming to the YouTube channel soon. But after some production delays etc, we’re planning on filming early summer 2025 (…no matter what!).

This has definitely been more challenging to produce than I imagined, but we’re making real progress now, and I’m confident it’s going to be something very special.

Here’s another case where publicly announcing the goal and publicly documenting the process has really helped keep the mission alive. I have a feeling we would have pivoted to another (easier-to-make) film if I hadn’t started a making-of series on the YouTube channel already lol.

But I’m grateful we’ve stuck it out, and can’t wait to dive into the more fun parts of making this film that are coming soon.

And then after this short is done, I want to return to features, it’s been too long…

Goal #3: Improve WRAPPED in 30 Days ✅

Since running the first beta testers through Wrapped back in May 2023, I’ve learned a ton about what does and doesn’t work in a filmmaking course like this.

That’s why I spent the whole month of January creating a short film editing course, called CUT, for Wrapped. It was a big undertaking, but it has added sooo much value to the program, as I had noticed that the edit was hamstringing so many student films.

I also noticed it was easy to get overwhelmed with the quantity of content in Wrapped, so I created a schedule that gradually releases the lessons as students should be ready for them.

Throughout the year I updated these lessons, checked in and supported the community, hosted live Office Hours where we could all chat.

And now… I’m creating some bonus mini-courses for Wrapped!

These bonuses include:

• Crewing Up Playbook
• Accepted: Film Festival Roadmap, and
• Going Pro: Freelancing Masterclass

I can’t wait to share these updates with the current members later next month.

I’ve also learned that, surprisingly, letting people join Wrapped whenever they want is not in their best interest. That’s why I’ve switched to running Wrapped in cohorts. This means WRAPPED will only be available at select times each year – with each session having their own “class” or cohort of students.

By encouraging these filmmakers to start & finish their short films simultaneously, I can focus more on their success during that month. It also greatly increases each student’s sense of accountability and excitement in our private community – leading to more people actually finishing their films. Win-win!

By the way, enrollment for the January session closes in 48 hours!

Once the doors are closed, I won’t be opening WRAPPED again anytime soon.

👉 Save your spot now (class starts Jan 2nd) 👈

I also just added a payment plan option that lets you start for only $59. I hope this makes the program more accessible for anyone who want to kick off 2025 with an investment in their narrative filmmaking.

Overall Learnings & 2025 Goals

At the end of every year, I always write down my goals/resolutions… but 2024 was the first year that I limited myself to only 3.

I felt that if I added any more, I’d risk spreading my energy too thin and failing on many or all of them. This proved correct – as I STILL didn’t complete one of these goals. 🥲

This year I also learned that it’s MUCH easier to achieve a long-term goal when it’s input-based and broken into consistent, repeated actions.

That’s why I think the weekly newsletter was actually the easiest of these goals to achieve.

I didn’t need to worry about how well the newsletter performed or how big it grew, I just needed to write it and send it out (so an input-based goal, not a results-based goal). And it required on average about 2 hours of my time each week (a consistent, scheduled time commitment).

Conversely, the short film goal was by far the hardest to achieve, because it skirted these rules.

To be the “biggest” or “best” short film yet means many external factors (budget, people, etc) have to come together. That’s a result-oriented goal. I’ve made a lot of short films, and it’s always possible that the next one will suck, no matter how hard I try.

Plus this goal was created without a regular schedule. It was laid out as a big blob of a project that just has to be done by the end of the year. Tsk tsk.

Instead, I should have set the goal this way:

I’ll commit 4 hours/week to working on a challenging short film, until it’s done.

That way the input is within my control – I just have to work on this project for 4 hours/week, and make sure I’m never phoning it in.

It becomes an easier goal to achieve, because throughout the long year, I only need to put one foot in front of the other, over and over again, week after week. Waaayyyy less room for procrastinating.

Each week gives me a new, concrete opportunity to fail at my goal, or keep the goal alive. And that’s what I’ve found I need for a long-term goal.

So next year I’ll limit myself to just 2 big goals, with a weekly cadence.

I’ll figure out what they actually are by next week’s issue.

Got any tips you’ve found for setting long-term goals? Let me know!

Let’s make some movies.

-Kent

PS – Reminder that Wrapped doors are closing in 48hrs! ⏰

👉 Save your spot now and finish January with a new film in the can 🎬

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