Why are we so unsuccessful???

[Michael Allen]

An interesting thought.

Do you mean at the very beginning of a filmmakers career?

In fact directorik try this interesting experiment. Calculate how many hours you worked on your last film then divide it by what you got paid. I think the minimum wage in the U.S is around $8 an hour.
I'm lucky enough to be able to earn a living and support my family but when I do this calculation for my last few films I have an hourly rate roughly that of my babysitter and for fear of sounding like a wanker I'd like to think I have a more specific skill set than her. So although I do it for money I'm not in it for the money.

 

[knightly]

I'll weigh in here with my opinions.
ART:
Artists try to create art... they often fail miserably.
Painters paint... they succeed; if they are good enough and creative enough, they create art.
APPRENTICESHIP:
Historically, it was just as hard to end up apprenticing to someone like Da Vinci... apprenticeships were in demand, and his budgets were limited by the number of projects he could take on at any given time (space and manhours involved restricted the output). At the time, he was a successful sculptor while he was still alive... most made sculptures and didn't become famous until they were dead.

His workshop and apprentice program was much the precursor to the Hollywood studio system. If you weren't hand picked as some young prodigy, bought in by a rich relative or something of the like, you started out by sweeping marble and plaster dust off the floor of his studios. After a lifetime of this, you might get to work on an actual project if you showed interest, promise and someone higher up the food chain liked you.

Da Vinci was not an artist... he was an inventor, a sculptor, a painter... what he created was art because he came at his crafts with an open and creative perspective and spent a lifetime honing his respective crafts.

I've been a filmmaker for 8 years (give or take). This is not a lifetime, it's an early childhood. You do this because you love it. Most of the folks here dive in head first... try that with the NFL analogy earlier and you're in a body cast.

 

[Kholi]

I've been a filmmaker for 8 years (give or take). This is not a lifetime, it's an early childhood. You do this because you love it. Most of the folks here dive in head first... try that with the NFL analogy earlier and you're in a body cast.

Coming back to this thread because I liked your post, and have been pondering my reasoning for picking such a field. I've been at this for a total of four and a half, perhaps five years now... thinking back, I believe I wanted to get into motion picture because it was easier than animation and video games by a longshot, and it takes less time to produce live action content.

So, you could say that I came for the creative side. But, in equal portions, I knew it was a career I could sustain myself on if I became prolific enough, my appetite for more information remained insatiable, and I made my own paths.

I also came for the money involved. This is the only thing I do with my life as far as work goes, and I plan on keeping it that way. Although I'm fairly broke most of the time (surviving on Wendy's 99c value meal, FaveReds Starburst and the occasional GOOD meal) I probably wouldn't trade it for any other position.

Coming from a Digital Illustration background, I know how that was... no thanks.

My guess is that everyone has their own view of success, but I think the question needs to be altered: what can I do to become successful by my own terms?

If someone asked me, personally, I would retort "Let me see your work."

 

[Kholi]

And, really, I'm not talking about trying to get any old job in Hollywood. I'm only talking about the OP's (very limited) definition of "successful", so unless you're directing movies that are being seen by millions, I don't think you have any more knowledge on this subject than I do...

I don't know what you do in the industry, as a professional... and since you're a member of this forum, I have to assume that you know nothing more about that than I do.

Honestly, the internet is no longer the small playground it once was. There are people that want to give back from what they've learned. I joined this community for that very reason, as someone who's gone pretty far in a very short amount of time.

So, please, don't assume that because anyone here is a part of the forum that they lack knowledge.

Perhaps, a more palatable statement or query would've been: How have you come across this information?

In response, I'd tell you that because of my mentors I've been introduced to a lot of rather interesting people, some I keep in touch with regularly and have the priveldge to inquire at will about the workings of this industry at the level we all wish to achieve.

My geographic location and who I fell in with the moment I moved to Los Angeles granted me a lot of early opportunities that I never take for granted. So, just because I'm not that person doesn't mean I don't know that person. If you get what I'm saying.

All I'm trying to say is that audiences turn out in the strongest numbers when a solid piece of artwork has been created, and you don't need to be an insider to see that as truth.

Cheers! Best wishes to you, as well.

I respect your point of view/opinion. It's very romantic, but not all that true when you look at numbers. Skyline cost about one or so million to produce from script to screen, eight or so million to market.

How much money did it make?

Do you consider it solid? Or just around edge of competent? I'm sure, at some point, somewhere here said "I can do better than this!"

It's just the reality of this industry, as I've too come to learn.

 

[Kholi]

No matter the marketing your movie has to be good or at least look good in the trailer for people to come see the film. Second if you have any named actors that probably would help draw a crowd. Or a named directors, producer, etc... But for Indiefilms you probably don't have any named actors or directors so you need to rely on your film and story and trailer to draw people in. Then you need a good word of mouth about your movie from its fans.

There's a pretty simple answer to all of this: be prolific. Keep doing work, get better, don't stop.

But, that's easier said that done.

You'll build an audience naturally if you keep doing work that people like. They'll share it because they like it. It will not be an overnight success. The people who do the best are the ones who stick to it the longest, and sometimes those people aren't actually the best at what they do.

Work Ethic will beat out Talent any day of the week. What you lack in talent you can make-up with hard work and learning. But, what you lack in work ethic can never be made up with Talent.