Films That Make You Cry

Discover the 4 Habits of Successful Filmmakers

What separates successful filmmakers from others who continue to struggle along, wishing and hope that fate will give them an opportunity?

I like what Elliot Grove the founder of Raindance Film Festival & Raindance.tv had to say about this topic.

Elliot has produced 150 short films, 5 feature films and teaches screenwriters and film producers in the UK, Europe, Japan and America.

He is a filmmaker’s filmmaker and practices what he preaches…4 habits of Successful Filmmakers:

1. Goal Setting

“If you want to make a film in one year’s time, target to
increase your work rate and break down your goal into manageable steps.” – Elliot Grove

Setting goal is something I talk about often on my blog and I know from firsthand experience the powerful results it can produce in your life and for your film career. I won’t get all Dr. Phil on you about the importance of having clear, written goals with deadlines but I really like this quote from the late J.C. Penny.

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” – J.C. Penny

2. Investing in Learning

“Invest in learning and discovering new filmmaking techniques is the next keystone to success. Film is changing rapidly right now. The last big change was the introduction of sound. This time around it is movies on th internet and mobile telephones.” – Elliot Grove

Continuous learning is so important for those who want to be in the top of the chosen profession. I usually spent at least 30 minutes each day reading books, articles and websites to build specific knowledge about the art and business of moviemaking. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “knowledge is power” and usually the most successful filmmakers are experts (extremely knowledgeable) in at least one area of filmmaking.

For example, James Cameron has become an expert on the topic of using 3D film cameras to make movies. After Titanic he just didn’t go off, get fat and count his money…ok…maybe he did? Haha. But seriously, he as been spending the past 5 to 6 years researching, learning and developing state-of-the-art 3D filmmaking. Avatar becoming December 2009, I’m excited.

He didn’t just rest on his laurels but continued to learn, grow and educate himself.

3. Investing in Good Tools

“Treat your career as a business. Invest your earnings into good tools that can enhance your business. Film businesses are the same as non-film businesses. Ploughing part of your earnings back into your filmmaking business would grow career exponentially.” – Elliot Grove

This is so important and I’d like to even take it a step further. Invest in great people. Successful filmmakers treat filmmaking like a business and the best investment you can make is the people you chosen to hire to work on your film. I know that as indie filmmakers sometimes we’re working with a micro budget for our movies but spending a few extra hundred dollars here or there for the services of professional,experience people i.e. cast and crew will pay off long term dividends to the success of their films and your career.

4. Apply What You Learn

“The most successful filmmakers are not always the most knowledgeable ones. They are the ones who put action to what they learnt. They do, not talk about doing.” – Elliot Grove

Earlier in this article I mentioned that knowledge was power. Well, knowledge is only half power. The other half comes from taking consistent, determined action until you’ve reached your goal.

Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t compete or compare yourself to other filmmakers to measure your success. You define your own success through your individual goals. It can be something simple like wanting to make a 5 minute short film with some friends to making socially conscious documentaries to the desire to win an Oscar.

“Anyone who is on course towards a worthy goal is successful.” – Earl Nightingale

To Your Success!

Ian Agard
Filmmaker & Author of “Stop Waiting and Make Your Movie”
http://www.ianagard.com

P.S. Get info about my new ebook at:

http://www.ianagard.com/how-to-finance-your-movie

About the Author

My name is Ian Agard. I am a 34 year old film producer/entrepreneur living in Toronto. To learn more valuable filmmaking tips, visit http://www.ianagard.com/

Ron Peck, British filmmaker, Interview for One+One – Part 1

The Storyteller`s Daughter $11.74 An Afghan journalist and filmmaker raised in Britain visits her father`s homeland and witnesses the terrible truth about women`s lives there. In addition, the follies of war persuade her that the romantic past her father told her about is based in c

Britain Colonized (Paperback) $25.79 Britain Colonized analyzes how and why filmmakers use clichd Hollywood formulas and American cultural standards when adapting British literature. The films discussed in this book are evidence of the way one nation…

The Projection of Britain (Paperback) $25.64 This Reader provides a comprehensive resource guide to the films, filmmakers and social and cultural importance of the GPO Film Unit. In addition to original essays by leading film and cultural historians, the volume reprints rare a…

Listen to Britain and Other Films by Humphrey Jennings (DVD) $22.27 British documentarian Humphrey Jennings is known as one of the most influential non-fiction filmmakers in the country’s film his

Filmmakers And Financing $22.36 Filmmakers And Financing

Secret Lives Of Great Filmmakers $12.88 Secret Lives Of Great Filmmakers

Dictionary of African Filmmakers $48.53 Dictionary of African Filmmakers

Three Documentary Filmmakers $22.36 Three Documentary Filmmakers

New Zealand Filmmakers $26.09 New Zealand Filmmakers

Letters to Young Filmmakers $15.64 Letters to Young Filmmakers

Secrets of Cg Short Filmmakers $33.59 Featuring a variety of short films that have captured the imagination of viewers across the globe, SECRETS OF CG SHORT FILMMAKERS details the creative process with insights, biographies, tips, tricks, and advice from today’s top short filmmakers. Ranging

Chicago Filmmakers on the Chicago $13.07 Find out how the city of Chicago has inspired and shaped the careers of the biggest and best film directors around as they reflect on their careers while floating down the Chicago River. In addition to speaking with such high-profile filmmakers as Stuart

Chicago Filmmakers on the Chicago River $12.27 Find out how the city of Chicago has inspired and shaped the careers of the biggest and best film directors around as they reflect on their careers while floating down the Chicago River. In addition to speaking with such high-profile filmmakers as Stuart

The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers $26.09 Find quick answers to these and hundreds of other questions in this new edition of The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers. This no-nonsense reference provides fast answers in plain English—no law degree required! Arm yourself with the practical advice of auth

Chicago Filmmakers On The Chicago River $11.69 Rated: NRSynopsis: CHICAGO FILMMAKERS ON THE CHICAGO RIVER is a documentary feature that reveals the creative processes of Chicago moviemakers. Using the city’s famous river as a location, filmmaker D. P. Carlson places the directors in a variety of boats and interviews them as they explore the river and share stories of how Chicago has influenced their careers.Andrew Davis, Michael Mann, Harold Ramis, John Landis, John McNaughton, Steven A. Jones, Stuart Gordon and Haskell Wexler are among the Hollywood directors who are interviewed. The Windy City’s best independent filmmakers are also featured-Tom Palazzolo, Loretta Smith, Jerry Blumenthal, Gordon Quinn, Louis Antonelli, Katy Maguire, Ross Marks, Jim Sikora, Michael Dawson, Ayanna U’Dongo, Zeinabu Davis, Chris Ligon and Heather McAdams. Along the riverbank, local film critics Ray Pride, Dann Gire, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert are interviewed as well as Chicago Film Office Director Rich Moskal and the Honorable Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago.

9/11: The Filmmakers’ Commemorative Edition $13.76 Telecast to coincide with the six-month “anniversary” of the horrific terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center, the powerful and poignant two-hour CBS TV documentary 9/11 grew out of an independent film project inaugurated by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet several months before the tragedy. Originally intending to produce an in-depth study of a “typical” American fireman, from the rookie training days to matriculation as a full-fledged firefighter, the brothers virtually lived in the headquarters of the F.D.N.Y.’s Engine Seven, Ladder One company. Thus it was that the Naudets were on hand to tape record the airliner “bombing” of both towers one and two on that fateful September 11 — and even more dramatically, one of the brothers was able to record the hectic activities of the firefighters as they courageously went about their duties in the doomed lobby of tower one — with only minutes to spare before both towers would collapse into a sickening mass of rubble. Although the more appalling examples of carnage are tactfully left unshown, such chilling vignettes as the offcamera sounds of crashing glass, indicating that another victim has jumped to his or her death from the uppermost heights of the twin towers, are left intact, obliging CBS to run a disclaimer in hopes of sparing the victims’ loved ones any further anguish (too, the amount of understandable profanity spoken by the harried firefighters far exceeded anything ever heard before on mainstream American television). Telecast with only three commercial interruptions on March 10, 2002, 9/11 was dedicated to all the victims of the tragedy, with most of the proceeds going to the Uniformed Firefighter Association Scholarship Fund. The special garnered one of the highest ratings posted by CBS in years, with 38 million viewers tuning in. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

9/11 – Filmmakers Commemorative Edition $16.99 Telecast to coincide with the six-month anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center, the powerful and poignant two-hour CBS TV documentary 9/11 grew out of an independent film project inaugurated by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet several months before the tragedy. Originally intending to produce an in-depth study of a typical American fireman, from the rookie training days to matriculation as a full-fledged firefighter, the brothers virtually lived in the headquarters of the F.D.N.Y.’s Engine Seven, Ladder One company. Thus it was that the Naudets were on hand to tape record the airliner bombing of both towers one and two on that fateful September 11 — and even more dramatically, one of the brothers was able to record the hectic activities of the firefighters as they courageously went about their duties in the doomed lobby of tower one — with only minutes to spare before both towers would collapse into a sickening mass of rubble. Although the more appalling examples of carnage are tactfully left unshown, such chilling vignettes as the offcamera sounds of crashing glass, indicating that another victim has jumped to his or her death from the uppermost heights of the twin towers, are left intact, obliging CBS to run a disclaimer in hopes of sparing the victims’ loved ones any further anguish (too, the amount of understandable profanity spoken by the harried firefighters far exceeded anything ever heard before on mainstream American television). Telecast with only three commercial interruptions on March 10, 2002, 9/11 was dedicated to all the victims of the tragedy, with most of the proceeds going to the Uniformed Firefighter Association Scholarship Fund. The special garnered one of the highest ratings posted by CBS in years, with 38 million viewers tuning in. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmmakers-Alliance -3pk $21.21 Description not provided.

Business Plans for Filmmakers $28.61 No Synopsis Available

Women Filmmakers : Refocusing $40.08 No Synopsis Available

UK Diva $29.95 UK Diva

Live In The U.K. $15.75 Live In The U.K.

U.K. Rapscallion $14.41 U.K. Rapscallion

Live in the UK $14.95 Live in the UK

Politics Uk $46.44 Politics Uk

Invasion in the Uk $72.8 Invasion in the Uk

Sound of Uk $10.77 Sound of Uk

Chapaev: kinofile Filmmakers’ Companion, 11 $20.41 No Synopsis Available