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Why You Need A Plan
I have mentioned many times that the most common mistake for starting filmmakers is trying to do too much to start with. Don't make this mistake. The first thing is to ask yourself the simple question: Why am I wanting to do this?

Examine your heart and think about the things you really care about. There is no wrong answer and your goal may change over time but it is important to attempt to arrive at an answer to this classic question. Then pin it up somewhere that you will see it often.

Getting started as a filmmaker involves a lot of time and dedication and you aren't going to do it unless the goal is something you truly want. You might want to write it down as a "mission statement" as some filmmakers strongly suggest.

Discover Your Business Plan
Now that you know where you want to go with filmmaking you can start to figure out how to get there. On 4Filmmaking.com I assume that you want to be a successful independent filmmaker creating films that are both artistically satisfying and financially successful. I am now going to describe the simple plan that has been used in some variation by most all of the successful independent filmmakers in the business. You can use it as a beginning point to develop your own plan.

The Awful Truth About Filmmaking
I would be dishonest if I didn't first clearly warn you that your odds of succeeding in becoming a famous and wealthy independent filmmaker are extremely small. There are a lot of other people wishing they could do it and only a few are going to make it. You'll have to be relentless following your filmmaking goals, make the most of your abilities, keep going despite setbacks and hope for more than a little bit of luck along the way.

The Not-So-Secret Plan for Succeeding as an Independent Filmmaker
Step 1 is to direct a series of very short movies while you study, take classes, read books, network with other filmmakers and commonly do everything you can to get smart and find filmmaking collaborators. Your films should be three to ten minute short films that you can film in a day or two in your spare time, beginning with just your friends and the bribe of free food and drink at the end of the day.

Creating films requires many skills and many people working together. That's why you need to be seeking out collaborators, other sharp and clever people who share your filmmaking dreams and add to your skills. The first step is where you learn the nuts and bolts of filmmaking.

Step 2 is to create better and better short films until you have one good enough to get you into film festivals.

This will begin to get you noticed, give you more opportunities to meet with other movie makers gaining more partners, and get a sense of audience acceptance of your films. You'll see that acquisition agents follow the festival circuit to negotiate for the best indie films from the very best filmmakers. This second step is about increasing your artistic filmmaking horizons and learning how indie films get marketed.

Step 3 is to keep developing finer and better story ideas until all your friends are convinced you have a Great Idea.

The Great Idea has to be a story that can be filmed for very little money. You script it into a compelling feature length screenplay. You will also create a brilliant short version drawn from the feature screenplay that can possibly be made for what you possibly can pay out of your own pocket. You'll show this short version at festivals and to anyone who might be talked into financing the feature length version.

This short film is a calling-card, a teaser and marketing tool to show investors how wonderful you are so they will pay you to make your Great Idea into the Great Movie.

Step 4 is to produce the movie, show it at festivals to great acclaim, sell it to distributors, and experience it becomming a huge success. At the same time you will need to be developing more ideas so you will have an answer to the query, "What's your next project?"

After step 4 you will be on the map and you will get phone calls from people who wouldn't have given you the time of day last week but now they want to talk about paying for your next film. A variation on this plan is to skip making the short film version by coming up with a totally perfect feature film that you can shoot so inexpensively that you don't need big financing.

Does This Plan Work?
When you look in the Internet Movie Database you will see that George Lucas began by making 5 very short films that almost nobody has seen. Then while he was in film school he made a 15 minute science fiction short called Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB. The film got him first prize in the National Student Film Festival.

That helped him win a scholarship to work with Francis Ford Coppola at Warner Brothers. They soon were friends, created a company together and the first film they made was the feature length version of THX 1138. The small success of this film helped him get money to make American Graffiti. The larger success of American Graffiti got him financing to make Star Wars.
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