Ready to dive into the simple secret to how the pros create wildly successful film careers and create the freedom to make the films they want?

This is one secret you can take and implement straight away, regardless of where you’re at in your career, so grab your notebook, mute those notifications, let’s get into it 

If you’re new here, I’m Charlotte, the Filmmaker’s Career Coach and helping you transform your ideas into a successful full-time film career

As part of my work, I run Career Assessment calls with filmmakers who are ready to go to the next stage of their career, and we uncover the strategy that will get them there

A couple of years ago I was on an Assessment call with a writer/director who’d just sold her feature to Sky Cinema

Honestly, I was a little confused about why she was on a call with me. She’d made a successful feature, got a distribution deal and I think it broke the record for the lowest budget film ever bought by Sky Cinema 

So I asked. I said, ‘why did you want to jump to a call with me if you already have this going on?’

She told me that what happened with her feature felt like a fluke, and she didn’t know how to make it happen again. She didn’t even know where or how to get started on her next project 

I don’t know about you, but I remember that feeling so vividly

I’d have the idea, the characters, the outline and it would just stay in my notebooks because I didn’t know what I needed to do

Which is why I’m so excited to be sharing this tactic that the pros use with you 

Read More: 3 Ways to Get Film Producers to Take You Seriously

What the Pros Have

Any filmmaker you love, be it writer, director or producer, will have a detailed project process that they rely on for every idea

This process is outlined in specific steps, so they can always see what the next thing on their to do list will be, and it takes them from the very start of the idea, through to completed film

It’s having this process to rely on that allows the pros to consistently create and complete new films

There’s no guessing. There’s no overwhelm. Just you, your ideas, and your tried-and-tested process 

Without a reliable process in place, it’s hugely difficult to get your idea out of your notebook, partly because you spend so much time wondering what you’re meant to be doing and partly because you spend your time doing the wrong things 

It’s a little like working out. If you just went to the gym with no plan, you’d be overwhelmed, you’d lose time not knowing where to start and you wouldn’t do the exercises that make the difference 

It’s exactly the same with your projects

Steal Their Tactic

The first thing to do to steal this tactic from the pros, is to outline your own process 

If you’ve made at least one film before, you likely have your own process, but maybe not in written form 

Every filmmaker’s process is different, so brain dump everything you do, or would like to do, when working on a project 

Then organise that list into the five stages of filmmaking: development, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution 

A little reminder for overachievers:

Not *everything* has to go in your process 

If you’re a writer, then yes, getting funding is an essential part of getting the project made, but it’s not your job. That’s not your department, so don’t include it in your process. Securing funding is the producer’s role, so that’s part of their process, not yours 

Time for a Test-Run

Once you’ve outlined your own process, find an easy, memorable format for it. Personally I use Trello for my process so I can easily move projects between stages, but you can use whatever you like. Stick to good old fashioned pen and paper if that’s your thing 

You’ll need to take your process for a test run and refine any gaps or issues that you’ll naturally find

Read More: What to Do Instead of Funding Your Own Film

The way I like to do this with my clients is by drafting a few loglines quickly, picking one or two to test out, and then going through each step

We don’t do this too carefully or take too much time over it, it’s just to get used to the process and make sure it works

The Power of Your Own Process

Having your own process will massively simplify getting your own films made, because you can see immediately what’s been done and what you need to do next

So if you know that you’ve written the logline and done a rough story synopsis, your next step will be a character breakdown, then a beat sheet, then the script

That’s just a sample project process, yours might look a bit different 

I would love to know what you’re including in your process, tell me in the comments or DM me about it