The variable you control is how long you've been present before you need anything.

The ask is the harvest. Somebody has to plant.

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Plant accordingly.

And check out my substack where I write about filmmaking and things that are interesting to filmmakers.

greenlightreport.substack.com

If you're building a career in film, the trap is thinking you have to pick one field. You don't. You have to work all three and know which one you're standing in.

The DGC card upgrades the cash crop: more opportunities to work, bigger shows, new rooms. And a stronger cash crop means I can afford to be patient with the orchard.

3. Developing my own IP. The orchard. That's 13 Miles and The Quiet Canadians, the spy thriller I've been building at Habethy. Slowest field on the farm. Also the only one I actually own.

2. Producing with other filmmakers. The rotation crop. Shorts and features with people whose projects I believe in. More harvests per year, more reps, and the soil - the relationships, the craft - gets richer every cycle.

1. 1st AD work. The cash crop. It pays the bills, but it's more than that - every show is new department heads, new producers, new problems solved under pressure. It funds the farm and grows the network at the same time.

And an orchard - trees that take years before they give you anything, but once they do, they produce for decades.

A filmmaking career works the same way. Mine runs on three fields:

Farmers figured this out a long time ago: a farm that grows one crop is one bad season away from losing everything. So they mix it. A cash crop that pays this year's bills. Rotation crops that keep the soil productive.

To go to work, to come home from work, to meet a friend, etc.

It’s helpful to remember as I complain about the traffic, that I AM the traffic.

The unconventional choice deserves your whole effort, or it deserves to be cut.
Join us as we explore the unconventional in The Quiet Canadians: quietcanadiansmovie.com

That’s how we’re building The Quiet Canadians. Not just for Canada. With Canada.

If this film existing means something to you, your business, or your community - come see what we’re building.

quietcanadiansmovie.com