The Honest Filmmaker
Are you about to leave Uni with a filmmaking degree? Or want to change careers and work in a creative industry? We want to give you the tools you need to enter the real world of production or freelancing. Honest and open career advice from people in the business.
We also talk to those in other creative industries to discuss their careers, the potential cross over with film production and practical tips for a successful and fulfilling career.
http://www.thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk
The Honest Filmmaker
Careers, Indie Filmmaking Trends and Highlights of 2024
#filmpodcast #filmindustry #filmmaking
With 2025 upon us, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back at the first full 12 months of the podcast and give you a 2024 year round up. Chat about some of lessons I've learned from speaking to industry professionals, career advice, some tips from Indie Filmmakers and also some of my recommendations from the last 12 months.
We also hear from some of the contributors to the podcast and friends of the podcast with their top recommendations from 2024. Enjoy!
Check out the episodes from contributing guests featured this week:
Watch the Cannes Vlog
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2024/05/21/cannes-film-festival-market-report-2024-with-mark-hampton/
Lucy V. Hay
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2024/06/11/how-to-write-a-commercial-screenplay-with-lucy-v-hay/
Corrinne Wicks
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2024/08/13/how-to-be-a-successful-soap-actor-with-corrinne-wicks/
Jon Moore
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2024/01/29/how-to-be-a-marvel-studios-make-up-sfx-artist-with-jon-moore/
Tom Butcher
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2024/08/27/how-to-have-a-career-in-television-theatre-with-tom-butcher/
Ross Boyask
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2021/10/24/how-film-sales-distribution-works/
Bev Sandford
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2021/10/24/how-to-be-a-published-author/
Pat Higgins
https://thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk/index.php/2021/10/22/how-to-get-your-script-optioned/
Check out the re-release of Jim's first solo directing feature The Witches Hammer - out now on amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B0F235F4T8/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
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HONEST, OPEN ADVICE ABOUT YOUR FILMMAKING CAREER
Are you about to leave Uni with a filmmaking degree? Or want to change careers and work in a creative industry? We want to give you the tools you need to enter the real world of production or freelancing. Honest and open career advice from people in the business.
We also talk to those in other creative industries to discuss their careers, the potential cross over with film production and practical tips for a successful and fulfilling career.
Join the community: http://www.thehonestfilmmaker.co.uk
[Music] hi Jim here and you're listening to the honest filmmaker podcast career advice from people in the business so with 2025 upon us I thought it'd be a good chance to look back at the past 12 months the pcast this has been the first full year of the podcast and I've had some really interesting chats with lots of Industry professionals lots of people working on big TV shows and films lots of Indie filmmakers people who know about sales and lots of other interesting jobs uh in Creative Industries so I thought it' be a good chance to look back at that 12 months and I also thought I'd give you my recommendations from last year some of the things I watched and really enjoyed and I've also asked some of the contributors to the podcast some of those faces you might have seen or heard from this year uh friends of the podcast and other people I know to give me some recommendations for TV shows and films you may have missed so first of all let's talk about some of the lessons learned from the past 12 months from all of the people I've spoken to now if you listen to this podcast because you are interested in career advice specifically uh maybe you're a student or you're leaving University and you're wanting to work in a creative industry I think the biggest takeaway I've had from all of the people I've spoken to at all levels is that no career path is the same so it might seem from the outside that somebody's making these huge jumps uh and being discovered or you know ending up working on a huge TV production from just doing a short film but it RAR works like that uh a lot of the time people make small incremental shifts in their career and it builds very slowly very surely they work on small projects these projects get bigger and usually the way they move on to these uh bigger projects is through meeting people networking making connections and genuinely enjoying working with the people they're working with until they get to this sort of top tier level where they're perhaps getting offered the chance to go in and pitch for work because they've got a reputation but again it always boils down to those relationships and being a reliable person that people want to work with on the indie film making side I'd say the majority of people I spoke to either self-funded their projects or use crowdfunding which surprised me as I thought maybe they'd be more using private in ment but it seems like self funding and crowdfunding are the way everyone's going at the moment also it seems like the budgets are going down on India micr budget Film Production so keeping those costs super low means that you got more chance of making a return on the initial amount that you've sunk into your own project for sales and distribution what everyone's calling self-d distribution although that's not necessarily exactly what it is but self-distribution seems to be the thing that everyone in the indie film making community is looking at right now uh they're doing away with the regular Deals they have with sales agents where there's potential for them perhaps not to get any money back at all now self-distribution whether that be through an aggregator or a platform like filmhub seems to be the way forward for everyone there's loads of information out there on filmhub I'll probably end up doing another chat with Jason Horton the man to chat about filmhub because it seems like different platforms they're all moving up and down down with regards to who pays out the most so filmhub definitely is a viable option for Indie filmmakers then you've got companies like Indie wrs who you can work with that's who my film The Apocalypse box is with so it's interesting to see some of the filmmakers I've chatted to have literally gone straight to Indie rights they've not bothered talking to sales agents they've not gone on filmhub they've gone to Indie rights because they've thought this somewhere I can put my film it's guaranteed to get on a few of the platforms uh and also I've sort of got somebody shepher my movie through sales and distribution so be interested to see how that pans out in the future and I'll definitely let you know how the apocalypse box goes with regards to the work in relationship with Indie wrs another theme that's definitely connected to sales and distribution has been uh finding your audience and promoting your film to that audience now obviously I've just been through the process because I've just had a film come out so for me this is very relevant and it's very uh intense having to promote your own feature film so you've not got any marketing budget you've not got any companies out there uh who are pushing the film for you it's really up to you to direct people to that uh platform to stream your movie so that's been quite intense I've had some really good chats with people like uh Rosa if you check out that podcast episode about how to promote your uh film and within that there's lots of talk about finding your audience I'd say to check out the chat with Justin Milton who's a filmmaker from America who's definitely found his audience he's found a certain type of film that he makes for his audience that they lap up and he seems to be making a good deal of money from it so definitely thinking about that at the beginning of your production when you're even when you're at the script stage is who is my audience how am I going to get to them and what is it they want because when you come to put the movie out and try and promote it it's going to make your life uh hundred times easier I've also had a couple of reports from film markets so Mark Hampton kindly did a little Vlog for me from can and also spoke to some filmmakers who went to AFM if you're thinking of going to can next year or you want to know how the markets work definitely uh listen to The Mark Hampton episode it's a real eye opener uh not only just for how the film Market works but some of the trends that are coming through at the moment so there's some interesting chat on there about Emerging Markets who's paying more for feature film rights at the moment and also the value of a remake so selling the Remake rights to your project to other production companies maybe bigger production companies so now I want to talk about some of the films and TV shows that I've absolutely loved in 2024 I'm going to start with maybe my favorite film of the year which is the substance if you haven't seen it it's amazing it's a horror film so it Taps into that body horror so if you're a bit squeamish it might not be for you but I absolutely love the style of it um if you are in the UK I think you can see it on movie for free if you sign up for a 7-Day trial so that's a nice way to see the movie for free and then also check out the other titles movie's got my next recommendation up there with the substance is Long Legs again another horror I I absolutely love this movie it's so atmospheric it's so weird and crazy it's definitely worth checking out and then the third movie I'd recommend yes it's kind of another horror is heretic with Hugh Grant well acted superb performance from Grant and also a good look at how you can make a film that's set in one location with essentially a lot of dialogue but still keep it tense and exciting so special mention tvwise would be for anything that's on Apple that Apple make because it seems like their production value and quality is just through the roof currently hooked on Silo and really enjoyed slow horses all of the series definitely check those out so here's some suggestions from some of the people that have been on the podcast and some friends of the podcast hi I'm Lucy I am a script editor for film and television I'm also an author and I help writers get words on the page so what are my favorites for 2024 well it was a fantastic year for movies and TV I think for television it's a tie I loved the British BBC miniseries The Jetty all about teenage moms and consent and secrets and lies from the past I also really enjoy Netflix's No Good Deed which is by Liz Feldman of uh dead to me and again all about secrets and lies it's one of my favorite things uh to watch and also write about as well so I really felt that both those series were really really excellent and then the movie that I absolutely loved this year that really stood out to me would be Rebel Ridge I thought that it was really Fant fantastic characterization and fantastic pacing they're calling it The thinking man's Rambo though which shows that the people doing the pr don't actually understand Rambo because it was very much a thematic and um you know very much a thinking persons movie that first Rambo maybe the rest weren't but uh yeah Rebel Ridge was really really fantastic really great update on that uh old school story whilst also making it really relevant and relatable for today hello Jim and the honest filmmaker my name is coren Wix and I'm an actress my pick for 2024 is the Penguin which was uh riveting from start to finish and what I like best about it were the performances Colin Farrell is absolutely unrecognizable and Christine motti is fabulous so yes that's my pick hello it's Corin Wicks again just watched Gavin and Stacy the Christmas episode finale and um that is my new pick for 2024 oh it's so beautiful I love it hi my name's John Moore and I'm a prosthetic makeup artist uh my favorite film of 2024 was F guy I thought it was a great throwback to simpler more entertaining Blockbusters and I remember leaving the cinema thinking if I didn't already work in film that one would definitely have steered me in that direction uh and a quick mention to Arcane for being my favorite TV show I thought it was such a richly detailed world and storyline and I thought it was just beautifully done all throughout hello Jim and the honest filmmaker uh marry Christmas and a happy New Year this is Tom butcher I'm an actor my outstanding TV film experience of the Year must be it's a recent one I was very late to the game but I binge watch Dexter and I got completely involved and lost track of time and everything uh it kept me on the edge of my seat for a long time which was very good cuz it meant there was room for the cap to come and sit behind me and watch it as well which was lovely hello Jim and everybody who's tuning into the honest F maker podcast um I'm bever Sanford I'm an author who writes horror and drama for children and I also write for Doctor Who Um my favorite film of 2024 is the new animated film from the Australian writer and director adamia who previously made Mar and Max which is my favorite favorite animated film of all time Adam's new film memo of a snail um is an absolute Triumph of stop motion um but it's also an absolutely wonderful wonderful film for so many other reasons um when I saw it at the London Film Festival this year it absolutely brought the house down and everybody around me was just crying and laughing all the way through the film um it's about a girl called Grace who has a really big heart but a really sad past and it's about the journey that she goes on and I think it's just one of those wonderful films that you come out of and you really need to take some time to process what you've just seen and and why it's so important and I think it really will make so many people out there feel seen in a way that they really need to be seen um I don't want to say too much about it because it will spoil the plot but it is you really want to check it out if you can um it's inspiring and poignant and funny and hopeful um and I think it's absolutely up there with um Mary Max is my favorite animated F of all time and it absolutely deserves all the wonderful awards that it's won um I also wanted to give a shout out to the apocalypse box which is my favorite indie film of the year because that's also a Triumph of film making I think um other than that I hope you've all seen some great films and I just wanted to say Happy New Year to you and all the podcast listeners and I really hope next year is a really great year for film hi this is Ross boas creative director of evolutionary films and writer and director of the I am Vengeance film franchise my favorite film of 2024 was conclave an excellent intricate Thriller meticulously laid out beautifully presented with some fantastic performances in terms of Television I'd say our favorite TV show of the year has been the latest season of slow horses it's gripping compelling got some great action set pieces and it's also very very funny uh wishing everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2025 my name is Glenn yard and I am a location sound recordist and post sound editor my favorite films I've seen at the actual cinema this year are basically only kids films that I've seen with my son but I'd happily uh Pro you towards robot dreams uh which is a great film for kids about uh how nothing really lasts forever and that's okay it's beautifully done uh the wild robot loads of great stuff in there it tries to pack in a bit too much and it's got far too many endings but there's loads of again poignant moments and oh spine tingling at times and also so uh Transformers one which was a genuine surprise for me sort of did a lazy Saturday morning oh let's just go see anything and um it was empty in there uh but film was uh Snappy exciting and plot driven hi this is Pat Higgins and I'm a writer director my most recent movie was power tool cheerleaders versus the boy band of the screeching dead my favorite movie of 2024 was the substance because it's an incredible journey through a load of really remarkable visuals and some really really smart ideas anchored with Incredible performances thoroughly thoroughly recommend it if you've got a relatively strong stomach for body horror it absolutely rocks have a fantastic 2025 everybody lots of great suggestions there thanks so much for listening in 2024 and for subscribing um whether you're listening on a podcast platform or whether you're watching the YouTube videos um I'm looking forward to lots of really interesting conversations in 2025 and I hope you'll be there with me[Music]
