$0 to $230K In 3 Years As a Filmmaker: 10 business tips
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- Get ready for 15 minutes that will change your filmmaking career. A lot of filmmakers, photographers and creatives are great at their job, but still struggle to get clients, jobs and money.
Going from $0 to $230 000 in three years I have made myself some experiences on how to solve the business aspect of filmmaking.
I consider the business aspect of filmmaking as the most interesting part of it. After all, we need money to create. Not to get rich, but to have the gear and resources to make the films we want to make.
I have been working hard for years, and have had a six figure revenue since 2021. With $230 000 last year a lot of filmmakers have asked me how it’s even possible. So how can filmmaking be such a good business for some, whilst others are looking for ways to pay rent?
Can you make money on filmmaking? Is the pay good as a filmmaker? How much does a freelance filmmaker make? How can you make money as a filmmaker? What should you charge for your work?
All of these questions are being asked every day. By new filmmakers, but established filmmakers as well. How do you actually know what your films are worth? How do you make people see what your work is worth?
It is hard to price yourself, but even harder to get to the place where negotiations are even possible. In this video you'll learn ten steps to make your business more sustainable. 10 steps to client work, how to work with clients and how to make sure you get what you're worth.
0:00 Intro
00:38 Buy your gear
02:15 Make them curious
03:56 Be kind
05:12 Use your gear
06:03 Know your worth
07:09 Be visible
08:08 Share experiences
09:42 No free work
11:31 Contracts
13:15 Dance with your clients
14:43 Winning team
Music from Musicbed
/ kristian_warvick
Business inquiries: kristian@wiildstudio.com
Produced by Kristian Warvick
IG: @KristianWarvick
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Do you agree with the ten steps mentioned in this video?
hey man as an aspiring youtuber and filmmaker i want to say thanks for this. I will put myself out there i promise
@@pratishtha70 thanks for watching! Let me know how it goes!
It's nothing to be afraid of!
Awesome video man, your advices were amazing for me
Thanks a lot! Really appreciate you watching. And great that it was of help! Stay tuned for a detailed video about contracts and a template tomorrow!
I watched this entire video assuming that it had already gotten over 100k views. Your advice deserves to be heard. Great content and thank you for sharing.
Wow. Thank you so much! As a small RUclips channel owner this means the world to me. I am putting a lot of effort into it, but mostly just want people to benefit from my experiences. It's taken me some time to figure out what my niche should be, but with the filmmaking topic being super saturated I have realised that the business part of it might be the way to go. Thanks for watching, and thanks for your comment!
Hey man love this, how do you go about advertising yourself for people to hire you besides word of mouth or posting on instagram?
thanks for watching! It's a very good question. I think that the best way for me has been the networking. Not just in terms of going to events and such, but talking to people. I am curious about other people, and I believe that by being curious, people will be curious about you too.
And so if you can make people curious about you, and at the same time be kind, I think people would like to work with you.
This doesn't fully answer your question, so there are some more things to this.
One, you can take the photos you took in a certain situation, share them with the ones in it and ask them to give you credit. This is always a long shot. I have worked with people with millions of followers, and it didn't do much when they tagged me/gave me credit for the work. Then there are other situations where a person with a few hundred followers generated jobs.
Honestly, and this might sound stupid, you can bring a camera (the bigger rig the better) down to the city. People might actually approach you (this might be more of an US thing). I saw this guy walking down the streets with his camera, and what do you know, a guy called him up and asked him to be a wedding photographer that SAME day. Their photographer bailed last minute.
Have coffee with people. Try to get a coffee with no commitment to anything but that talk.
Then, and I guess this might be my best tips and the way I approached this in the beginning. Go to events and happenings with the purpose of making content for yourself. This is a great way to learn how to make content for clients, but also a great way to advertise yourself. With you owning all of the rights and having all the creativity, you can offer whoever you filmed to use this themselves.
It's important to note that this is not the same as doing work for free. Nobody asked you to make it for them, they don't have a say in how you made it and you can do whatever you want with it. But they can use it, and if they like it they might buy it later. Or maybe you can even make some money on this exact project on the first try.
And if ANY brand uses your services in ANY way, they are by definition a client of yours. Use that for what it's worth in communication, on your website and so on. I remember having Sony Music on my website for years, and they only paid me $200 dollars for a full music video production. I should NOT have done the job for that price, but it was six months after I bought my first camera and it was SONY! I think being able to communicate that I had worked for Sony was a big deal for a lot of the clients I got later on, and it was nice to be able to have their logo on my website.
Lastly I have had success with cold calls or cold emails. Reach out (it's usually better to call) and tell them about your services. The best way is to approach them with the problem you see they have ("I see that your content looks old or lacks high quality) and then come up with the solution (which is you).
At the end of the day I think advertising yourself or your products comes down to how you communicate it. If it's with confidence, an attitude of "I have a lot of projects going on" and kindness, I think things will go your way.
But REMEMBER! Things take time. I sent 50 emails to different companies in 2020, getting a reply from three of them. I was close to giving up, as I didn't make a single dime between February and December that year. Then I had my first six figure year in 2021.
Hope this helps!
@@kriswarwick Thank you so much man, I gotta be patient but I believe I can be a successful filmmaker like u one day🤝
@@LaRuffaProductions I am cheering for you!
Dude, love this vide. I've worked many years in video production and with marketing agencies creating ads in Los Angeles. I've worked with many established brands BUT I feel stuck because I lack the business aspect of the filmmaking world, and referrals only get me so far. I haven't been able to break 75k a year. Do you feel a healthy approach to extending more clients can be Ads on social media? such as Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin since we are B2B?
First of all, thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Honestly, I am not sure how well that works. Personally, I have not had good experiences doing that, but I am sure it works for some people.
I have experienced that with services like filmmaking or photography being promoted/sponsored on social media, it almost creates a sense of desperation. Just because it tells potential clients "Hey, I don't have enough work" lol
It sounds like you already got clients and that you have a revenue that is decent already? If so, I would look at how to use the foundation you have to grow your business even more. I believe that by communicating and almost pitching a new and bigger project when you are working with them, chances are you'll end up getting just that. Sometimes I might casually mention new ideas on a shoot and if I have a solid foundation with them, they'll trust my ideas. It's important to remember that these ideas must be genuine and not come off as "I am going to sell you something" as that will shine through very easily. I genuinely believe in the ideas I am pitching, and I believe it will benefit the client. That's what you need to communicate too.
So in short, connect with your current clients, make them see that they can trust you, make them see you are worth it and adjust your prices 1-2 a year. With the financial state being what it is, I have realized I need to adjust the prices to the expenses I have in my life/business. And another thing to keep in mind is that if your client has a partner at the shoot, make sure they will remember you too!
I hope this helps!
@@kriswarwick This is so much gold. Thank you for sharing this!!!
@@KRAH713 just happy to help! Good luck!