Tip - 1. Write the Feature. 2. Make a Short. 3. Get the Feature Made. (Coming Soon: a MANCHILD Short)

UPDATE: In response to some of the (heated! opinionated!) questions and comments on this post, we did a long video Q&A as well. I wrote recently about finishing the screenplay for my feature MANCHILD (for now... ), but it's been a while since I talked about what else is going on in the trenches of first-time feature filmmaking. The title of the post gives it away: we're making a short. Why are we doing this? And why do I think this strategy makes a lot of sense for other first-time feature directors? Because there are millions of people with a screenplay, all trying to figure out how to get from here (words on a page) to there (actual finished movie). If your goal seems impossibly far off, that's when it's time to bite off a smaller chunk and show what you're capable of.