Horrible Filmmaking Advice That's KILLING Your Career

Bad filmmaking advice is hurting your career. This video is all about advice to ignore so you can focus on the things that matter.

#filmmaking #documentary #careeradvice

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CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro
0:42 - Why you should be careful with these advice
1:21 - “The market is too competitive”
2:33 - Why people romanticize the idea of filmmaking
3:33 - Real world example of persistence
5:37 - “Bigger = Better”
7:18 - Take this example from a filmmaker trying to go big
9:12 - “Buy the gear and jobs will follow”
12:06 - Final thoughts

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IG: @lucforsyth (BTS content, but I’m TERRIBLE at DMs - sorry!)

[peternavanac]

Your actually saying the things that move your viewers forward because…you seem to want your viewers to be moving forward 😮 Now that is a breath of fresh air!

[Hykje]

YouTube is full of "filmmakers" who actually don't do any filmmaking other than filming themselves talking about what amazing filmmakers they are.

[inframe-brooklyn]

Hey Luc, I feel like you and I are having this conversation every week. I started making docs fifteen years ago, and my first one, was as you alluded to about a local animal shelter because we went in to adopt a puppy and I thought their grass roots model was unique and inspiring. I spent two years running around Brooklyn with this guy and a small JVC that shot 1080 (this was 2012) and a decent Senheiser. No lights all outdoor and natural light. the next one again small local about a folk singer. It wasn't until I had two full feature low budget docs under my belt that I managed to get serious people to talk to me on my third doc which was political in nature. The success of that has made my current doc where I am talking to Senators and serious scientists and activists only possible because they looked at my body of work and saw that I wasn't sitting around waiting for my big break (which still hasn't come, I have been waiting twenty years to be an overnight success!) There is nothing glamorous about documentary filmmaking. I have already logged over 40 hours and two thousand miles of driving up and down the eastern seaboard mostly by myself to get this documentary done. I was talking to a young filmmaker who wants to make docs and. he asked me where to start. I said find something you are passionate about that you can make with the gear you have and can be completely shot within a two hour drive of your house. Don't buy gear, save your money for gas, tolls, and food and go out and shoot. He was sort of shocked by my answer, but that is exactly what I did on my first doc. I think I have run on a bit. Keep speaking truth to power my brother.

[nerucheung]

I used to do the bare minimum and blamed the industry of being too competitive. The moment I started going out of my way a lot more, was the moment I saw a significant amount of work and people coming my way

[QZ_AU]

Hey it’s Thomas here. It took me 5 years working as a videographer and about 2 years to figure out how to get my feet into the film industry. I have more than a handful of friends who were doing better than me but they have given up along the way. We used to share the same dream but now theirs have died. The film industry is brutal (especially in some countries like mine where there’s no labour protection) but if you keep grinding and have the persistence you’ll get there 💪

[kevinbatts]

As a working Doc DP these are all 100% facts. I wish we had Luc 12 years ago when all we had were GH4's and DSLR's.

[robertruffo]

People say that about everything fun to do, that it's too competitive, but when you start hiring people, you realize how hard it is find a good editor, a good makeup artist, a good anything, let alone a great one. It's not easy being great, and it's even harder to prove that you're great to the right people, but if you do the work and get there it's fine, you can make a great living, in 2024.

[ToddDeSilva]

Great advice. I kind of went opposite. I just finished and released a feature length doc, whereas I was trying to do a bunch of micro docs and never ended up finishing any of those. lol.

The gear thing is clutch. Yes, gear does matter, but not when you are practicing. Use what you have. Have a bunch of old smartphones, great, set up a multi-cam set up with those. The foundations are the same no matter what you use.

My doc isn't perfect (i've learned a lot from it), I filmed it all myself and it took close to 6 months to complete, but I completed it, and that's the important thing.

I have learned a lot from you, keep on with the killer content.

[adolloyd]

Cracking advice - love the way you explain things out, makes perfect sense.
I'm not a YouTuber/Film Maker or anything like that, but I'm simply thinking of using a 2nd hand Canon digital camera that I bought a few years back (which I really know nothing about) plus added a couple of lenses, plus a DJI Osmo plus a DJI Mavic Mini drone - all bought around 3 years ago but not used because, basically, my life was turned upside down, so now could be the time to finally get out there and have a go, eh?
Thanks for the vid!

[jeanguillaume]

I am that guy looking at gear videos, buying gear and not using it

[rickymcc]

Hi Luc, followed your channel for a while now and I have to say in my pretty limited experience you make a lot of sense. I too love gear, can afford to indulge as an amateur who is not dependent on getting work to eat or fund my GAS habit. But, I know in my heart of hearts nobody of any importance is likely to want to hire me until I can clearly demonstrate a solid capability. As a long term amateur in stills I can do that. I'm not there in video, so need to keep practicing. I'm trying to collaborate with other amateur enthusiasts to do this as well as attempting small personal projects.

To that end your comments about 4-5 small projects that one can finish, review and learn from makes total sense. Sure I'd love to do something big, but it's too soon for my skill set currently. I don't think I'm being overly modest or suffering from imposter syndrome but rather trying to be realistic.

[johanneskolb]

Great video! About a year ago I started filming regularly for a big broadcaster and I learned so much more on the jobs than on YouTube! Also: The workflow for those documentaries about current events dictates that I can't film in Log because they need a really quick post production. So in my case an Alexa would be problematic 😂

[davebear]

Two and a half years into my company Paradise Productions Unlimited, I’m finally listening to you veterans! Thanks for keeping us children (and I’m 66 years old) in line!

[NoGrip]

Thank you. I needed to hear the “you don’t need the FX-whatever” line. I should work with what I have for a while

[BryceDocherty]

Super solid advice man! Im in the process of making more shorts to fullfill my creative curiosity and portfolio and working with non profits while doing weddings full time. If you are passionate and relentless enough, you will make it happen! I wish I would have came to Mark and Mikes meet up. I saw you were there. I will def make the next one.

[adammonroeproductions]

Seems to me, from my short time trying to do it, that filmmaking is largely about creating your own opportunities. I've got a little halfday shoot coming up; just hiring a couple actors/casting, getting all the details squared away, pre-vis - hoo boy, so much work, but I'm trying to make it happen! There are too many people with romantic notions of filmmaking or directing out there who think that someone might hand them a golden opportunity to make a movie someday, just because - I don't think that's usually how it works. Look at most big name filmmakers, how did they start? Usually, self-funding their first films or short films, getting funded by relatives, private investors, ect. Sometimes, working your way up from more traditional roles (Cameron was the effects supervisoe of assistant and the director just happened to quit, if I remember), but mostly, yiu gotta start making yiur own stuff.

[sardanapalos]

being a low profile person in real life the advice "try to make connections" hurts so much... and it hurts cause as i see all this time i work in video that's the only way to level up the game, but in the end we are who we are :)

[LukeCypert]

I've been thinking about doing this kind of video for how to get into the film industry. It's very different to get onto movie crews than to be a "filmmaker."

I finally made the jump to film production 3 years ago and it's been incredible! I barely make any of my own work anymore. But I am DP on a feature this summer, so that's fun :)

[petemellows]

I’m just a simple guy doing photography videos. But the advice you’re giving here is helping me plan and shoot better. And yeah, nobody said I should definitely start a YouTube channel…

[igobyandrew]

I knew when I clicked on this that I would be called out. It’s true. I haven’t done a great job of reaching out to other filmmakers in my area, growing my network and looking for new clients. Gotta change that.