The New Year of screenwriting and directing starts when people create a list of New Year’s resolutions. These will not be included on a Top Ten List that has losing weight, quitting smoking, eating healthy, giving up alcohol, spending more time with family, making more money, and other goals people strive for to start the new Year off with a bang. Everyone has their own personal motivations for making an effort to change or add something new to their way of living.
Creative people that have wanted to write a film script or make a movie that never act on that special desire see a New Year come and go without them reaching their filmmaking goals. It is tough to stick with any New Year’s resolution after making it. When screenwriting and movie making are on your mind it is time to make it happen. Make a promise to yourself that you will not let another year slip fly by on writing your screenplay or shooting your film.
There really is not a better time to finish a script or make an independent film. Technology has provided the best screenwriting software, digital cameras, and editing platforms that can be bought at an affordable price. I know a first time screenwriter and filmmaker that wrote their script using popular screenwriting software, shot their movie using an iPhone, and edited it with a free editing program that came with their computer.
They finally committed to seeing their New Year’s resolution of filmmaking happen and they succeeded in their creative pursuit to tell a story using moving images. I have always personally felt it does not matter how expensive or cool the software or movie making gear we decide on to write a script or produce a project is if we do not know how to craft a script or direct a film.
You can give one scriptwriter a pen and notebook and the other the latest screenwriting software and one of them will write a more entertaining story. The same applies to producing and directing a film. Software and film gear only really count when we know what we are doing with it. That is why I feel it is essential to learn the core foundations of screenwriting and filmmaking before worrying about what movie script program or film equipment you decide to use. It comes back to the classic line, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
The best advice I can offer from experience in the entertainment industry as a writer, producer, and director is to learn from people that have already been down the road ahead of you. Invest time in reading books, visiting blogs of filmmakers, and learning the basics of your craft before rushing down the road this New Year. This approach will provide you creative success when you commit to your resolution and see it through. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT
Learn all about screenwriting, film production, directing, and the business of movie distribution at Slice Of Americana Films – The life and times of filmmaker Sid Kali is uncensored, raw, and honest.