Find The Collaborators You Want To Spend The Rest Of Your Life Working With

The best independent films are made by people who trust and believe in each other.

I was with a director and a producer today, watching the rough cut of a film I wrote. Afterwards we were talking about the crew. They both kept raving about one of the runners. The guy was getting paid hardly anything at all, but he gave so much to the production, they couldn't have done it without him.

And the producer loved my friend Henrietta. They'd auditoned her for a role based on my recommendation, but didn't think she was quite right for it. But the producer told me how great and enthusiastic she was.

And there was one person on the crew who was incredibly problematic and none of us will ever work with him again. Life is too short.

It's not so much about finding opportunities as It's about finding your creative soulmates. With this current project, we had problems, differences -- but the bottom line is, we believe in each other, and we're already looking at future projects. And those who made good impressions, it sticks. It's easy to get a runner, and you can get away with hardly paying them anything. But let me ask you, how many of them make themselves indispensable? And when they do, do you think they're on such low pay the next time around? Of course not.

Be the best and look out for the best. Build your team. You'll help each other grow as artists.

It's not always that simple. Sometimes you're stuck with a producer who doesn't get you or an actor who can't grasp what you're after.. but that's fine, that's art. The key is to hold on to the magic people when you find them and build on from there.

A final note on an unrelated point: you should listen to acoustic Ryan Adams tracks at around 1.34am, your life will change a little for the better.