Creating Without Permission

I’m going to keep today's stack short. By now, anyone reading my Substack knows that my focus is micro-budget filmmaking, and I talk a lot about using your limitations as strengths, and sustainability. This post is an extension of that viewpoint but focuses mainly on filmmaking on your own terms. Let’s get into it.

The Hollywood studio system, or the traditional film industry work within a hierarchy built on permission. You need a producer’s green light, a studio’s approval, a distributor’s interest, or a financier’s money. For most filmmakers, especially those just getting started, this model can be impossible to navigate. This gatekeeper model is especially difficult when you don’t know anyone in the industry or if you happen to not live in Los Angeles. This studio system has a lot of flaws, but it has also produced some truly great movies, so I’m not against it. I’m just against it as a model for sustainability as an artist without access.

Micro-budget filmmaking thrives outside of this system. It’s built on the idea that you don’t need anyone’s permission to make your movie. You don’t have to wait for money. You don’t need approval from a grant committee or studio executive. You don’t need a big-name actor attached to make the movie you want to make. If you have a good story, a camera (smart phones work), and the guts to go out and turn your vision into reality, then you can and should make your movie. It will be small, but it’ll be yours. It’ll be flawed, but it’ll be yours. It won’t be for everyone, but it will be yours.

There’s power in rejecting the need to ask for permission. When you become a punk rock producer and embrace micro-budget filmmaking you take control of your process and you become the one who says yes. Yes, this story matters. Yes, it’s worth telling. Yes, it’s time to make a movie.

That kind of autonomy changes everything. Sure, you’ll have to be resourceful, creative, and efficient. You’ll have to write stories that fit what you have, not what you wish you had. You’ll trade cranes for skateboards, and sound stages for garages. You’ll beg, barter, and ask for favors, but you’ll find poetry in your limitations. You’ll use those limitations as strengths and when you’re done, you’ll have a movie that is yours. It won’t belong to a studio, or a handful of investors. It’ll be yours.

Building a sustainable career takes work, and it takes a catalog of films that can be leveraged in your favor as you grow your career. Each film you make is a stepping stone to the next one. They will teach you how to solve problems, how to lead, and most importantly, how to finish. These tiny movies will become your resume that allows you to work on your own terms, and if the yes from a studio does come someday, it’ll give you the power to say no if the deal isn’t working in your favor.

Waiting for permission can kill a dream faster than a sleeping pill can put you to sleep. It gives power to executives who don’t care about your vision but decide whether you get to realize it or not. As a punk rock producer, no one needs to say yes but you. That’s the freedom that comes with micro-budget filmmaking. So, don’t wait for permission. Take control of your career and make your movie.