I Spent Over $60K Producing My Own Films! Was it Worth It!?

[@LYNETTE-o2r]

Undoubtedly these projects were evidently more than worth every penny, proud of you!!!

[@DirectedByJoro]

Thank you so much for watching!!

[@filmsbydiek7316]

Thank you for this. The general public has no idea. The $30k number to make a high quality short seems to rear it’s head again and again, that’s just what it costs to get the people and the gear into position. Even a scrappy one-man production team with the cast donating time/food/gas can still cost several thousand dollars. Someone has to post that up, and it falls to the creative who is motivated to push it into reality. And a short rarely makes any money back, even more rare profit. I ended up putting $20k and 5 years (!?!) into my festival short, which would’ve easily hit that $30k mark had it been completed in a 1 year timeline (good, fast, cheap: pic two! I chose good and cheap, which meant SLOW!). Got into festivals, won some awards (which was my goal) but it was lockdown time so didn’t get to benefit from the networking. Putting up 5-digit budgets personally as a working artist isn’t sustainable, obviously. Like you, I’m proud of my work and it is the coolest and most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and I hope the “return” on my self-investment will come back in surprising ways (but admittedly it is difficult to see it now). Anyway, I feel you, thank you for sharing your experience, we all benefit in the creative community!

[@pitchitrichards]

You've been busy! Have you considered shooting here in Albuquerque? I'm getting involved with the new NMFF (film foundation) learning existing incentives and funding, pitching in on creating more opportunities for us locals. Do some investigating, would love to see you and try developing something together. My bestie just moved to Colorado Springs last year and I spent Christmas there - lovely!

[@DirectedByJoro]

Yes been trying to stay productive :)! I have considered shooting in Albuquerque and hope to make my way out there to shoot more projects! That's fantastic to hear and I also ran into your friend David Dibble, who was featured as a filmmaker in a local Colorado Springs festival, which is where I grew up and he told me he knew you! Small world! Hope you're well and thanks for watching!

[@surpriseadventures]

I would definitely have to go with raising funds to produce my own films. It would be extremely difficult to pay out of pocket for even just the cast! Thanks for the transparency and breakdown of the films you've done. I have no doubts you'll be directing features soon man!

[@DirectedByJoro]

Thank you so much for watching and yes in hindsight I definitely would not have spent quite this much on these productions lol! You’re welcome man thank you for watching and commenting and here’s hoping to directing some features soon 😊

[@chrisanthonyferrer7004]

The biggest takeaway here is invest in yourself and believe in your skill as you build your craft. Every project was/is a level up! To the moon!

[@DirectedByJoro]

@@chrisanthonyferrer7004 love it man, that’s an incredible takeaway and I totally agree, it will all pay off handsomely in the near future 🙏🙌🙌🙌

[@indiefilmloop]

why not list those films in the description for others to see?

[@DirectedByJoro]

@@indiefilmloop that is a great idea! I shall do that shortly, thank you for the idea 🙏

[@Ozibiey]

But these are all just the price for short films? Why not just do a feature or move to where the production costs are cheaper?

[@DirectedByJoro]

Yes but I'd say this was with paying full cast and crew and going union in LA and utilizing stunts and VFX etc, so I'd say you could absolutely have made these a lot cheaper and cut costs in a lot of places for sure. I do also agree you could have done a feature for this amount, I think my approach was to make really high quality shorts as a calling card to get someone else to fund the feature at a higher budget/caliber and I actually am considering my next films being shot outside LA to save costs so that is also a very good point. Thank you for watching!

[@amescreative6378]

I noticed the Jordan Roman rate $0.00. 😞

[@DirectedByJoro]

@@amescreative6378 I know right, 😞 one day they shall pay me what I’m worth 😂

[@Ozibiey]

@@DirectedByJoroor you will ;)

[@filmsbydiek7316]

Thank you for this. The general public has no idea. The $30k number to make a high quality short seems to rear it’s head again and again, that’s just what it costs to get the people and the gear into position. Even a scrappy one-man production team with the cast donating time/food/gas can still cost several thousand dollars. Someone has to post that up, and it falls to the creative who is motivated to push it into reality. And a short rarely makes any money back, even more rare profit. I ended up putting $20k and 5 years (!?!) into my festival short, which would’ve easily hit that $30k mark had it been completed in a 1 year timeline (good, fast, cheap: pic two! I chose good and cheap, which meant SLOW!). Got into festivals, won some awards (which was my goal) but it was lockdown time so didn’t get to benefit from the networking. Putting up 5-digit budgets personally as a working artist isn’t sustainable, obviously. Like you, I’m proud of my work and it is the coolest and most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and I hope the “return” on my self-investment will come back in surprising ways (but admittedly it is difficult to see it now). Anyway, I feel you, thank you for sharing your experience, we all benefit in the creative community!

[@DirectedByJoro]

Thank you so much for watching and for the comment! You’re totally right, it’s hard for people outside the industry to comprehend how expensive it is to do production properly with paying everyone. I totally hear you on the fact that sometimes it’s really frustrating to wonder if all the investment put into the projects and festivals is actually giving a return on investment, but I always feel proud knowing I bet on myself whenever I start questioning it and am proud of the body of work being put out into the world. Cheers to more filmmaking!