Truly Independent: Demystifying the Indie Film Journey

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I consider myself very lucky to

have had a contract for distribution
before the movie was done.

This is Truly Independent, a show that
demystifies the indie film journey by

documenting the process of releasing
independent films in theaters.

Each week, Garrett Batty and I,
Darren Smith, will update you

on our journey, bringing guests
to share their insights into the

process and answer your questions.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Welcome listeners to another

episode of Truly Independent.

I'm Garrett Batty, and with
me is my co-host Daren Smith.

Daren, how are you?

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Hey.

So good.

I have to ask you at the top of
the show, have I worn my Invest

in Indie film shirt before?

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
that was going to be my first

question for you, Daren.

You get a new T-shirt.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I made a new t-shirt.

I'm following after your footsteps, dude,
there's a place called Cotton Bureau and

you can just design anything and put it up
there and then they will print it for you.

So yes, I bought my own shirts, but
I also sold enough to wear my shirts.

Were essentially free.

But yeah, I'm gonna start wearing these.

This is like my thing.

Invest in indie film.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I like it.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I'm putting it on the show for

those people watching on YouTube.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
can we get your shirt somewhere?

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

We,

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
shirt, but, one just like it.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I actually like, they're for sale.

I'm not here to shill t-shirts
to the audience, but if you want,

like, I've had people in Walmart
go, dude, I love your shirt.

It's like, okay, let's put these on
lots of filmmakers, as soon as possible.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Well
Link is going to be in the comments.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Very cool.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
So where do we go?

We did just go to Craftsman Creative or

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: I'll,

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Film.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: I'll
put it in the show notes for people.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Alright,

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
some long, crazy t-shirt.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
well good.

I won't delay any further.

we have a guest this week and I'm
very, very excited to welcome Graham

Northup onto the show with us.

Graham, how are you?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Thank you.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Thanks man.

thank you very much for joining.

You are an out of state guest, so we
appreciate you making time for the show.

Daren, I was telling Daren that
Graham, you and I met in film

school years and years ago.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
five, 10 years ago?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Right, five years ago.

it's interesting 'cause I just kind of
knew you, tangentially 'cause you were

in the film department, but I was in the
theater department, we were in the same

building and we crossed paths, and we
had mutual friends But we didn't really

get to know each other until much later.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
crossed paths, both at BYU and then, at

a film festival, probably two decades
later, two and a half decades later.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
right.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Yeah, well that's where Graham and

I connected was through the Zions
film Fest, And so it's just over the

last two years or so that I think
we've known each other and you've

come to some of our producer meetups
and come to the festival this year.

So it's been very cool
getting to know you.

I'm excited to have this chat
because your story's very cool.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

shout out to the networking
aspect of film festivals, right?

it does work.

It does happen.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Yeah, it really does.

you're not the first guest
we've had from a film festival,

so way to support indie film.

Graham, give us an overview, of what
we're going to talk about because,

your story to me is very, very
fascinating as an independent filmmaker.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah, sure.

So, I mean, I, what's, it's kind of
interesting 'cause when I started college,

I started out in the film as a film major.

I started taking the classes and knew I
wanted to have a family I got married,

in college the more I learned about.

Filmmaking, the more I realized
there's no such thing as a

career track in filmmaking.

And so I got nervous.

I was like, you know, I, I wanna do this,
but you know, I don't, I don't wanna just

go to Hollywood or you know, LA and look
for a job or look, you know, whatever.

so at that point in my life,
I was like, you know what?

I'm gonna switch to theater and in
particular, theater, education, theater.

Professional theater is not
much better than, than, film

as far as career paths go.

But if theater education, I, I, you
know, I love teaching and all that

stuff, so I, I became a theater
educator for at least I, I knew I'd

have a year to year contract at a
school and be able to support a family

So that's what I did.

did that for several years.

fast forward to, 2021.

Or 2020 when COVID hit.

theater just became, a nightmare.

also I had a new boss that
was not particularly friendly

to our, whole situation.

So yeah, fast forward till, 2020 during
COVID, the circumstances were not very

kind toward those practicing theater and,
public venues that was highly stressful.

then I had a boss that came in and didn't
make things any easier for any of us.

And I thought, this is probably a
good time to hop off and go back

to one of my first loves, film.

no one can, meet together to,
rehearse or watch or anything.

but I can make films fairly independently
I resigned from my post at Theater Aspen

where I had been working for 11 years
Started making short films and doing

commercial work as well, video wise.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
was your experience before just

saying, Hey, I'm just gonna jump in.

I'm gonna leave my job.

had you been on sets
or worked with cameras

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
since I resigned, or what do you.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Yeah, I guess that moment where you're

deciding to resign and pursue film, were
you just starting with a fresh, clean

slate or had you already been dabbling?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Well, I'd been dabbling

throughout my career.

I'd done some video work, you know,
I'd video the plays that I directed,

so that's like real basic stuff, right.

but I was also a photographer.

I've been a photographer
for, more than 20 years now.

And obviously that kind of stuff
translates a little into the camera

department in terms of, your settings
and how to frame up and composition, but

I knew that I needed a new education,
I hadn't gone through film school.

So, I got onto a couple of
different online programs.

one was full-time filmmaker,
which is, based outta Utah.

There, I believe.

And then another one is called
the Independent Film School.

Just a, these are online programs,
mentorship programs that help you,

you know, you know, basically all the
things you should have learned in film

school but didn't, that sort of a thing.

Right.

and, took several of those courses
and kind of got up to speed on

the technical aspect of things

And then the artistic side as far as
film goes and as it's differentiated

from theater, because I'm a director,
I have an MFA in directing from Baylor.

Directing is my, trade and training.

That's what I am, that's what I do.

but had to, adjust for the camera, in
terms of both coaching the actors as

well as, camera a whole different thing.

'cause you don't have that in theater.

So, I did have to kind of put myself
through a, film school, to feel

Competent enough to even attempt that.

But, with my background in photography
and my artistic background in

directing, I knew I could do it.

it was something that I knew would come
eventually with practice repetition

and exposure to the right tools
and people So yes, it was, nerve

wracking to leave my job of, 11 years
and go out completely on my own.

Absolutely.

it was terrifying.

but what was going on previously
was unsustainable, so I thought,

you know, might as well,
you know, get off and do it.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
As well,

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
be happy while I'm miserable.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Right.

yes.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
so question for you and then

Daren, you can jump in anytime.

what you said, I knew I could do it.

wanna know what, what that, what your goal
or what your definition of do it was as

far as film related what does that mean?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Sure.

I grew up in a small town.

Lamar, Colorado, and then
moved to Littleton near Denver.

there weren't a ton of opportunities
for the things I wanted to do.

I knew fairly early on that
I wanted to direct shows.

I'm a storyteller, that's what I do.

and so like e even at BYU.

I noticed I wasn't even gonna
get real serious opportunities to

direct until at least my junior year
and even then it was like one act

play and know, that sort of thing.

So I think it was my sophomore
year, I'm like, well, I need, I.

I need to pull myself up by my
bootstraps a little bit here.

And so I noticed in the theater schedule
where they put on those one acts by the

juniors and seniors there was a gap week,
early in the semester where it was dark.

I went to my professors and said,
can I come in and direct a show

independently and put it in this slot?

And they were like, sure.

So I got.

People together.

I directed a show, put
it in that empty slot.

And, you know, I kinda had to
make opportunities for myself

to get further experience.

And, you know, having done that
back in college, I knew that

I could just do that again.

And I had built up enough of a
network of friends, and associates

in the theater who I knew.

I knew actors, costumers, people
who did that sort of thing.

So I thought it would be feasible
to, start creating short films,

on a very low budget or no budget.

get the reps in on learning how to direct
the camera, direct actors, storytelling,

the beats, all that stuff, as it
applies to film, and see how my theater

skills translated into that domain.

so that's what I did.

I directed a short film.

after I, left theater Aspen, the
budget was 150 bucks and that

was for snacks for the cast.

so, you know, I, and, and obviously
I had some gear, I had my camera

'cause I was a photographer, I had a
camera that did video, so I used that.

And,

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: So

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Graham,
it sounds like you have a little bit

of producer in you too, because you're
seeing all the opportunities and

you're putting together the crew and
figuring out how to get resourceful,

so that's definitely part of it.

Like your ability to transition.

You had to have some of that in there.

But my,

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
of course

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
my question.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
of that to theater because in addition to

directing theater, I was also producing
other shows in the education department

with the shows that I wasn't directing.

And I had, you know, essentially
produced the shows I was directing to.

So I had, I had, you know,

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: So when
you made that transition, the decision

was like, I'm gonna leave this career.

I'm gonna go and pursue
this passion thing.

and I mean, it's not like three
years outta college, you're

talking about decades later, right?

did you see it more as I'm going to
go and produce movies, or was it more

like, I want to be hired as a director,
I want to be hired as a writer?

where was your focus in that regard?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
a good question.

eventually I had two goals
that I kind of stated out loud.

and one was that, I, well,
I, I wanna direct, right?

And if I have to produce my own films
in order to direct, then so be it,

one of my goals is to write and direct
and maybe get another producer on

board, write and direct 10 movies,
By the end of my career in film.

the other goal was to have someone
pay me at least a hundred thousand

dollars as a director for hire.

at that point, if someone's paying
me a hundred thousand dollars to come

direct their movie, I know that I've
reached a certain, level of respect,

and, exposure in the industry.

oh yeah, they trust my work enough to hire
me at that rate on that big of a film.

those are my two goals and
they haven't changed much.

They're just kind of benchmarks I'm
gonna work towards those as best I can

and then see where the path takes me.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
there's so much

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
people always say, oh, I want to do it.

I wanna work in film, or whatever it is.

oftentimes they don't
realize, Hey, we're doing it.

We're doing what we set out to do.

until there's a clear definition of
a goal I'd like to do this 10 times

or a hundred thousand dollars per
film, now there's a specific goal.

Now we can keep working
toward that benchmark.

otherwise we'd just say.

Oh, I'm working in film.

I did it.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah,

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: the
goal informs the strategy, right?

So if you're saying, my goal is
a hundred K, fee on a movie, that

informs what kind of movies you say
yes to, what kind of projects you

pursue, what kind of network and
collaborations and partnerships you need.

there's so much clarity that comes
from defining that outcome to then

say, okay, now I've got a clearer
path to start pursuing that.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

And you know, like the 20 or the 10
film thing, you know, I've got, you

know, at le say 20 years of, you know,
real viable work left in my life.

that breaks it down to one movie every
two years, that I'm writing, producing,

directing, and directing for hire.

Obviously I can probably squeeze more in.

but in that sense, it breaks
it down into chunks, right?

I gotta at least average.

One movie every two years,
which may be ambitious.

a lot of directors spend three
or more years on a film, but

it just gives me a benchmark.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Sure.

Okay.

So you have done your shorts and now
you've just completed your first feature,

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yes.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
one film out of the 10 is in the can.

Is that.

correct

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
saying that

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Absolutely.

at the time of this, recording I delivered
to the distributor in three days,

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: this is

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
it's delivery week and

it's gonna be a doozy.

the reason I have time for this is
because my colorist and my sound guy

are still working on their stuff, once
they send it in, I have to scramble

to make sure it all gets exported

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: I
was like, we could pushed a week.

Like it's okay.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Graham,

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
it's all good.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
This is how it always happens.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yep.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
you know, it's like, why sleep?

we can do that next,

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: So
I feel like we skipped a beat there

though, because we went from you produce
short films like 15 years ago, and

then you just completed your feature.

So let's back up At what point
in the process of transitioning

careers was it like, I'm gonna
go and make a movie and tell us

about how this movie came together?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Sure.

yeah, it was a roundabout process.

So when I, when I, left theater Aspen
started, you know, pursuing film

full-time, with all my energy, knew
I wanted to, to direct a feature.

And so I wrote one called The Pass,
which was a supernatural thriller.

It's a ghost story.

kind of same kind of vibes as a quiet
place or signs, but it's a ghost story.

real family oriented but also lots of
peril I put my characters through a lot.

I sent it to the line producer that
I knew, and the budget came back at

like two and a half million dollars.

we roll a car off a cliff and explode
it burn down a cabin and all that stuff,

special effects and all this stuff.

I'm like, okay, this is my first feature.

Do I really want to try to raise two
and a half million dollars having

never done anything like that before.

my decision was, no, I
do not want to do that.

I want to do something that's a
little more, lower hanging fruit.

so that I will have been around the block
by the time I produce that bigger feature.

so I thought, what the heck am I going
to do that's more feasible than that?

'cause that script is just a guy
wandering around in the woods

for like 80% of the movie, still
it came back at 2 million plus.

To shoot it.

So, okay, what am I gonna do?

Where do I look?

I started thinking about all the
things I could leverage to increase

production value, reduce costs,
and make a movie that's marketable.

so right out the gate, I have
something that I can put forward

and put out into the world and might
actually get a return on investment.

having been to various film
festivals and talking to various

distributors the one thing that
kept coming back to me was, oh yeah.

romantic comedies, and Christmas rom-coms.

tend to do very well, at
least in this current, market.

So I thought, okay, well I
live near Aspen, Colorado.

it looks amazing at Christmas time and
I know everyone, in the area actors,

some crew people, locations, all that
stuff I could leverage and come in

at a very low cash out of pocket.

but increase the production value.

it took me several months of, drafts but
I wrote, the movie an Aspen Christmas

Conspiracy, which I tag as a Christmas
romantic comedy with a twist of mystery.

then I started reaching out to, local
actors or actors who had been local.

my two leads ended up being former
students of mine from theater Aspen,

who are now working professionally
in Chicago and New York.

I said, Hey guys, you wanna
come, be in a feature film?

Of course, they're like, yes.

then all the supporting actors were
local talent from the improv troupe

and various theatrical groups and
performing groups people I'd known

to do some on camera work as well.

I got my cast put together, and
started, looking for locations.

fortunately, the mother of the lead actor.

Lion Hamill, still lives locally
she became our location scout.

She's like, oh, I know someplace
where you could shoot this.

Oh, I know someplace where
you could shoot this.

So it was like.

it just opened the, the flood
gates and we, we got to shoot

in some really cool locations.

And, you know, the, the
city worked with us.

The county worked with us really well.

one of the things we're trying to
say while talking to these people

is, Hey, this is gonna be a cultural
community asset for, decades to come.

How about you hop in
and help us make this?

So, yeah, so wrote the film.

I had a, you know, a, a, a producing
partner, Lori Clemmens Meyer.

She, I've been working with her for a
couple years on various other projects,

got her on board, got a consulting
producer on board, Ryan Honey, who had,

had produced three features previously
and was now working locally as the

executive of a performing arts venue.

But he had been around the block before,
so, was invaluable in advising on that.

I just started putting it together and,
you know, started writing it, say in 2024,

around, you know, like February 20, 24.

Kind of finished up the script around
September 24 and then started fundraising

and, and doing all the pre-pro stuff.

then we were shooting
by January 13th, 2025

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Wow.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
now it's going to the distributor.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
how are you delivering?

you breezed over fundraising.

is never the case.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Right.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
is, the longest process if

that's the process you're in.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
how did that come about?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
So, yeah, it was,

Not the ideal situation.

I ended up being in fundraising
and pre-production at the same

time, which is not, ideal.

fundraising is like a full-time job.

Right.

unless you have someone dedicated
to it, you as the director and

the producer, know, that it's kind
of hard to do both pre-production

and fundraising at the same time.

But we did it.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Graham, I listened to a podcast recently.

They were interviewing, the
director of the brutalist.

And, he said, you know, it was a
director's round table, they were

going around saying, what do you do?

What do you do like the day
before your first day of shooting?

he said, probably trying
to close financing still.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Right.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I don't think you're, alone in that

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

And you're never talking
about the ideal, right?

I mean, you're never
experiencing the ideal.

I think you talk about it in terms
of this should happen, then this

should happen, but it can be these
processes that you have to be flexible.

you have to be ready to put on a different
hat or, change directions or whatever.

so yeah, one of the things we did in terms
of fundraising is we got a fiscal sponsor.

we went to From the Heart Productions on
the advice of another Filmmaker Jade Gott.

She said she'd used them before.

So I applied, the film got
accepted into their program.

So I was able to raise money from
donors who would then get a, tax write

off for their donation, which is nice.

'cause as a independent filmmaker,
I am not a nonprofit, so you can't

write that off unless you lose money.

Then you can write that off.

But you don't wanna do that.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
That's the biggest irony in the world.

All independent filmmakers are nonprofit.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah, exactly right.

so we were able to do both.

we raised money through donations.

and that actually, that actually opened
us up some foundation grants as well.

'cause some foundations cannot,
donate to, you know, for-profit

filmmakers, only to nonprofits.

we got like $30,000 In grants from
various foundations, which was amazing.

the other, amount that we were
raising, we went to investors for.

And that's, that's where you
really have to refine your pitch.

all the investors I, got money
from were people that I knew.

Personally, they're investing in you, not
necessarily the project, although really

had to be able to articulate what the
project was and what the potential returns

were all the usual stuff you hear about
in pitch class and talking to investors.

but we were able to, cobble
together the financing for the film.

we intentionally made it very low
budget, which, ended up being.

about 150 to 160 cash, out of pocket.

of course that doesn't account
for a lot of my time that I,

just gave to the production.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Sure.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I think, we were able to get it

and then go the rest of the way
into pre-production and production.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
It is fantastic.

anytime you're talking about $150,000
feature film, you know there is some sweat

equity the logistics of shooting for that
many days, even if it's 10 days or less,

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
putting in a lot of sweat equity.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah, like I said, our craft service was

almost a hundred percent donated, from
people in the community bringing meals

almost all of our locations were free.

because we knew the people
we had insurance, so we were

able to tell them if we messed
something up, it'll get paid for.

But, you know, but otherwise,
you know, we're taking good

care of it and all that stuff.

I think the only thing we had to pay
for in terms of a location was a public

park that we rented for 200 bucks.

So that was the extent.

Oh, and we had one other location.

We paid another 250 bucks, so 450 bucks
in location fees for the whole movie.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
how long did you shoot?

How many days?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
we shot for, 18 days because it was my

first feature, we decided to do that in
five day weeks instead of six day weeks.

just so we would have a couple of
days of, turnaround and getting

stuff ready for the next week.

I even heard some of the crew say,
yeah, we'd rather do six day weeks

and just get it, get it done, sooner.

But, we did five day weeks, so
we had two day weekends to figure

stuff out for the next week.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

Man, that Sounds incredible.

as far as just bootstrapping it,
going full, independent running,

towards your goal, and then checking
that box of like, okay, I got my

first feature now under my belt.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
it was incredible.

the people that came together to do
this, we got a really professional crew.

they were, on top of things and super
professional having bootstrapped it

myself before and been been wearing those
multiple hats, camera operator, DP, sound,

you know, all that stuff, it's so, it
was so nice to be able to hand stuff off

to people who knew what they were doing
and took pride in their work I can't.

give enough praise to the crew, that
really stepped up and Made it happen.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
I think I often forget that as an

independent filmmaker A hundred percent
of the people who are in this business

got into it because of the passion they
have for storytelling and filmmaking

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Okay.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: of
that crew or that story making, process.

if people are willing to come work and
hang out and contribute their talents

and sweat equity that's a great thing.

The reason that they are doing it
because they're getting rewarded,

being able to do something

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
And that's actually one thing I learned

on the set too, is because sometimes
I have different priorities, right?

As the director, as the
storyteller, sometimes I don't

care what the lighting looks like.

I just want the
performances to be on point.

And, you know, I want
to get the story across.

But the cinematographer of the
DP will be like, oh, let me,

let me, let me futs with this.

let me.

change this just a little bit.

And so I learned to be
like, you know what?

He's taking pride in his work
so that we all have the best

product that we can possibly have.

So I had to check myself and be
like, okay, let the DP do his work

because he's taking pride in it.

I want him to take the same pride
in it that I'm taking in it.

so the whole thing can be beautiful it
was like that with all the department

heads sometimes I had to go, okay.

let them be awesome at their work
and just sit back and enjoy the

awesomeness once it's all done.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

So Graham, tell us about the,
you said you're in the middle of

delivery and you have a distributor
lined up, but the movie's not done

yet, so you, you were overlap.

Those two at the same time, maybe
as you were doing pre-production

and financing at the same time.

So talk to us a little
bit about that process.

fundraising and distribution
are the two hardest parts.

Everybody's like, oh, we got production.

That's the easy part.

financing and distribution can often
be the things that hang people up.

And you can have movies sitting
on a shelf for two years waiting

for distribution to come around.

What was your process, as
you approached distribution?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
So I consider myself very lucky to

have had a contract for distribution
before the movie was done.

Then again, I don't think it
was a hundred percent luck.

I think it was, you know, people
talk about having calling card shorts

and of course your pitch, right?

people talk about the importance
of your pitch and all that stuff.

So when I took it to the
distributor, I had a couple of

short films that I was able to say.

here's my work.

You can see the quality I can perform at,
and then here's the pitch for my next one.

fortunately, from seeing my work, talking
with me and hearing the pitch for this,

an Aspen Christmas conspiracy, they
were like, yeah, we trust you enough.

We'll sign the letter of intent right now.

I actually used that letter of intent
to shop it around to investors.

I said, Hey, investors, we've got a letter
of intent from, it's BMG Global who we're

with, so we already have distributions.

What's that?

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
just quick shout out to

David Austin over BMG Global.

They are fantastic.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
David Austin is awesome.

I met him at Zion's
Indie Film Fest in Utah.

he had done a panel and I had not, I
don't, I didn't see, I don't think I'd

even started work on my, Feature yet,
but after talking with him, he's one of

the people who talked about how Christmas
rom-coms do pretty well so he's the one

that got me thinking in that direction.

But he was such a nice guy.

I was so forthright, so honest
about, what the distribution side

of things is and how it works.

I was like, you know what?

I'm gonna pitch these guys.

I wanna see if I can get in
the door with these guys.

I sent him some of my previous
shorts, he enjoyed them.

And then I pitched him on this project.

I was taking that letter of intent
around to investors, and then I

went to, the American Film Market
in Vegas, which was last year.

his company was there.

I went and said hello, and I had a little
one sheet on my project I showed him the

one sheet and he said, you know what,
we'll just sign with you right now.

Let's just do that.

that was in like November of 2024.

So right in the middle of my
fundraising and pre-pro process.

he, offered to sign me.

then I went into production that following
January and now we're delivering.

It's possible to get distribution
before you even make the movie,

but you're gonna have to convince
the distributor that your project's

gonna be worth, the time and money.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Which
you did successfully through your shorts

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
like, which is

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Thank goodness

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: okay.

So delivery week then,
what's the takeaway?

the dust hasn't even settled
yet on delivering the film.

Is there a moment where you step
back and go, okay, let's do it again.

I'm ready to do it again.

are you saying No, 10 films is a bad idea?

How about one.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I heard someone say that every

production you go through is film school.

this was true of my first
feature film in addition to

all the short films I had done.

every time you go through that
process, you realize something.

You realize, oh, this
could be so much better if.

X, Y, Z, right?

in my case, it's hiring the right people.

It's getting the right people on board
to fill certain niches that you no longer

wanna carry on your, on your shoulders.

It's like, oh, let them do
that, that would be great.

what excites me about.

doing my next film is that, you
know, knock on wood, it's gonna be

a slightly higher level, or at least
I'll come into it with my eyes a

little wider open and be able to
address issues before they crop up.

and it'll be an easier process,
at least in terms of that.

Again, it's never easy, but, it could
be easier, to get through emotionally.

you're not Atlas holding up the world
or Sisyphus struggling up the hill with

that boulder, you've got other people
to share that burden and hopefully a lot

of that comes with sharing the vision.

as I get more of these reps under
my belt, my ability to communicate

my vision becomes, more enhanced and
hopefully we'll, Enable me to get,

get more of the right people on board.

So am I excited about
doing nine more films?

Absolutely.

am I excited about potentially regressing
and having to do more of it myself?

not exactly.

I would like to have better
people on board, each time.

I'm excited for the next one.

In fact, I've already got.

a space opera script that
I'm starting right now.

and a couple of my short films I'd love to
develop into longer form projects as well.

So, there's lots of directions I could go.

now it's just a matter of,
making that decision or seeing

where the doors start opening.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Graham, you remind me of this, saying,

if you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Like you highlighted.

I want to Memorize some of it, because
you're not in a big film town, right?

You're not in Atlanta, you're not in la,
you're not in even Salt Lake State, Utah.

You're in this kind of tiny town a couple
hours away from the biggest metropolis

out there in Colorado, and yet without
infrastructure, without a huge community

of filmmakers and everything there.

You still managed to pull this together.

And the thing that stood out
in your summary was like,

well, I, I got good people.

And so I think that's one of my takeaways.

The other is you saw yourself as
the producer until you could hand

off different responsibilities
to other crew people.

A lot of people get hung up,
whether they're writers or actors or

directors, and they're going, okay,
well I've written my script, so why

aren't people calling or picking me?

It's because you are the producer
and you're not producing right

now, you're waiting, you've
really highlighted, the idea that.

If you have a project, if you want a
career, if you want to make a movie,

you can't wait for other people.

you've gotta be the one inviting
people to the table to say, this is

something that has legs and I've got
some energy and momentum behind it.

Do you want to come help?

And then they go, yeah, I'll carry
this part, or I'll push over here, or

I'll make this wheel start spinning.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Yeah, exactly.

and that's actually, from one
of my mentorship programs,

this lady named Elier.

One of her things she says is, you
know, the two things you need to make

a movie, or at least fundamentally
are, you need a producing partner.

somebody to help you in this process.

And you need a date.

a shoot date.

now you have parameters you have a
shoot date, you're working towards that.

And then you have someone
to help you get there.

And like you said, it's who you go with.

And then giving yourself a deadline

I, I, a goal, right?

To get to that point.

that's what I was operating
under this whole time.

I have to make this movie this year.

It has to happen for my career
goals I was, putting the

pressure on myself, really.

No one else was doing it to me.

I did it myself.

But, then I got good people to go
along with me, which made it possible.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: Hmm.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Awesome.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Well that's, yeah, I mean, you've

climbed a mountain, so that's great,
and I can't wait to see the film.

I'm excited that you've done it.

You've gone from concept to completion
and delivery, and, you've done it in a

way that will enable you to do it again.

which is fantastic.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
that is the hope.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: good.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
what's the start date?

What's the date for the next one?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Oh, right.

so if I'm, every two years I gotta
be shooting in 2026, which gives

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
There you go.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
a year and a half.

at most, to really get my ducks in a row.

but, I'm gonna give myself a
little grace if it doesn't happen.

As long as it's, in process or whatever.

but yeah, I'm hoping to do more than that.

director for hire or work on other
people's projects, help them out in their

journey, I'm very open to that I hope
to be heavily involved going forward,

even if it's not on my own projects

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Nice.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Okay, Graham.

we see you at, this year's
Zions Indeed Film Fest.

Will we see Aspen?

Christmas conspiracy

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
I hope so.

if the Moores will take it, then I will
gladly show it there, and, show it to

all my Utah friends I think they'll
appreciate it I love, you know, it's

not having a theatrical distribution,
it's going for a streaming distribution.

So anytime I can actually get it in front
of an audience, that's where it's at.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Yeah.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
you're doing December 3rd in aspirin.

Is that right?

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Correct.

our red carpet premier will be in Aspen,
Colorado at the Wheeler Opera House.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: Nice.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
and it's, gonna be awesome because

99% of the actors will be there
in person and at least 50% of the

crew, some of 'em were from Detroit.

So we'll see if we can get them out here.

But yeah, it'll be a big
party, which will be nice.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150: So cool.

Congrats, man.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
you.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150: are

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
big accomplishment.

that first domino you don't
know what's coming after that.

But if you're setting yourself up, for
The next one, like you're doing it, man.

Congrats.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Thank you very much.

I appreciate you guys and I just
personally thank you for, taking a

question from me It's really great
to have, you guys who have been

around the block and there to, answer
a few questions here and there.

I, I greatly appreciated it.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Of course.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
it's worth what you paid

for it, so, happy to give.

daren-smith_1_07-28-2025_100150:
Wait, you were charging him?

I was doing it for free.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Missed opportunity.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
All right, man.

thank you so much.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Sure.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
to chatting, with you again and,

hopefully at the festival, and
I can't wait to see the film.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Thank you so much.

garrett-batty_1_07-28-2025_100150:
All right.

graham-northrup---northrup-studios_1_07-28-2025_100148:
Take care.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Daren,
what a good, what a fun conversation, man.

It's so fun to see him describe that
process that we've all been through.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Yeah, that was awesome.

And like I said, I've known Graham
since before he had this project

kind of in the queue before he
started writing it and working on

it, so I think that was what, two.

Years ago at the Zions Film
Festival, we had Faith of Angels.

There is, when I met him first, and
he was, that was right before he

started working on this project.

So to be able to know Graham and be
like, he said, one of those people

that he would just text every once in
a while and be like, I got a question

and be able to give some feedback.

I didn't realize that he had
already gotten to this point.

We, we talked in October and he was
like, do you know anyone who wants

to give me money for my project?

I was like, I, I don't know man.

Like that's why we're here.

Talk to the people that are here.

Like, but he pulled it off.

That's so cool.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

Just a couple of things that stood
out was that like this, this kind of

never say no type mentality, I'm gonna
jump in with both feet and do this,

um, ability to, you know, get people
excited again, you know, everything from.

From a distributor, you know, going
to, talking to David Austin over at

BMG maintaining that relationship.

It wasn't just a, Hey, what do you think?

And we'll give you a level of intent
and maybe we'll talk with you again.

I mean, he kind of checked in with them,
saw them at a FM or whatever it was,

and, um, maintained that relationship.

then even his, his cast, he says
they were former students of mine.

about the kind of building
this network, building this

audience, building this team.

uh, and because of that, he
is able to build this film.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah,
I, I feel like texting Michelle right

now, the, because she's the PR arm of
the, the Moores and the Zions film Fest.

But I was actually thinking like.

I bet Zion's Indie Film Fest has
a higher hit rate as far as like

bringing a movie to that festival
and finding a distributor than some

of the major festivals out there.

Like, I, I wouldn't be surprised if
they're hitting 10 or 15 projects that

are getting some sort of distribution
from that festival because they're

are getting some sort of distribution
from that festival because.

Distributors who work with these types
of films and we should put them together.

And they've done a really good
job connecting those two parties

and having a bit of a markedly
strategic about, hey, these are

these types of films and these are

from that festival,
have distribution deals.

You're just like, okay,
well that's kind of crazy.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: I
think that's a good consideration for

when you're looking for festivals.

You know, there's thousands of festivals
out there and everyone's willing to

take your fee to submit your film.

Um, but it might be valuable to start
saying, what, what opportunities are there

for me in this film, aside from perhaps.

Streaming it to a, a, a local
audience of what, wherever

the festival's taking place,

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: um,
but actually meeting with a distributor.

And, uh, yeah.

Zion Indie Fest certainly does that,

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Yeah, pretty amazing.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Uh, Michelle, that's a free

endorsement right there.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
There you go.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Uh,
applications were open Submit today.

I don't know, like, I don't know where
they're at in the process, but it's every,

like February and it's a great festival.

We've gone the last three years.

We've had films there, you know, two, two
festivals ago and three festivals ago.

You've, you and I had, that was like,
our first crossing was probably 12

or 13 years ago in the short back
when it was the LDS Film Festival

and we did the 24 hour film fest.

And it was slight.

So look at where we are now.

Yep.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: No, I,

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: So good.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: yeah.

No, it is

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
it is a great, uh, it's fun to

see it grow into what it is.

Um, okay.

What's new with you?

Well, anything, uh, anything
on the horizon, anything good

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Um,
you know, I, I resonate with what Graham

was saying, whereas like if you, if you
have a date, it helps things move faster

and so I set a date to close the first
2 million of the film fund by the end

of July, which is four days from now.

So you.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
by the time we're listening to this?

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: You
know, by the time this is out, you

should text me and say, did you do it?

And hopefully the answer is yes.

I have a lot of meetings
lined up this week.

Um, a lot of them with people who could
write the kind of checks that I need

for this, this first milestone, because
it feels like, all right, it's been a.

Six months-ish since, yeah, I
guess six months since the official

kickoff in January, end of January.

It's like, that's enough time.

I'm, I'm ready.

Like, can we, can we
move this thing forward?

And so I don't want to be talking
about this six months from now.

Like, yeah, I'm raising a bill fund.

It's like, no, no, no.

Our first two projects are
in development or greenlit.

Or moving into production like we have the
rest of the 10 million raised, like that's

where I wanna be by the end of the year.

So the date idea has helped a ton and
it's actually brought some good momentum

to the table over the last few weeks as
I'm telling people, Hey, I'm closing the

first 2 million by the end of the month.

So.

See how it goes.

I still don't, I still don't know,
but, um, since we spoke last week,

you know, most of the seats of the,
uh, the producer retreat that I'm

putting together have sold out.

Got two left, and so that's
coming together nicely.

It was just kinda this fun side
project to help some people out

and have a fun time together.

So, you know, living the
dream, doing the thing.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Good.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
How about yourself?

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Uh.

We, um, yeah, I'm looking at
different fundraising opportunities.

Um, I really like what Graham said about,
uh, the nonprofit and things like that.

So I've been looking into that
uh, hopefully we'll be able to

make some, make some announcements
here in the next little bit.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: but
in the meantime, continuing to write,

uh, and this, uh, delivering a, a short
film that we shot the, the iPhone short

film, I think I mentioned earlier,

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Yeah, we did a whole episode on that.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
What's that?

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
We did the whole episode on that.

Yeah.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
episode on that shoot?

Yeah, and it's, uh, it's, it holds up like
we're just going through color now and

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Nice.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
mixing and music and it's.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
That's very fun.

Excited to see it.

Yeah.

I, I feel like, uh, we're, we're
strategically or maybe not strategically,

uh, by default dragging along
season two until one of us triggers

the start of season three with an
announcement of, Hey, I got funding.

Let's, let's get into development
and pre-production, and all the

other things that come with that.

But we're, we're gonna save
those for season three.

We're gonna keep pushing hard.

Uh, yeah.

Excited to see some movies.

There's some good stuff out this summer.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Go see F1 if you haven't seen it.

So good.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
That was amazing.

Just what a film like the,

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312: Yeah.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312:
everything about that from a producer

standpoint of, from like $40 million
in sponsorships to like how they rigged

iPhone sensors into the actual cars that
were on the track to get those shots.

Like just bonkers level of, oh,
and it's like a James Bond film.

So we're gonna film in four
continents and all over the world.

So, yeah, that was
probably high, high movie.

That one in Mission Impossible
were probably my two favorite big

movies that I've seen this summer.

But yeah, more to come.

I gotta go see, uh,
fantastic Four this week.

I've heard really good things.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Oh, good.

All right, well, I'll,
uh, I'll see you there.

daren-smith_2_07-28-2025_104312: Sweet.

All right, sounds good, man.

garrett-batty_2_07-28-2025_104312:
Okay, thanks Daren.

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