Year-End Reflections and Future Goals for Indie Filmmakers
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
625 movies that played in at
least one theater in 2024.
That's a lot of movies.
That makes me so happy to see that
there are movies coming out every week.
That's more than, I mean, that's
almost a dozen a week on average.
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.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Garrett, happy holidays!
How the heck are you, man?
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Hey, good, Darren.
Good to see you.
Merry Christmas to you and happy holidays.
And on.
Cause here we go.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
I know, it's nuts.
It's December.
I thought it was just November.
It's moving too fast.
I'm not ready for the year to be over
and for the holidays, but here we are.
Can't do anything about it.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
It keeps getting away from us.
This month is going fast and I still
have some Christmas shopping to do.
So we might have to make
this episode really short.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Okay.
Yeah, you got to go get to Target
or something before they open.
Man.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
it's good to see you.
It's good.
I'm excited about this episode.
I'm excited to chat.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah, man.
This has been one of the
highlights of this year.
We started this in June, I think.
And really just have been going
strong for week after week after
week, and now we're I don't know.
We're in the second season.
We're probably across 30 episodes.
Like, we've got hundreds of
people, maybe thousands at this
point, who have listened to us.
I haven't looked at the data in a while.
But I know that it's impacting
the people we want it to
impact, which are filmmakers.
And so I get messages every, you
know, a couple times a week at this
point of people sending me an email or
commenting on a LinkedIn post saying,
Man, your podcast is amazing, by the way.
Or it's been really helpful, by the way.
I got one yesterday from
a friend who I worked on a
project with over 10 years ago.
And I haven't talked to him very
much since, but he's like, dude,
I just had to say your podcast
has been amazing this year.
I've been developing some projects
and I've been really just going
through every episode and then
applying it to what I'm working on.
And I'm like, that's the best thing ever.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah, it, it is.
And I'm so glad to hear that.
It's fun to, you know,
again, six months ago.
We weren't talking about doing a podcast.
I mean, it just kind of came up out of
us needing to well, wanting to, I guess,
share the experience and promote the
release of our, our films this year.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
it has, it has become, I've been so
grateful for our listeners, those that
reach out and, you know, this last
week I was on the call with somebody
that had, you know, heard the podcast.
And then on Thursday, I'm going
to go present at a school.
And it's all a result of just trying to
share the experience and, and be on this
journey with other independent filmmakers.
I'm so grateful for it.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
Well, with, with that spirit in
mind, I think today we're talking
about kind of a recap of 2024.
This will be our last episode this year.
We're going to take the, the
Christmas New Year's week off.
And we'll be back, you know, first
week of January for everybody.
But you know, it's, it's a good time
to reflect and really to think about
what's, what are we going into 2025?
Where's our mindset at?
What are our goals?
What projects are we working on?
Those things.
So it's a nice, like little recap episode.
I think we kick things off with
like celebrating a lot of awesome
things that happened this year.
So where, where do you want to start?
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041: Well
maybe, I mean, should we look at some box
office highlights just for independent
film and faith film and I've enjoyed.
Talking about box office with you
each week and kind of breaking down
the numbers and the data and saying,
Hey, what's the way for an independent
film to release in theaters and, and,
know, break into the top 10 or, or at
least what, what should the goals be?
But there have been some great box office
highlights, great independent film.
Representation in the domestic box office.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
And just to reinforce how much we love
this stuff, like we were supposed to
start recording 35 minutes ago and we've.
The first 30 minutes looking at the data
and going, well, this isn't going in
the podcast, but this is interesting.
What about this link?
And so we just love this stuff.
It's in our DNA, apparently.
But yeah, one of the, the
numbers that stuck out to me.
Was that there were, there were at
least as far as we can count on the
internet, 625 movies that played
in at least one theater in 2024.
That's a lot of movies.
That makes me so happy to see that
there are movies coming out every week.
That's more than, I mean, that's
almost a dozen a week on average.
And some of them came on one screen
for a weekend and others played
on 4, 400 screens for two weeks.
Three months or whatever it is.
But I love that.
I love that there's that many
movies coming out every year.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
It's it's exciting.
It's also, you just have to accept
that there's no way you can watch
everything or be aware of everything,
or keep, keep up with everything.
it, it definitely creates lots
of little like kind of silo
niche audiences as you say.
Boy, I can always find
something I want to watch.
You know, and so that's a good thing.
It presents its challenges saying,
Oh, well, as an independent film, how
do we get more screens and put more
movies out there that are already 625.
And, and, you know, if you were to reset.
The box office every single weekend,
you know, that that's enough to
basically have films each weekend.
is a highlight that there are that many
films, including, you know, some of
our listeners and some of our films.
They were in the box office
this weekend or this this year.
That's awesome.
we've talked a lot about faith based
film just because of the nature of the
films that we've released this past year.
so I think a highlight is, you know,
in, in the box office there were some
great faith based movies, everything
from unsung hero to escape from
Germany, Cabrini, ordinary angels,
the chosen season four is out there.
And then certainly.
Can't forget to mention The
Carpenter and Faith of Angels.
These are all just, you know,
some wonderful highlights.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah,
it was a good year for Indies and I
think a good year for faith based film.
There, it got a lot of attention.
We saw because we were
paying attention to it.
Right.
So a lot of outlets writing about
this resurgence or this not really
dominance, but this awareness of
faith based films, there's a lot
that's happening in the world.
And it was really cool to see how many
films came out and how many crossed,
you know, 10 million, 20 million,
even 30 million in the box office.
You know, you're talking about 1, 2, 3
million people seeing a movie in theaters.
That's really exciting.
I mean, that's, that's an, an
audience that you can tap into.
If you're a faith based, right, you
can say, well, look, we know that there
are at least 3 million people out there
that went and saw this other movie.
And so how do we reach them?
How do we, how do we do that?
It's exciting that the market
for a certain genre is expanding.
So that's all, that all shows me
like good things in the future.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
as an independent filmmaker, I get
very excited because the data is
there, like it is available to us and.
There really isn't a case to be made
for, these movies don't go to theaters
or whatever, whatever the thing is.
And so you, you certainly have to be
wise and build your budget and your
story around you know, what they can
do, what they're doing in theaters.
But to say they don't go in
theaters is, is really not,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Well, thinking about distribution,
here's another highlight or
thing we wanted to highlight is.
We've got some Indies in the
top 10 distributors for 2024.
So, you know, you've got your big four
or five, your Universal, Walt Disney,
Warner Brothers, Sony, Paramount.
They're your top five almost every year.
And then you've got number six and seven
are 20th Century Studios and Amazon.
Then you kind of get into these mini
majors and really Amazon's a mini major.
So you have Amazon MGM and then Lionsgate.
And then you've got these two
like newer distributors that
are in the top 10, A24 and Neon.
They both had really good years.
A24, they both released 17 movies.
A24 did 193 million in the
box office, representing 2.
4 percent market share.
Neon's just under them at 133 million.
Like these are two fairly new,
like within the last maybe five
years distributors, and they're
releasing more than one film a month.
And crossing, you know, not
one, two, three, four, six,
nine figures in box office.
That's amazing.
And I, I think too, we need to also
highlight that, like, you've got
some indies right on the tail there.
You've got Angel Studios in the
14th place and Cineverse in 13th
place, Fathom Events in 12th place.
Like this is, there's, it's expanding.
What's possible in the marketplace.
There's more buyers.
There's more distributors.
There's more people that are making
up like that 1 percent or so of
the mark of the market share.
And if you can get 1 percent
of market share, I mean, that
represents like a hundred million
dollars, so that's not bad.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah.
Right.
That 1.
6 percent on focus features, when you
were pointing out this data earlier,
you know, before we got on to me as an
independent filmmaker, I look at this
and say, you know, I don't, you know,
there's, there's no reason I couldn't
reach out to Lionsgate or A24 or Neon.
They put each one of them, each one of
those distributors put 17 movies into
theaters last year, released 17 movies.
You got Focus and Fathom right
on their tails with 13 and 15.
then skip down, even number 14 is
Angel Studios put six in theaters.
Their goal this year is to do 12.
They're doing one a month.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Oh, wow.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041: And
so all of the, you know, here's a list
of distributors, smaller distributors.
You've got IFC movie roadside attractions,
each with you know, over 10, there's 15,
are movies that the, they are releasing
into theaters and, and making money on it.
And so it, it, it says a lot for maybe,
Hey, we don't need to do this on our own.
Yes.
Independent film have theatrical
distribution and here are.
a handful of companies that,
that look for independent film.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, we can put the link in the in
the show notes, but here's a link of 119
distributors that put at least one movie
in theaters, there's 89 of them that
made at least six figures in theaters.
There's 61 that made at
least a million in theaters.
And there's, I mean, let's keep going.
There's 28 that did 10 million plus
in theaters and there are 11 that did
over a hundred million in theaters.
So yeah, I think we always talk
about mindset in this show.
And every time I hear people talk about
like how it's not possible, it's like,
but look at all the opportunity there is.
Yeah.
It might be hard.
Yeah.
You, maybe you don't have the
leverage yet to get in with focus
features or angel studios or
bleaker street, IFC films, whatever.
But you can work toward that.
Like if you know, that's the goal and you
know, IFC films is doing 20 movies a year.
That's doable, right?
You just have to think about
what kind of movies does IFC
films acquire or distribute.
And how do I become better than the other?
Like, how do I become one of
the top 20 on their list of
potential movies to distribute?
Yeah, I'm making it sound really
easy, but it is, it's simple.
It may not be easy, but it's simple.
Like it's, It's supply and demand.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
a pathway.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
There's a pathway.
It's not impossible.
So to me, it's exciting.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
the other thing that's exciting is
that I look at this list and you
say, look, there are a number, you
know, in these top 60 distributors.
And again, the list is 119 distributors.
This is on the dash numbers dot com.
There are a number of Distributors that
have just one or two films in theaters.
And I think I look at that and I say,
well, these are independent filmmakers
or these are independent filmmakers
have partnered with an independent
distributor that said, look, let's try
this showbiz direct released Reagan.
That's three guys that got
together and said, Hey, we're done.
You know having other people
distribute our movies.
We are now going to use our experience
our industry knowledge And distribute
this film into theaters So they raised
money and put it into theaters and
it did almost 30 million dollars.
You've got susan tuckett media,
who she used to work with Purdy
before Purdy had new ownership.
And so a filmmaker reached
out to Susan Tuckett.
We interviewed both Susan
and TC on, on the podcast.
And We see Susan Tuckett with a film.
She's actually done two this year,
again, like even as an independent
film, if if I go to one of these
bleaker streets or IFC or whatever,
I can't get in there at this point.
There's an opportunity to say,
working, who can help me get a theater
in the, get a movie in the theaters
and you can do this independently,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
I love it.
I love it a lot.
And I've just counted.
There's like 57 of the
119 released one movie.
And so that's half, half the distributors.
So that's the other route too of like, is
there room for 120 distributors next year?
Yeah.
Like you could release your own film.
Right.
You can use there's platforms out there
that give you the access and give you
the tracking and give you the contacts
and those things that you can pay for.
And you can start making calls to theaters
and Hey, if you get your movie in five
theaters in your city or your state,
and you do a little platform release
and you do it yourself, guess what?
You just released your movies in theaters.
You had a theatrical
release and that's great.
I think I'm just processing in real
time, but one of the highlights from
this year, As well, is that we really
understand this at a much deeper level
than at least that I did, you know,
six months ago, I had never, I had
a movie hit theaters for a weekend.
Amy's movie, what comes around
was bought by IFC and did like a
weekend release in New York and LA.
And we did a screening in, in Salt Lake
for the casting crew and stuff here.
So it made like five grand in theaters.
I didn't really count that
as a theatrical release.
I should.
It's a theatrical release, but I didn't
know how all this worked in like, as
a producer, having the understanding
and the clarity and the experience
that I have now putting two movies
out, that's, that's such a huge.
Benefit and a huge win from this year.
So a thank you and be yay.
And we've shared it all with everybody.
So now you can have
similar experience from us.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
You know, and yeah, I'll, I'll
pay you back and ride those,
ride that conversation as well.
The, that it has been a highlight is going
through this experience again, six months
ago when we first started talking about
that, we hadn't even decided to release.
into theaters.
S our heads together and de and first,
first we deci I guess that wasn't even
our decision, that was the decision of
the, of the executive producers, but we
got on board with that and supported that.
And then Faith of Angels, it all worked
out that we could release that and that
has been a highlight of the year and
to have two movies in theaters at the
same time tore the country you know,
going from coast to coast different
screenings and premieres and events.
And just meeting so many wonderful
people and, and fans of the films
and supporters of what we're doing
has been just a dream come true.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
I want to tack onto that too.
Like we had quite the
year with faith of angels.
We started in February with
our opening night premiere
at the Zions Indie Film Fest.
We ended that week winning
two awards, three awards.
I forget how many we got some
awards, which was amazing.
We released it in theaters,
played on over 400 screens.
If you count them all, not necessarily
at the same weekend, but over 400 screens
showed our movie and it's the number
one rated faith based movie on IMDb.
And it's then took all the 15 or 20 faith
based films and you were the number.
For one.
And so we objectively made a
good movie that people like, that
people went to the theaters to see.
Like, what more could you ask for
as a producer, as a writer director?
I mean, yeah, if we had a million people
see it, that would have been awesome.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
sure.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Some
things are out of your control, right?
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Well, you bring up a very good point.
That is a highlight for me this year
is recognizing the, that I don't have.
I don't have the ability, and I
don't have to worry about things
that are not in my control.
so that, this is more of
a philosophical highlight.
But, that, that, this process of releasing
Faith of Angels and The Carpenter,
has really helped me to be able to see
that and say, look, what can I do as a
filmmaker, as an independent filmmaker?
are my limits?
What can I do?
And, What, what don't
I have to worry about?
And, those things that are out of
my control have been, it's been so
nice to sort of release those and
say, Oh, I don't, I can't control
who now a ticket or yeah, certain
things are who's going to show up.
And so.
It's been nice to, been a highlight
to sort of let go of those things
that I can't control and not make, not
make those a stress point in my life.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: So
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
philosophical there.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
no, I love it.
I love it.
I'm going to get back to, you
know, the, the, the details here
and some of the tangible things,
but one, one of my big takeaways.
And from being in the data every week
with you on the podcast is seeing like.
The power of an audience.
You've got Cineverse and
Angel Studios right there in
number 13 and 14 distributors.
And I think more than anyone
else, I don't, I think maybe a
24 does some of this stuff too,
but I haven't seen as much of it.
I know the big studios, don't this do
this stuff, but building an audience
and owning your channels, your ability
to reach that audience for free, right?
You've got Angel Studios.
They have something like 400, 000 members
of their guild, which are paying members
like paid subscribers to watch the, the
stuff on streaming, but also be able to
like vote on the movies that get made
if hundreds of thousands of people.
And I, I, my best guess is that
their email list is in the tens of
millions of people that they can reach.
And you look at each 1 of their movies,
they can basically guarantee that a
million people are going to show up.
To go see the movie in theaters,
which is amazing but then
Cineverse did the same thing.
They came out with one movie this year.
They did terrifier three, but you
look at the power of an audience.
This is the third movie in a franchise.
And the reason that they greenlit it.
And the reason that it did so well is
because they had demand that they could
measure from an audience of people.
And they own a lot of channels.
They own a couple of websites.
They own some blogs, they
own distribution things.
They own streaming things like
the dude that we need to have
Chris McGurk on the podcast.
We were trying to in season one
and he went, he went and escaped to
Germany, I think during the election.
And so we need to have him back on.
Not back on.
We need to get them back to the States
so we can have them on our show and
talk about this stuff because they
were able to reach millions of people.
They had 5 million people go
see that movie in theaters.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
tickets sold.
Yeah.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
So, and probably more cause you got
the discount Tuesdays and stuff.
So it's probably five and a half million
people that went and, Oh, it says
right there, 5 million tickets sold.
Amazing.
Right.
So good on them for doing it.
My gosh, like it's just so
fun to see the power of.
An audience and you know, angel
started this stuff years ago.
It's not like last year where they
started this and same with Cineverse.
They're talking, we're talking
five and 10 years ago that they've
been building these things.
We started building audience this year.
So what's it going to look like in two
and three and five and 10 years from now?
I'm excited for the power of the audience.
We're building through the show through
three coin through what I'm doing.
Like, it's very exciting.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Darren.
I, I shared kind of a personal thing
with you know, just kind of this
realization and I think it's fine
to share some personal highlights.
You, you've been, I know you've
been working on a side hustle.
I don't want to call it a side hustle
because it's your main gig with the
amount of time you're working on that.
Do you want to bring, do you want
to share a highlight about that?
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: I do.
I, I, it's been such
an interesting process.
A year and a half ago, I
S I set up a film fund.
I went online and I found a
website that could do the fund
management and I set it up.
I didn't have any investors yet.
I didn't even have the projects yet.
I was just like, this is my next move.
I got to, I got to
produce faith of angels.
This was right around the
time we were talking about.
Green Lighting Faith of Angels.
It was like May of 2023.
And I think we went into
pre production in June.
So it was right at the same
time we were doing that.
And I was like, great, I have a
fund, but I can't touch this for at
least six months because we have this
movie that we're going to go produce.
And then kind of got distracted
the first part of this year.
And then the summer and fall was kind of
around the releasing of these two movies.
And so I haven't.
Spent as much time raising
a fund as I would have liked
over the last year and a half.
But I think I also needed the experience
and the kind of resume of releasing
these two movies in theaters with you.
And so that the last, you know, two
months or so has really been me hitting
the pavement, knocking on doors, meetings
every single day, going to events, Hosting
events connecting with people that see
the vision of, Hey, let's make some good
movies that your family can watch together
that you don't have to turn it off when
the kids walk in the room, that films that
change people for good, you know, films
like faith of angels, they don't have to
be faith based films, but I've been really
excited about how it's come together.
I've been stress testing
it for a year and a half.
And so now that it's actually
getting FaceTime with investors,
it's been very exciting to see.
I'll, I'll celebrate the fact that we
had our first money in this last week.
So we've got three investors that
have already committed to the fund and
momentum is positive and we're going
into 2025 strong and the goal is to do
three movies a year through the fund.
So I'm lining up the next
10 with producer fund one.
And then in a few years, I'll do
producer fun two and then fun three.
And so that's the way that I want
to produce movies from now on.
I'm excited.
I, I definitely have one of
the projects earmarked for you.
One of the very first ones.
So like, I I'm so excited
because it's like the next.
Evolution or the next level of producing.
It feels like a model that I'm excited
to talk about on the show, because I
think going forward, producers being able
to be paid as a fund manager is a much
better structure for everyone involved
than just going out and raising money.
One after one, after one, after
one, because what if it doesn't
come together in six months?
Then you're six months without
income, and then you're not serving
the projects that you were already.
Working on.
Right.
So I don't want to take too much
time on this, but yes, that's
also a highlight of the year.
It's come together so well,
it's coming together still.
And man, I'm just excited to
start greenlighting movies
and producing them this way.
I think it's going to be a fun model
that I'm really excited to share with
everybody that listens to the show.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah.
Well, congratulations on that.
I know, you, you talked about
that back when we were filming
The Carpenter two years ago,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041: in
South Africa about wanting to raise a fund
for a, for a, you know, a slate of films.
Rather than just do these one offs and
I've been, know, I've done eight films
raising money for eight films it, I've,
the, the concept of a slate has often come
up with different people and early on.
I would get very, very excited about
that and had four of my films in a slate.
and yet they, the inability
of people to, to do that
certainly kind of deflated that.
The momentum but watching you say
you're going to do it, research
it, figure it out and do it.
I mean, you're in the,
you're in the throes of it.
And it, I'm convinced if anybody
can do this on an independent level,
you're the one that can do it.
So,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Man.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
one of my goals for 2025 is to.
Produce and direct a movie under
your slate under your fund.
And I'm, I'm counting on that.
So that'll be, it'll be, it'll be fun.
So
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Well,
that's high praise coming from you.
So thank you.
It's, it's very exciting.
I was looking the other day, I
forget what I was searching my
email for, but I found an email
that I sent to an investor in 2021.
That was kind of like the very
first time I thought about this
of like, and it was right after I
had done the first movie with Amy.
And I saw all the inefficiencies
of the way that films are financed
and developed and produced and then
distributed because they didn't
have a distribution plan either.
They were just going to go to festivals
and I was like, man, what if you
just wrapped it all into 1 thing?
And I remember sending it
off to an investor and going,
what do you think about this?
And she never responded.
How rude is that?
But Hey, here I am now.
It's.
Took three and a half years, but
finally the funds coming together.
And yeah, I, I I don't know that
it could have happened faster.
Somebody asked me like, what, you know,
why did it take a year and a half?
I was like, well, I wasn't really
working on it for a year and a
half until the last two months.
That's when it's, I finally had time
to give it my full time attention.
And yeah, when you do that,
things start moving forward
every day, which is exciting.
Mm
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah, well, I am excited for you.
We went to a gathering last week
of the 50, 50 anniversary, 50 year
anniversary for the Utah film commission,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: hmm.
Those
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
up because it was amazing again,
to, to see you in that networking
environment and realize how much.
Of independent film is still
a relationship business.
And, you know, we, we see old friends
and see new friends and people that
we've worked with and people that
we look forward to working with.
But we're all kind of
gathered together to, to.
In this space, in this
community that we're building.
And they talked about 50 years of,
of highlights in, in Utah film.
And it was neat to see that some of
the people that we had interviewed
were some of the most on this podcast
were mentioned as kind of some of the
most prolific, you know, people that
in this area in, in Utah, you know,
it was a big shout out to Brian Brough
from candlelight media that has the
what have his lengthiest filmography
in,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: entries,
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
what's, what's that
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
most entries on his IMDb page.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
entries on his IMDb page.
TC Christensen was mentioned.
And it's been fun to be able
to this year on this podcast
talk with those individuals.
And, and Ryan little was mentioned.
He was our DP for faith of angels.
And it was, it was neat to be
able to be in that community.
That's a, that was a highlight for me.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah, it's very cool.
So, Garrett, looking forward to next year,
you kind of mentioned, you know, we both
have The, the shared goal of getting a
movie done together through the fund.
But what else is kind of, what's your,
what are you looking forward to next year?
What are you maybe trying to do
more or less of next year as we're
reflecting on the year that we just had?
How do you want to take that into 2025?
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Great.
A great question.
And I've been pondering and thinking
about this for a little bit, you know,
as, as I do in December, I do like,
I am kind of a goal setter and I like
to, you know, Try to come up with
things, you know, and, and there are,
sometimes they're always the same goals.
Like, oh, I want to read more
books or I want to do this.
Specifically 2025 I'm, I'm looking forward
to going to NRB for the first time ever.
Is that what was, is that what it is?
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
You know, I've heard about it.
People have asked me if I am
going to this essentially faith
based convention for faith based
communicators and, and, media artists.
I, I'm describing it
like I know what it is.
I don't other than.
I'm going to it and I'm going to find
out what it is and, and hopefully build.
So I guess the goal is to build
relationships and strengthen and
broaden relationships in that space
that can lead to opportunities
for feature films to be made.
So that's, that's a goal I have this year.
Certainly another goal I have is to
direct a film for an individual like
under a work for hire, agreement.
One that I didn't raise the money for and
I know that that might feel a little like
a step back or counter, but I'd love to be
able to just focus creatively on what, you
know, what a, what a director for hire is.
Does
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah,
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
so so those are two you know, i've got
some personal finance goals and things
like that But relevant to this podcast
those are two goals that I think that I
can't wait to talk about On this podcast
we will the third goal i'll continue
to support in my role as the as the
a board member of Zion's independent
film festival, we just announced, they
just announced their lineup for, 2025,
which is just an incredible lineup.
And I've been asked to be participate
in that festival this year.
And so I'm very much looking
forward to that as well.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
that's awesome.
Very fun.
I'm excited for you because, you know,
you mentioned it may sound like a step
back, but I honestly think it's the,
it's going to accelerate your path
as a writer director by not having
the extra weight and burden and time
of having to do all the producing.
And the executive producing, right,
you could still be a producer on a
movie without necessarily having to
have the responsibility of it all,
which is, as we know, takes months
and months and months of time.
You didn't direct a movie this year
because you were in the throes of
releasing two movies this year and
you can't do both at the same time.
So like, that's insane to think of.
Yeah.
And so if you free yourself up, it's
kind of that like 80, 20 rule, right?
Like if you let go of the 80 percent
of stuff, that's not directing and you
gave a hundred percent of your focus
to that 20%, what does that look like?
Holy cow.
Right.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
very exciting.
And yeah, I'm, I'm excited for you too.
For me, definitely what I
mentioned, the fund, right.
It's getting the first amount.
Like committed and called, like, call the
capital so I can green light the 1st, 3
projects, put them into development, and
get at least 2 of them made next year.
I think 3 next year is going to be a
heavy lift because I do want, like, 6
months of development on every project.
And to try to do two in the second
half of the year, that would be a
lot, a lot of work, but we'll see.
And then raise the full amount is
you know, my secondary goal there.
So that's kind of like it for
me, like granted, those goals
have lots of sub goals, right?
I got to find and, and train and
mentor new producers for each movie.
I've got to put.
You know, start assembling the
team that will become the in house
team that is, you know, the mini
version, a mini studio is what we're
essentially building with all that.
But this is year one of a 10 year plan.
Right.
So it's just the first steps.
But yeah, lots of goal setting,
lots of stuff going in.
My, my kind of personal focus this
year was one was around transformation.
And so what that looked like was
I needed to transform or become an
executive producer, not a producer.
And I didn't really know what
that looked like or what it meant.
And going through these two projects
with you, it's like, Oh, okay.
I starting to see now what that executive
producer role really looks like.
And I kind of had to let go of the
idea of being the producer or the
produced by producer on all these
movies, because then I can't be
a fund manager at the same time.
Those are two full time jobs.
Like I can't be on set every day
for 12, 16 hours and manage a fund.
Those two things don't go together.
So I got to step up.
One level up and be more of the CEO
of the company and the fund manager
and the executive producer and mentor
others that are coming up and that
want to become producers and do it
the way that we talk about doing.
And that's really exciting.
So that transformation is
going to continue into 2025.
And I'm really excited
to start doing that work.
I'm talking a lot about it now.
I'm doing the prep work of it now,
but like actually doing it next
year is going to be a ton of fun.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Darren.
Well, again, I, I love hearing your
goals and again, have no doubt that you
have the ability to accomplish them.
Based on what you've done in 2024.
It's been amazing.
it's been a fun partnership.
What about this podcast?
You know, I've been thinking,
what do we want to, where do we
want to go with this new year?
And I think one of the things that I'd
like to do is invite more independent
filmmakers, perhaps who we don't know, we
haven't met to come and participate, to
share a little bit about their journey,
share about their film, whatever it is,
you know, create awareness for a film.
But more about the journey
of an independent filmmaker.
I have conversations weekly with
other filmmakers independent that are
trying, that are asking questions.
How do I get to fill in the
blank as far as what their next
thing that they're working on is.
I'd love to have those
conversations on this podcast.
I think that there's a lot of
value in just sharing this common
experience of what it means to
produce an independent film.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
That's exciting.
I, I definitely want to
reach more people with this.
I feel like we're creating a little
micro MBA with film, you know,
it's our own little no film school.
And so.
You know, how do we get students?
How do we get younger filmmakers
in their twenties and thirties?
How do we get more people in the
indie film industry paying attention,
sharing, using this as a resource?
I think that comes with the more that we
do it, but having a little more focused
effort around the marketing of the show,
because granted, we were releasing movies.
And so our show kind of just
became a thing that came out
every week without much fanfare.
And so.
What does that look like if we actually
were able to reach a thousand and 10, 000
and who knows, maybe there's an episode
that hits a hundred thousand next year,
because it is so remarkable that people
are actually telling others about it.
That's what I really am hoping for.
Plus it's going to build your audience,
which is the original goal behind the
scenes of this podcast was like, we
need to build up three coin productions
and the audience that you have.
And this is a great vehicle to do that.
So.
I think that as well, I love the
idea of bringing on more filmmakers
and I get those same questions too
of like, well, how do you do it and
replace it with whatever aspect that
we've talked about on this show?
Right?
And it's like, well,
here's my answer for that.
I recorded a podcast.
I wrote a blog about it.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Yeah,
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: but
I think there's still too many that
think that there's a single way and
they just have to crack through.
And it's like, no, no, no, no, no.
The, if anything, if you ever
meet resistance, that means you're
probably not going the right way.
Like every step forward for me has
been a path that has been easy to walk.
Let me spend a minute on this.
Cause I don't want it to
seem weird or like or fake.
Right.
So like, If I'm it felt for years,
like the 12 years it took me to make
my first movie, it felt like I was
physically punching a cement wall
with my own bare hands for 12 years.
And by the end of that point,
my my knuckles were raw.
You could see the bone.
It was gruesome, right?
And it felt just like I had zero.
energy left to even lift an arm to try
and make another swing at that thing.
And then you look up at the wall
and there's like not even a dent.
I haven't, I hadn't gotten anywhere.
And it felt like someone grabbed
me by the shoulders and stood me
up and walked me back four steps.
And with that extra perspective,
I could see that that cement
wall was only three feet wide.
And all I had to was
take a step to the right.
And start walking forward and that's kind
of how it felt like as soon as I started
looking for where the leverage is and
where the opportunity is, where are the
people that are already looking for what
I'm doing and are interested in investing
in it or interested in being a part of it?
How do I make the path easier so
that it just kind of shows up?
Those are the activities that I spent
time on, You calling me to produce The
Carpenter, and then you asking me to do
Faith of Angels, and then people saying,
hey, I hear you're doing something
cool in film, tell me about it, right?
I have people, because I'm doing the
simple steps of posting about it online,
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
yeah, for sure.
Yeah, very, very good.
Darren, it's been, it's been a good
episode and it's been a good year
and I'm so looking forward to 2025.
So thank you for being a part of this.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041: Yeah,
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Anything else that we
need to cover on this?
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
I don't think so.
Everybody take, take a week off.
Everybody just you know, enjoy the
holidays, put some goals down on paper.
And hit it hard, you know, like hit
2025 hard, go after your goals and
your dreams and make them happen.
And hopefully we're a resource.
You can email us anytime
and send us questions.
Like we'd love answering
questions on the show.
So send them on, let us be your, you
know, your quasi mentors in this process.
As we go through it together,
we're all on the same journey.
Let's let's help each other out, man.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Thank you.
Yeah, I agree.
And share, please, to our
listeners, share this with others.
Who might be interested in this
independent film journey and
see some movies this break.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
See some movies.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
All right.
We'll talk to
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Thanks, man.
squadcaster-gdh8_2_12-17-2024_110041:
in two weeks.
daren-smith_2_12-17-2024_110041:
Good to see you.
Take care.
Thank you for listening to this
episode of Truly Independent.
To join us on the journey, and ask
us questions about today's episode.
Head over to 3coinpro.
com slash podcast.
And put in your name and an email address.
If you're a fan of the show, please
leave us a review on your favorite
podcast app and be sure to share this.
Thanks for listening.
And we'll see you next week.
Our intro and outro music is
election time by Kjartan Abel.
