The Film Industry Will Break Your Heart. So I Opted Out

@lucforsyth I can’t even tell you how wild it was for me watching this video. Slightly different, but I had a very similar experience as you did. Had a production company, started getting into development, ended up getting multiple development deals. Nothing ever transitioned. Really bad timing. The industry is different now. It’s really all about new media/youtube. I’ve been making a career transition because the industry from both the commercial world and the film/tv world is just different now. And a lot of people in film/tv world are moving into commercial and saturating that market. Your story was so relevant and I 100% relate. And I wish you continued success in what direction you go in.

This video hits hard. As a 10+ year experience filmmaker considering quitting the dream, I really appreciate your view and how to rephrase the inner talk. Maybe it's time to start listening again to the kid with the passion and mute the external noise. Thank you for this.

There is an entire strata of filmmaking that those within steady production hubs or unions often look down upon, yet we likely represent the bulk of filmmakers in America. Sounds like you're now joining us Luc.

A few years ago, in my early 30's, I finally attempted to break into union sets to build hours for an IATSE membership, but the reality was discouraging. In my area, NYC IATSE members get priority, then local members who are already in the union, then you (so it was impossible to get any work)... and the system doesn't allow you to pick and choose projects without risking your health insurance. We aren't in the 1970s anymore... you can't just hold out for "auteur" films. Instead, you would have to accept whatever the union offers to get enough hours, whether it's a poorly written TV show or a commercial designed by thoroughly incompetent ad agency "Mad Men" who only have their jobs through nepotism.... where crew positions are so compartmentalized it is hard to learn that many skills.

I fully endorse unions, this is not a critique at all, but they can only do so much against the inherent cruelty of modern productions. Absurdly early call times, grueling days, and tyrannical leadership are systemic byproducts of an ever-consolidating industry that unions cannot fully correct. And unions cant fix that movies and television are objectively terrible these days because the people who decide what gets made and bought are MBA's from upper-class families... usually the fail-son or fail-daughter who couldn't hack it in finance or tech... who have no taste. Who now are more interested in laying people off, finding which countries let you not pay your crew and moving productions there, incorporating more AI, etc., than making good movies or television.

Ultimately, I'd rather save my money doing freelance cinematography and editing gigs, be a vulture and buy the high-end equipment being sold off as the industry struggles, and make my own projects with friends on the weekends. And if I lost all my media work tomorrow, I would still make movies on the weekends, I would return to more dignified work being a bouncer or working at the food co-op to pay the bills... I personally don't respect or hold film-making work in any high regard... it is not curing cancer, it is a fun thing we are privileged if we get to do.... I just don't think I would find much fulfillment waiting around for "The Industry" to validate my purpose.

Makes sense why it seems so hard to get my career going, this point you’re talking about is where I thought all of us started 🤦🏽‍♂️

I’ve always had that “one project that will finally break you in” that keeps getting killed. Had one in 2019 that was killed off in 2020, had another one last year that was killed this year.

Great video.....Thank you...very, very honest..and all to common.

Bro, you're always a Debbie downer. Look. Who controls and runs the industry? Well. What do you expect??

Might be just me but this was one of Luc best videos! Really powerful stuff!

Do you find negative titles help ur engagement?

Why do so many people seek to be in the film industry? Prestige? Fame? Money? Lifestyle? Genuine interest? I'm curious. It seems so brutal and sycophantic.

I like to think my primary goal is to have a digital trophy case of independant films I got made. Finishing and watching = satisfaction to me.

First video I’ve watched of your channel, I believe, and I loved the message. 👏 Definitely been feeling all of this at the current moment we’re in. Cheers!

Appreciate the honesty, Luc. Professional actor with 18+ years in industry here. The last 5 years have been absolutely BRUTAL. I went through that ego wall a while back. Right now, the struggle for me is clinging onto qualifying for union health insurance each year - which gets harder and harder. I’m not doing YouTube but I’ve been perusing my creative outlet on Patreon and - although I’ve only just started and still figuring it out - being independently creative has been one of the best things for my mental health.

I really loved my experience at Hot Docs so much that I got a tattoo of their logo with the per diem they gave me. What a great festival and theater!

The best thing I am experiencing currently after 17 years in the doc world is to let go of my identity as a filmmaker chasing credits. My CV includes working with the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery channel and feature films but who cares! Now I still do those shows but I also love to work with fellow friends making soul nourishing films and telling my own stories, I supplement my income by doing other things I enjoy such as landscaping and carpentry jobs and currently growing my business as a gene keys guide, but again all of this is simply the act of doing and I cant really take credit for it. This in turn also feeds the soul and nourishes long days after shoots and especially after editing. The best thing for our ego is to let go as you mentioned, to realise why we got into this in the first place, to remember that time you got inspired to pick up a camera. To collaborate with fellow artist which is truly a model that outcompetes the competitive mindset and landscape, to support each other, to be a multifaceted being and most importantly to enjoy the process along the way and have a laugh doing it.

I remember, just a few years ago, there were not enough sound stages in the Hollywood area. Industrial warehouses, in Valencia • CA area, were converted to stages. Now there is a glut of facilities for scripted fiction productions. Since Warner Bros. has acquired Paramount, I could see that Melrose at Gower facility being bulldozed since the Warner lot in Burbank is considerably larger. The older original (1951) CBS Televsion City (Beverly at Fairfax) is being bulldozed for multi-use housing with supposedly some modern production facilities. Not sure if the larger 2 newer stages will be bulldozed. I used to work for ABC (pre Disney) and endured the crazy world of broadcasting.

“You have a right to your labour, but not to the fruits of your labour.”

Bhagavad Gita

Stick it on your website, create a payment gateway to view. Put some energy into some promotions. Then you wouldn’t be spending time here wasted by making a poor me video.

It is easy for you to make pivots. For someone who has maybe never had even a fraction of your success, it looks bad and miserable

I don’t know anything but with all the decentralized resources available today, why are you bothering to cow tow to the “pick-me” culture of gate-keepers?

Love this perspective and wisdom! Thanks for sharing Luc!

Ive often heard that if you want to be a "real filmmaker" that you have to work in the industry full time. Considering the sinking ship, im glad i didnt go that route and im making stuff on my own, self made and finding an community of filmmakers that actually have your back.

Ive also heard that if you want to get anywhere you have to move to Hollywood to find opportunities. Of course the demand is much higher than the supply, and much easier to become a household name in cities outside LA when your one of the few filmmakers in the area. Thats what im hoping will happen in Atlanta. I know some people whove left to go to LA after the strikes but the indie scene is really strong here and it just keeps growing. Seeds must be planted, and there must be time to grow.

Sucks that its really tough to do make a career but thats why ive taken up doing work with photoshop and helping market other projects to learn how to find audiences who may want to finance your work. This seems like the best route and the film industry wont be able to stop me from doing that.

It seems like it's a lot of friends of friends , family members , butt kissing and game playing to get a leg up . Worked in film since 2006 . Lucky for us you can make a movie on your phone and wit stuff at home if you want .

I really appreciate this video. I have been following the developments around bigger doc production for a while, working for many years on little shorts and client work. I am in the process of finishing my first feature length film, but seeing how the industry has changed, I am really putting no expectations whatsoever into any deals or festival screenings.

It's a bit liberating, not caring about those results. At the same time, more than ever, I am like... what is it all for?? 

Like you, I am realizing that I have to really care about a project if I am going to do it. It is a lot to produce, write, and direct your own projects... even when I have a team, I feel super alone. I also feel like my body can only handle so many more stressful shoots, long days hauling gear, and endless hours sitting in front of a screen. Even when I am in charge of the projects and try to make them more humane, they are exhausting! So I have been trying to ration out my energy and creativity to the things that deserve it. I am able to compartmentalize the client work and do that to pay the bills, but this video is inspiring me to seriously put in place the building blocks for other interests.

That clear cut poster 👌🏻

Dude I’m super excited for Backrooms. It looks creepy af.

I remember this when I was in high school looking to get into film and it looked bright. I’m in it but barely surviving and had to pick up side sobs.

Dude, you should finish that tree planting doc and throw it up on YouTube. I’ve been looking for legit ones and there arnt really any that I could find. Plus make some money back. Feature docs on YouTube can go big. Cheers!

You got there... I'm so glad to hear you say it. Yes, all the old models are dead. I'm an editor and I make my own features on the side which I will largely just be distributing here on YT... I don't need fame and I don't need oscars. I just need to make what I want to make and get people to see it. I don't need the industry and I don't need the festivals. None of us do. Not anymore. Time to enjoy ourselves, enjoy our work and stop chasing the carrot. We are the carrot. Peace brother.

Best words I have heard in a long time.

Great video. Kudos for putting the info. I like Cranky Cameraman's channel too. You guys don't sugarcoat.

Dude, I saw much of what you mention back when tapeless acquisition came. I don't miss humping those 30-pound Betacams covering Beirut's civil war and the Northern Ireland troubles in the mid 80's. Those Cine-60 NiCad battery belts just added more brutality. I still have a pair of D600WS cameras from my days at Discovery and Nat Geo. Ikegami HL95B too.

Digital made everybody with a camera a photographer and filmmaker in 2002. Mediocrity became the new masterpiece. Now let's add Ai to the mix. The oversaturation created a mile-wide river of shit making it impossible to find a standout production.
I do, however, still have my backup HPX 370 cameras leftover from my days at Discovery and BBC Latinoamerica.

Thank God I never left what became my regular 9-5 federal job for 35-years that I retired from. Since then, I shoot what I want as I'm pretty comfortable with my retirement package. There's no way I'd even think of getting into the business not even 20-years ago.

My best advice is you had better have a decent retirement package at least a decade before you retire.