In the wild jungle that is the film industry, this is the motto that I try to live by: Make your film no matter what.

Two years ago, in 2020, I finished and released my first film, a 20-minute-long romantic comedy titled Titus & Mirabella. Great timing, I know. And I mean this both in a sarcastic and a not sarcastic way. It was great timing because my film was dealing with the topic of germophobia, so I think it resonated with a lot of people, given the fact that we were going through a pandemic. It was also a comedy, and people needed a comedy at that time. Not so great timing though in the sense that all the festivals had moved online, so I only got to see the film screened live once. Despite the weird timing, the film did well at film festivals and is streaming now on Amazon in the UK and the US and on Shorts TV on their TV channels.

Don't give up hope

Now my journey with making this film wasn't an easy or a straight one at all. We shot it in 2016. Simple math will make you realize that I worked on it for four years. Apparently. In reality, I had abandoned it for about two years without touching the material. After we shot it, I did the rough cut, then trimmed it, then trimmed it again until I was left with a 40-minute-long film which I later trimmed again and brought it down to 20 minutes.

I was ready to start working on the sound, but almost every sound designer I contacted told me that I should rerecord the dialogue because the sound was problematic. I had almost given up hope. I abandoned the film for a while and focused on my acting career. On one of the short films that I worked on as an actress, I met a sound designer who agreed to work on my film and who said he thinks my sound was fine, it just needed some work, which then made me realize that all the other sound designers were, in fact, just not invested enough in my project to put in the work and time into it. The sound designer I finally found cleaned the dialogue, did a cool sound design, and polished the sound. He pulled me out of the blockage that I was stuck in.

Everything else ran smoothly afterward, and I finished the film in about eight months. So even if everything seems doomed, try not to lose hope.

Find the money somehow

Everyone says you need money to make a film. In fact, you need people to make a film. You need people and their skills and expertise. But it's true, you do need some money as well. And that's when it's time to get creative and think of ways of making money or getting money in ingenious ways. We had some sponsors who supplied us with food, drinks, coffees, cakes, props, and
even costumes, which was great for the production process. But for post-production I needed money. For a short film though you don't need that much money. Find an investor, or a sponsor, do a side job and save money, or ask for help from family. Do whatever it takes to finish your film. You never know what opportunities it might bring you unless you finish it and release it into the world.

Ignore the naysayers

I've had so many eyebrows raised at my film, my ideas, my vision....you have no idea. Everyone will doubt you. Especially if it's your first film. Sponsors, investors, and producers will be very skeptical when you'll show up at their door asking for money. Unfortunately, this can be especially true if you're a 5-feet and 5 inches tall 26-year-old woman. Team members will look at you sideways on set and whisper amongst themselves and question your decisions. And in a way, it's normal if you're at your first film and have no film school and are young. People have little faith in newcomers. Family and friends will sometimes question your sanity. People you go to for feedback will tear your work to pieces. Take it in, use what you think is useful, and throw everything else out the window. I've even had people tell me to give up on the project arguing that sometimes not all films need to see the light of a screen.

But there will also be people who will believe in your vision, you'll have team members who will support you with all their hearts, you'll have sponsors who will get behind your vision, and you'll have friends who'll encourage you to keep going. Hold on to those people for dear life! They are the ones who will become a part of your tribe and whom you'll work with again and again and again. Because you understand each other and have the same values and sensibilities and artistic universe.

Don't be afraid to be disliked

Being a director or a producer means people will hate you at times. Team members sometimes gang up on their director. That's a well-known fact. And if you're a young woman... God forbid... I've seen it on the sets I've been as an actress, but also as a new director. Judi Dench once said that she hates directing because actors gang up on her.

Listen to everyone, appreciate their feedback, thank them for it, and use what you think is good. Don't be afraid of creative dialogue. But also don't let other people's negativity or different views kill your vision. As a leader, you sometimes might be antipathic and make decisions that others won't like.

I had to end my collaboration with two composers because the music they delivered just wasn't right for my film. It was very hard to do that. It's heartbreaking because you know it will hurt them. No matter how gently you let them down or how much you try to explain that it's not that their music is bad, but it's just not what you're looking for for your project, it's still heartbreaking. Even more so when they agree to lower their fees for your project. You will hurt people, you will let people down. But unfortunately, sometimes there's no other way. And you have to make peace with that.

Don't stress out about things you can't control

Filmmaking to me is like baking a cake. Sometimes you put all the right ingredients in the right order and the cake turns out to be a failure. Other times you improvise and don't respect the recipe, and the cake turns out delicious. You need that touch of magic.

I couldn't get the location that I wanted for my film, but I ended up getting one that was better and that allowed us to shoot longer than I had hoped for. Sometimes the things that you hold on to might not be good for your film. Other things might turn out to be better than the ones you envisioned. Learn to let go of the things you have no control of and embrace whatever chance throws at you.

Pray for luck

Truth is that no matter how hard you work, how good of a team you have, and how big a budget you have, you also need luck. You need luck in mixing those ingredients, you need luck in timing the release of your film, and you need luck in finding the right people, the right locations, the right festival, and the right audience. You just need that extra bit of luck for your film to turn into a film that people will wanna see.

Be sure you make the film for the right reasons

Because making a film takes such a long time and so much work and effort, to me, it is vital that I make films that I viscerally need to make. You have to have the need to tell that story, not just to want to tell it. It has to burst out of you, almost like a birth. You'll then find the power and the strength and a way to make it. Because it won't be a rational decision but a survival instinct and a physical reaction. It will come naturally.

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