The Film Life Newsletter
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Every week I write about how the work actually gets made. Read what catches your eye, then sign up for the next one.
May 28, 2026
I have spent many thousands of dollars submitting shorts, features, and docs to film festivals over the years. Here is why I have started to believe most of them are a scam, the ones that still matter, and what I would do instead.
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May 20, 2026
I argued the old festival-and-distribution path is dead. So what actually works? A five-question strategy audit, what Sean Baker's run really teaches, and why Tarkovsky's Stalker is the perfect film about wanting things.
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May 6, 2026
When I made my first feature, I spent tens of thousands of dollars on it and I never really got it back. I guess you could say it was a bad idea.
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April 16, 2026
We wrapped The Great Balloon last week and I am glad it's over! I love the thrill of creating but filmmaking is quite stressful...
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April 1, 2026
Watch Now Everyone has a lens they reach for first. For many years it was the 35mm for me, the Zeiss Contax f1.4.
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March 25, 2026
Subscribe on YouTube When I started this project last June I wasn't sure where it would take me. But building this creative and technical audience has been insanely satisfying.
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March 18, 2026
This week we took a look at a photo camera that can do a pretty serviceable job in 2026 for filmmaking. What camera are you using these days?
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March 11, 2026
Tonight. The Music Box Theatre · 7 PM · Doors at 6:30 Get Tickets The Wilted Flower premieres tonight at The Music Box Theatre.
ReadMarch 9, 2026
Buy Tickets This Wednesday at 7 PM. Four new short films from Remsy Atassi, Kevin Veselka, Gibson Almgren, and Liz Johnson.
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March 3, 2026
The Wilted Flower The Music Box Theatre · Chicago · March 11, 2026 Buy Tickets ▶ Get Your Tickets Our attention has become our most valuable asset. There are so many distractions and problems competing for it that it's easy to just default to the path of least resistance.
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February 24, 2026
"Distribution is always the hardest part." It's not when you wrap. It's not when you finish the edit.
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February 12, 2026
Get Tickets RA Imaging Presents The Wilted Flower a short film by Remsy Atassi Some doors lock themselves behind you. Announcing the World Premiere of The Wilted Flower.
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February 6, 2026
"Film is magic." Steven Spielberg A dollar a second. That's what film costs when you're rolling.
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July 22, 2025
Being Great is Bullshit. It's performative and pretentious. Specificity as a practice, the death of the old film industry as an opening for independents, identity vs perspective, building systems over chasing "greatness."
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July 8, 2025
6 rules: Use Kickstarter, crowdfund at the end, pre-sell the finished product, leverage IP, set a reasonable goal, and remember that nobody works harder than you. We raised almost $500K from less than 3,000 backers.
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June 24, 2025
The attention economy is toxic for artists. Protecting your voice, never ignoring the audience, wearing all the hats. We need the circus.
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June 11, 2025
Self-distribution is the only real plan. The festival submission math doesn't work ($3K in fees, 3,000 to 5,000 submissions per festival). Bad Animal was the cautionary tale. The next project raised $500K direct. Distribution isn't the problem. Marketing is.
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May 27, 2025
An honest assessment. Borderline impossible and financially a Really Bad Idea. But Bad Animal opened doors I didn't know existed and led to directing hires I never would have seen otherwise. The playbook: build for a specific audience, self-distribute, and tell the story before and after the film even exists.
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