There’s a difference between doing the work for the sake of the work and doing the work because it comes from a place of inspiration.
The easiest comparison is when you look at the business through the lens of a distributor.
High volume distributors tend to look at film as products that are moved on a shelf (virtual or physical shelf space, same thing). Film is a product. It has inventory requirements. It has to be re-stocked (maybe not so much anymore – but you get the point) —
— Units need to be moved. That’s the nature of distribution.
Bigger films move more units than smaller films. But equally, whether big or small, a film is a unit of inventory.
Somewhat disheartening… right? Well, maybe, maybe not. Depends what the value of inspiration is worth to you in the film making process.
As a filmmaker, you shouldn’t concern yourself with these “trivial matters”. Concern yourself with being inspired to tell a story. Because without that inspiration, then you are just moving units.
Let that be the job of the distributor. Not the job of the filmmaker.
And a quick note to all ya’ll who would think this a slant on distributors. It’s not. Not at all in fact. Because thats their job. You want your distributor to move as many units you can. And at some point in the process you should think like a distributor.
Inspiration is the catalyst and not the back-seat driver.
Other posts you may like:
Find Ways to Make Cheap Mistakes
How to Value Your Movie
Understand what the “Porous Web” Means to You