How to Make Money as a Filmmaker When You're Stuck at Home

The pandemic has decimated some industries, with the film industry in particular feeling the economic effects.

Movie theaters have been boarded up, and about 70% of those are forecasted to close permanently or declare bankruptcy by spring 2021. These closures make it especially hard for filmmakers to maintain their income stream and find ways to pursue their passion.

So it’s lucky that the industry is made up of creative minds, as the “new normal” has definitely put new demands on the way content is consumed. As Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum and legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog discussed in a recent podcast, the future of filmmaking may rely heavily on online streaming.

While there’s no way to know how the industry will fare post-pandemic, there are things you can consider to help you make some money doing what you love at home:

Explore new genres

Quarantine left filmmakers without their crews and sets, but they remain undeterred when it comes to producing films. In fact, a number of music videos and films were shot while the cast and crew were quarantined in their own homes, and have been released recently.
This unique arrangement has even inspired some directors to explore new themes like self-isolation and deeper introspection.

This is the perfect time for you to be experimenting and discovering new genres and filmmaking styles, as all the rules of filmmaking have just been wiped out. And don’t be limited by the physical space you’re in, because the internet allows you to move beyond the walls of your house.

Remember that you can always communicate online with other filmmakers and actors, and you can collaborate with them on how and what to shoot on their own for your next film.

Become a consultant

Other filmmakers are always in need of expert advice and looking for consultants.

Additionally, there are businesses and individuals who can benefit from the ancillary, or secondary skills you have picked up as a filmmaker. This might be anything from video production to marketing, to branding, website building, photography, or other useful skills.

Being a consultant opens you up to a wide array of options as it can cover areas both directly related to film and other topics.

And with your skills honed by years of experience and relatively little startup costs, you can easily start a consulting business. This is a lucrative path to consider in the industry, especially now that there may be several challenges posed to film production—and being the owner of your own small business gives you unlimited earning potential.

However, this also means that you’re solely responsible for making your consultancy business succeed. Like any other business, you’ll have to choose a unique name, entity type, file the necessary paperwork, and register it with your state.

Use your established network to market your business and help you land clients.

Become a niche storyteller

Figures show that about a third of all internet activity is spent watching videos, which isn’t surprising given the volume of videos published on a daily basis.

An army of vloggers, influencers, and producers have hopped onto the video bandwagon. It’s especially appealing because promoting products or partnering with brands to create video content could make you anywhere between $30,000 to $100,000 per year.

However, the market can get extremely saturated pretty quickly. This is why narrowing down your content so that you reach a smaller, albeit dedicated and passionate, niche audience is so important.

You’ll find that you can go without a sizable, noncommittal viewership when you have a small group of highly-engaged audience members interested in seeing the highly specialized content you create as a niche storyteller. 

Once you’ve built a solid group of what’s called ‘true fans’, and have a good relationship with this audience, they’ll be self-motivated to support your content due to the affinity they have with your brand of storytelling.

Being stuck at home shouldn’t stop you from doing what you love. There are still a number of ways you can earn from and improve your skills at the same time.

Something you can always use from home and is often free is to utilize the great number of educational resources online for filmmakers.

This is a collaborative article by writer Harry Minton.