The total number of COVID-19 cases is rising by the day. Lockdowns have been placed all across the world to contain the spread of the virus. It seems this could become the new normal for some time.
Coronavirus has halted the productivity of all major industries and the film industry is no exception. Shoots for both independent and major Hollywood feature films, which rely more and more on travel and a global network of workers, have been indefinitely put on hold.
In such an environment, how do you, as a filmmaker, best spend your time in isolation? Filmmaking is such an inherently collaborative process that it seems impossible to imagine being able to be productive in these times.
But, this is not necessarily true! Many parts of the filmmaking process are typically done in isolation. This time is how you choose to make it! Here are our 5 tips to screenwriters to stay productive during this lockdown:
- Screenwriting: Every great film starts with a script and luckily, you can start writing your script in isolation! Use the time to your advantage. Finish that script, watch Youtube videos from your favorite creators for inspiration, and write every single day! Check out 750 Words for inspiration on writing each morning.
- Order DIY filmmaking equipment: If Robert Rodriguez’s book Rebel Without a Crew teaches us anything, it is that a film can be made for any budget! We live in an era where film equipment has never been more affordable. The rise of social media video allows the short subject format to thrive on platforms from YouTube to Vimeo and now Instagram and Tik Tok. If a DSLR is out of your reach, your smartphone can most likely film in 4K at 30 fps, all you need now is a tripod to stabilize the image! If Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro is out of your budget range, Davinci Resolve is free. Film shorts at home or your apartment building.
- Take online courses: Whether you feel you want to be a better director, marketer, screenwriter or video editor, schools and MOOCs are now focusing their resources on their online offerings and offering steep discounts. The opportunities to learn online in this digital era are endless.
- Remote work: The risk involved with in-person work will inevitably create a boom in freelance and remote work. Sites like Entertainment Careers and Mandy are rife with opportunities worth considering, and sites such as Fiverr and Upwork can help you hone in on your filmmaking skills. Even Mogul is looking for talented filmmakers to help us create short form video!
- Pitch and promote your creative work online to platforms like Mogul! If you are scriptwriter, storyboarder or making DIY films, now is a perfect time to create pitches, concept work to share on social media, short concept trailers on YouTube and use your disposable income to create digital campaigns for your work with the intention of pitching them to investors and potential fans. Hollywood may still source their ideas internally but the world outside of it uses the Internet to find the next big thing. Self-isolation and quarantine mean that your first big investor is more likely to stumble across your work online rather than merely relying on her or his in-person network to field new ideas for films, which is how many tend to operate under normal circumstances.
- Let Mogul help you with this! Mogul is specifically built to help make Hollywood more accessible to anyone — anywhere in the world.
The attention economy has been shifting towards the digital world over the past decade and such a shift will only be accelerated by COVID-19. For the entrepreneurial and artistically-inclined, this could be a big opportunity to master our time and producitivty and learn the ins and outs of promoting one’s works in the online world to catch a big break for when the pandemic gets contained.
Let Mogul help you.
I am Mogul. We are Mogul.
