I have had the honor of being a member of Stage 32 since 2013. To say “It’s rough out there” in 2025 is like saying “the weather is nice” during a tornado. It’s not just rough out there in the entertainment world right now. It’s brutal! It’s a climb out of the pit of Hell’s despair.

Imagine this:

You are living a happy-go-lucky life until your twenties, when all of a sudden, your brother or sister kills himself or herself. Five years later, your best friend also dies by suicide. And then five years later, after the tragic destruction of your family by mental illness, the mother or father of your child(ren) also kills himself or herself.

Now imagine you captured many shocking moments like these on video over thirteen years. Then you use that footage to create a demo reel of your idea for what might make an impactful documentary about catching mental illness “upstream” before things get dangerous. You start networking and become active in your local entertainment community of movers and shakers.

You meet a producer who is well-known for previous hit shows and films. Now you just need a quarter to a half-ish million dollars for the budget! That producer then brings in a 2X Oscar-winning director who wants to make YOUR film. That director brings a Grammy Award-winning composer on board for the film. Then, a well-known actor or actress with a desire to help people with their mental illness creates a deeply powerful narrative performance.

So you hustle. And hustle. And hustle.

You sell handmade candles. You run a Kickstarter. You write letters. You slide into the DMs. Your team has reduced their fees like the champions they are. All for YOUR film’s cause. You do whatever it takes, and you finally get the funding to complete your film. And then it’s done! Your movie has been accepted to major film festivals. Out of over 6,500 films, you win second place and get written up in the LA Times and Variety! You even get some raving reviews from critics while audience members send you testimonial videos telling you how much YOUR film means to them:

“[SPYRAL] serves as an impactful tool for advocacy, highlighting the essential need for awareness and support for mental health issues. It encourages open discussions about mental health, fostering a sense of empathy and urging viewers to seek understanding and help. It is both enlightening and comforting, providing a source of support for viewers who may find their own experiences reflected in the film. I could connect to the movie after being in a relationship where I saw many struggles, the constant battle between being hurt and understanding that it’s not within the other person's control.” -Overly Honest Film Reviews

Then, as your momentum is gaining and you are coordinating a national fundraiser for America’s largest grassroots mental health network, heartbreak strikes as the main actor or actress in your film suddenly passes away. The entertainment world is shocked, and your little independent film is thrust into the spotlight with articles in People Magazine, US Weekly, TMZ, Yahoo, NY Post, MSN, and Internet chatter across the socials.

(Rest In Peace, Michelle Trachtenberg, you beautiful soul. We love you.)

You think to yourself, “This has not all been in vain. Finally, this movie will be seen by a big audience. And maybe we can recoup our expenses, or even… possibly come out ahead. That would be great, then we can make more impactful films.”

You begin to network with distributors to work a deal that will connect audiences with your buzzed-about film so you can finally experience people watching your art and you can make money back by selling it one way or another. Maybe you can even finally eat a proper meal again!

You get into meetings! Big executives! But even after all that, you still hear:

• "Unsure there is an audience for this."
• "Amazing film, but it’s not a fit for our network."
• "Pass."

THAT’s what I mean when I joke by saying “It’s rough out there” in 2025 is like noting it is “nice weather outside” during a tornado. How the hell is any independent filmmaker expected to stay sane through all that hard work and no viable path to financial prosperity in a content-saturated world? And that goes for both organic human films and full AI-made films, going into the future. And SPYRAL is merely one example of an independent film slog. So many of you are fighting for your film’s life as well.

In my opinion, hoping that some network executive loves your film so much they simply hand you a “suitcase of cash” is a dead filmmaker’s dream, unless you already have talent attached with a bazillion social media followers. That’s real power in the attention economy.

So, for your film, I would say in 2025 and beyond, you might consider these three paths:

1) The “Traditional” Way.

Festival circuit = trying to get a distribution deal using the old frameworks that hardly ever recoup expenses for the film. Ask them for open accounting.

Be sure to fight for your P&A rights. In film distribution, "P&A" stands for Prints and Advertising, encompassing the costs incurred by distributors for creating and distributing physical or digital copies of the film (prints) and for promoting it to the public. This is what the distributors charge back to you, like record companies used to do to bands, leading to musicians who were in debt even though they sold a million records.

if you aren’t being offered a fair deal with any kind of minimum guarantee or fair P&A deal, you are better off “going it alone”, I’m afraid.

2) Sign up with Bitmax

They are a hybrid distribution service that you pay a fixed fee to distribute your film while you retain 100% rights and ownership. Worth looking into!

3) Self-Distribute:

Your movie can still be seen on Smart TVs, even if you aren’t on the Netflix roster. If you have hype, people will find a way to see it online. Use modern technology to put your film in touch with audiences across multiple screens (TV, Computer, Phone). This is easy with password-protected video streaming services backed by a promotional campaign and direct access for an online audience to buy or rent the film. And don’t forget local theatres, all while keeping your sanity! (Get some exercise and fresh air too).

So then comes the question: How do you self-fund the release and distribution of a film where you can’t make money selling tickets to protect any future distribution deal you might actually negotiate a bit down the road when you have enough buzz to get their interest? If you “self-release” before then, that will kill your chance for a distributor to get your film past the ‘gatekeepers’ and leverage their relationships with streaming platforms and theatres. It’s a fine line.

In the case of SPYRAL, we teamed up with America’s lowest-priced certified therapy network, which offers individuals unlimited 24/7/365 mental healthcare support for under seventy bucks. Compared to paying per-session fees for professional therapy, that service aligns with SPYRAL’s mission to help people solve their own or their family’s mental health crisis while the film earns a small commission from new enrollees in the program that use the SPYRAL affiliate link to sign up.

This in turn, over time, creates funds as audiences who see the film in private screenings then sign up for mental first-aid assistance and urgent care via telehealth, face-to-face, and phone communications. Audiences can also access psychologists and psychiatrists from a network of over 2,000 licensed clinicians.

So be creative in aligning products, services, and partnerships. Perhaps your film sells amazing new t-shirts, and you design and put up a store on your film’s website. Or you offer exclusive behind-the-scenes extras to influencers and a signed poster of the film. Or you donate a portion of donations to a relevant charity of choice and have them promote your film to their own audience. You get the idea.

The point is you need to be both creative AND resilient to get your film made, and distributed, profitably.

I am in this battle with you, and as a producer who is now reviewing film festival submissions, I also see the amazing quality and quantity of films trying to break through. It’s a lot.

That’s why I am focusing on my own mental health as I continue each day to bring value to audiences with a story meant to help others with their own struggles. If I can help you keep your own sanity in the journey of getting your project made and distributed, I offer this advice:

1) Face-to-Face Networking

Showing up to real-world networking events and meeting people face to face will always dominate any electronic format of communication.

2) Be Genuine

I might be a quirky creative. But you get the real me every time. So when attending any event, I love meeting people and asking them about themselves because I’m so bored with myself. I genuinely love networking but believe it or not I’m shy, so I just overcome that and strike up a conversation anywhere with anyone. People are awesome one-on-one.

3) Remember Names With Faces

It kills me when I forget someone’s name in my mind, especially right after meeting them. I will say their name multiple times in my head when greeting, and if you repeat it back out loud to verify you are saying it right, that’s a memorization technique. Confidently knowing someone’s name is key.

4) Build A Professional Team

I owe my many milestones achieved so far to Jennifer Hutchins. Jen is a powerhouse of a Producer, and instead of asking about what she could do for me, I just got involved with All Entertainment Business (AEB), and started volunteering as an audio/video assistant since I like to geek out on sound boards.

Over time, Jen discovered the story I was working on, and she saw the potential social impacts of such a raw look at each emotional angle when it comes to mental illness over time.

From there, we added Lee Rothenflue, who joined with video editing skills to create a trailer, which, with the trio’s effort,s attracted double 2X Oscar award-winning and three-time Emmy winner Bill Guttentag as Director. But making a film costs money.

5) Bootstrapping

There it is. No trust fund. No money. Just talking about our vision while selling handmade candles, starting from zero.

I’m lucky to have a loving family and friends who kept me from falling deeper into the pits of Hell when my life fell apart in Oregon.

But this project was for me to fund. Via networking, I was able to befriend some early investors with a few thousand dollars, enough to secure some professional upfront needs to build even more of a team.

Producer, editor, director, sound, research, legal, acting talent… now it was real. Then the film finally resonated with an infusion by Executive Producer Jason French, allowing us to begin production.

Of course, Hell is running out of money. Which we did.

We needed to raise an additional $25k or so for finishing costs, so we ran a successful Kickstarter, which is another article itself. Again, find your helpers on your climb. Give them a positive reason to be supportive.

Finally, when actress Michelle Trachtenberg voiced Michelle’s diary and social media posts with a wrap on production, we knew we had made something special and unique.

6) Launch Your Thing

Here is the secret to this article.

You will fail time and time again.

We launched, and frankly, the subject was too controversial, the market timing wasn’t right, the film is amazing, but “just not a fit for us”.

When you have put your entire existence on the line, and you are told “not good enough”… what do you do?

7) Pivot

When your plan goes wrong, that’s you tumbling back down the mountain into the pits of Hell.

Retool. Re-approach. Re-ignite your passion. And again, practice self-care. There are plenty of resources about how to best keep doing that.

And even if it’s not your dream job, apply yourself fully to whatever work you have to pay the bills while you work on climbing out of the pit of despair. Make all work part of your joyous climb upward, and change as needed if something or someone is not helping you climb anymore.

8) Repeat

You will stumble. You will fall. You will fail.

And then you will win. Because you had the fortitude to believe in yourself to keep going while Hollywood and technology is rapidly morphing. Keep climbing, and eventually pump your fists in victory, knowing you completed the mission you needed to before you push yourself further once again in the future.

You’ve got this!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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