Follow these 12 tips to increase your chances on becoming a successful filmmaker.

1. Don't worry about getting your films into theaters. A theater release is just a marketing plan for the home entertainment release that’s it, no matter how much money it makes at the box office which most times it’s a loss.
 
  2. Make Movies about stuff you like, love and would do for nothing because you are so passionate about the subject.
 
 3. Be yourself and creatively brilliant. We all have a unique voice that’s what separates us. Use your own voice and ideas. Don’t try and copy someone else's style.
 
 4. Talk about what you know when you decide to write a screenplay. At the core of every story the writer is always writing about himself.
 
 5. Once you have a script, start filming. Use friends, houses, cars and places you have access to. Pay your crew. Get actors to work for free if you can and feed them all. Pay at least one well known or not so well known actor to appear in your film this will help with getting a distribution deal.

 6. Get your film into as many film festivals as possible. Start with the big festivals first then go to the smaller festivals. Make your film premiere important at the right festival.


 7.  Now it’s time to start thinking about which distribution platforms are best suited for your film. (i.e. Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu) or If you want you can go with a traditional distribution deal or theatrical release. An aggregator or sales agent can represent your film to buyers or stores.

 8. Get on social media and drive traffic to your films, websites, press as much as possible. Do it yourself or hire a PR person who can start creating a buzz about you. If your fans are talking about your film on social media you might just be doing something right.

9. A good short film or feature length movie is worth its weight in gold. If enough people like your film someone will tell someone and eventually it reaches the ears of Hollywood producers who are always looking for fresh talent for their film productions.

10. Sometimes overnight success takes years. Be prepared to spend years fining tuning your craft of filmmaking, writing scripts and making the right connection.

11. Forget about becoming rich and famous, that’s just the result of the hard work you are going to put in following the first 10 rules.

12. Wash, rinse, repeat. You aren’t a filmmaker if you aren’t making films therefore follow the golden rule always be filming.