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Film and Family

Kent & Anna Thalman

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We're a married couple of filmmakers, supporting our family of seven through doing work we love, together. It's been a long and difficult journey, and we still have a lot to learn, but for us, it's well-worth the effort. We developed this podcast and the Feature Filmmaker Academy for anyone who wants a career making feature films, especially those balancing that pursuit with the responsibility of parenthood and providing for a family. Tune in as we study success patterns of industry professi ...
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Director of the post-apocalyptic film, Permafrost, Lenni Uitto takes us behind the scenes and shares his experiences making and ultimately self-distributing his first film with Film Hub. Join us as we unravel Lenni's journey from coding to creating post-apocalyptic films. From making camping videos on YouTube to experimenting with After Effects and…
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In this episode we explore why thinking like a hobbyist filmmaker may be the fastest way to eventually transition into a professional career. Learn how starting with passion projects and investing in your hobby can lead to professional growth and financial sustainability. We delve into the concept of building filmmaking assets, illustrating how eve…
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Join the conversation as filmmaker Matthew Taggart pulls back the curtain on the life of an indie filmmaker, from his first leap into directing with "The Counterfeit Kid" to managing the delicate balance of family and film. Matthew's journey offers a relatable peek into the highs and lows of bringing a vision to the big screen, navigating through t…
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Where do I distribute the funds that I have procured for my film? How much will each facet of making a movie cost me so that I know how to lay out the budget? Once you have finished your film, you can receive laurels from festivals; even the small film festivals. These laurels help promote trailers and posters that are used to market your film to t…
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How do you add value to your film? What does that mean? What determines value and why would people pay money to watch what you make? It's impossible to amplify the and sell the value of your film to the world if you don't understand why it matters to your audience on a deep level early on. Tune in to this episode to explore the most intrinsic deep …
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Do you think that you need to give up everything in your life to get your feature film off of the ground? The opposite may actually be true. Sacrificing your lifestyle will only deplete your store of creativity and contacts that can lead to the very connections and resources you need. Keeping your day job can provide a safety net that allows you mo…
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How well do you know your characters? Can you anticipate how a person would act in a variety of situations? In art, if you're drawing a person, you have to understand how bone structure works to be able to draw the figure accurately, but you're not going to actually see the bones necessarily in the finished product. The same is true for character d…
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Thinking that there isn't an interesting enough story in your life worth telling? This episode will help you discover what you can share with the world. In this episode, Kent and Anna discuss how to make a story personal, how to use your resources, and share some of their own personal perspectives on the subject. Free "Make Your Feature Film" Check…
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Which crew members are most essential for your film, and which ones can you do without for your first feature? Who can manage multiple roles without being overwhelmed? If you're creating a film with a low/no budget range, then this podcast episode is for you. Free "Make Your Feature Film" Checklist Schedule my Greenlight Call Free "Make Your Featur…
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An exclusive interview with Adam Bova, professor at Columbus State University and Producer on the Indie Feature, A Place Called Home. We talk about: Balancing film and family How distribution is changing Why passion projects pay Advantages of making a low-budget first film Approaching distribution without a sales agent What Adam wishes he had known…
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Peter Jackson is the 3rd highest grossing film director of all time. He is an absolute legend, but he got his start following the same pattern that all best filmmakers do. He made movies for fun with his friends. They wore all the hats and played all the roles. They DIY-ed their own gear/props/costumes as they went. They broke all the "rules." They…
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This week on the podcast, we break down the exciting new film, "Top Gun 2 - Maverick" by filmmaker Joseph Kosinski. You can watch behind the scenes footage and interviews about the making of the film here. Once a month, as part of our Movie Club series of the podcast, we share a noteworthy film and discuss it in depth. In this episode, we talk abou…
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This week on the podcast, we interview award-winning commercial director and founder of Variable, Jon Bregel. This one is a treat. Jon is humble, personable, and open. I can't wait for you to hear his incredible story and learn about the wellness community he created after struggling with the pressure of explosive success and difficulty in maintain…
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This week on the podcast, we interview Barrett Burgin about the recent theatrical release of his debut feature film, Cryo. Join us as we discuss the process he went through to get this film made and sold while also finishing school, working a day job, and providing for his young family. Barrett shares his biggest takeaways from his experience makin…
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This week on the podcast we discuss some filmmakers who are exceptions to the typical success patterns or career trajectory that we teach. Make Your Feature Film (Free Step-by-Step Guide): www.InvisibleMansion.com/FreeChecklist Free "Make Your Feature Film" Checklist Schedule my Greenlight CallBy Anna Thalman
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We always say you can make a movie in just 10-15 minutes a day. Production is usually the exception to that rule. But not for Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas. They shot their first feature film in intervals of 15 minutes every weekend for 14 weeks. In his own words: "I didn’t raise anything, I had a job and I was receiving regular pay ch…
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This month’s Movie Club podcast highlights the new Batman movie by Matt Reeves. If you haven’t seen the film yet, be warned that this episode is full of spoilers... We take you behind the scenes into the making of the movie, discuss the theme, emotional moments, and our biggest takeaways both personally and as artists. The Movie Club series is desi…
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Creativity is creative problem-solving. You can’t have creativity without problems to solve. Every problem or obstacle you face is keeping your creativity alive and allows you to improve. Your limitations in your career allow you to make something that nobody else can make because nobody else has your specific limitations. In the words of Hans Zimm…
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This week on the podcast, we talk about what it means to produce. A producer makes a film exist. A producer is a creator. This is power allows you to own your own work and be in control of your film career. In this episode, Kent talks about the role he played as producer on our feature film. We have since been asked about producing several other pr…
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A Behind the Scenes episode talking about the test screening phase of our feature film, The Loved and Lost. Testing really is one of the best free ways to improve your work, whether it’s a screenplay, edit, or otherwise. I’m sure these principles apply to all sorts of areas of life too. Listening to others and asking questions can also help us impr…
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We've started a movie club! Every month, we'll release a podcast with ideas and questions you can use to discuss a new (or old) movie with your family or friends. February's pick is a French flick that imagines the origins of the world's first restaurant. Delicious is a treat that lives up to its name. We realized as we recorded this podcast how mu…
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This week on the podcast, we're highlighting director Jared Hess's career and success patterns. As I'm sure you know, his first feature film, Napoleon Dynamite, was a cult classic and huge box office success. It's an excellent case study worth replicating as you develop your own first feature film. Jared Hess attended the same film school as us (BY…
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There's something a little deceiving about the subject line of this email. It insinuates that if you're a filmmaker, you're media literate. But that isn't necessarily true! Media literacy refers to the ability to understand and communicate through media, including film (our primary medium of concern at Film and Family). As obvious as it sounds, it'…
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This year, we've started a new series of podcast episodes highlighting successful filmmakers' beginnings. We'll show you patterns you can follow to create your own successful film career and motivate you with examples and ideas of what that path can look like. We kick off the series by featuring Chloe Zhao, who made her first feature film in 2015. …
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At this time of year, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. What does Jesus Christ have to do with filmmaking? In our experience, a lot! In this episode, we share a loss we experienced 7 years ago and how in the end, the lesson we learned is worth so much more to us now than what we lost. We share how our belief in Christ helped us with our featu…
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This week on the podcast: How to pick good films to watch in a media-saturated world Why what we choose to we watch matters Treating media like a mental diet How consuming garbage can kill your creativity Too much of any one thing isn’t healthy Ideas to add variety to your watch lists Being open-minded and challenging your preferences Following an …
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This week on the podcast, we answer questions from college students about how to prepare for a film career after school. We also share the most valuable lessons we learned in school and those that we had to discover on our own. Check it out. P.S. The Film and Family Academy doors open in just a few more days! Above all, the best way to learn to mak…
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Have you ever been on a stressful film set? These days, who hasn't? In this podcast, we talk about the best way to make your experience on set enjoyable! In this Podcast Episode: The Latin root of the word “prepare” How use of the word has declined over time What is good preparation? Not too much or too little. The benefits of preparation outweigh …
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Making a feature film is a journey. Do you ever feel lost along the way? In this Podcast Episode: Dissatisfaction is linked to an unclear vision of what you want Like a GPS, you need to know where you are now and where you are going The more specific the destination, the better (think an exact address vs. Texas) If you are upset, you are focused on…
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Don't have enough time to make on a feature film? Our friend and client, Sam Featherstone didn't think so either. Listen to our interview with him, and reconsider. In this Podcast Episode: What's even better than quitting your day job An answer to prayer - Sam's experience in the Film and Family Academy The power of an outside perspective to show y…
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What kinds of films do you want to make? Will your story matter to the world? In this Podcast Episode: "What matters most is what lasts longest" - M. Russell Ballard Both the family and films we create live on after we die Funerals, a gathering of posterity, are a testament to this Why some stories and archetypes endure forever Will it pass the tes…
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In this Podcast Episode: An update: we watched the first assembly of the Loved and Lost Developments within the Film and Family program that we are excited to release The flip side of generating motivation to do things is getting rid of desires for things we don't want to do Determining which desires you want to keep or get rid of Focusing on somet…
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In this Podcast Episode: Why we’ve been gone for a few weeks What "Better than Happy" means to us The purpose of life How pursuing happiness thwarts happiness. (Victor Frankl) How processing emotion allows us to not stay stuck When we avoid pain, we also feel less joy Your level of heartbreak is a measure of how much you allowed yourself to love Pa…
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Free Consultation: www.InvisibleMansion.com/filmandfamily The average amount of time it takes to make one feature film (from when it's announced to when it's released) is 2 years, 4 months, and 19 days. That doesn't even include writing the script or prepping/packaging it before it gets financed. Parenthood and feature filmmaking are long-term vent…
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Free Consultation: www.InvisibleMansion.com/filmandfamily In Stephen King's autobiography, On Writing, he describes in detail his struggle with addiction, which nearly cost him his family. King's powerful conclusion is that, "Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around." If we sacrifice too much on the altar of "art making", we d…
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There is no such thing as should. There is no rule book about what everyone should or shouldn't do. When you say "should" you are always judging and limiting yourself or those around you. Looking back, it's not productive to think, "I should have...." because the past is over, and you can't go back and change it. But you can change the way you thin…
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Making a feature film is a massive undertaking, but that doesn't mean you can't do it. We've created a program that breaks the entire process from start to end into digestible steps and stages that you can move through one at a time. In the Film and Family Academy, we guarantee that if you follow every step we teach you, you will have a finished fi…
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Learn More about the Film and Family Program HERE. Did you know that the discomfort of denying dreams is often greater than the discomfort of making them happen? We talk a lot about the discomfort inherent in pursing something hard - about the price of growth and the importance of being willing to fail in order to expand yourself, but there's anoth…
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This podcast is made and sponsored by Invisible Mansion Pictures. Click to join the Film and Family Interest List here: www.InvisibleMansion.com/filmandfamily Some of the hardest jobs are those of a leader or parent. Didn't it look easy when you saw someone else do it? I remember thinking I was good at parenting because I could babysit other people…
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As a child, you were probably told you couldn't do or have things you wanted because you "weren't old enough yet." Did you look forward to all the freedom and privileges the future would unlock when you could finally date, work, drive, or make more decisions? As adults, we believe that we still can't have everything we want. When we feel like we ca…
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Have you ever taken years to make a life-changing decision? Indecision is one of the easiest time wasters out there. In this episode, we talk about how to make better, more efficient decisions in order to increase your success rate and speed up your progress towards achieving your desired results. Subscribe to our Email List Here This podcast is ow…
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