I made this no‑fluff, decision game to gauge if you’re ready to make your next indie. No accounts. No tracking. Just radical honesty and next steps. Check it out. Post your results here.

I want to link my previous work, and music samples somewhere where people can see/hear it and where filmmakers might potentially want to hire me for their projects but all of the subs I’m seeing have rules against promoting yourself. Where do you go to release your work where it’s easy to find, and where I could possibly attract people who may want to collaborate?

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Hey! I'm a filmmaker and I want to start making music videos. If there are any artists looking to add visuals to their music, I'd love to help!

Hey folks, I just launched my first app, SceneIt-AI. Super simple:

• Scene Deep Dive → describe a scene (ex: docking in Interstellar) → get AI breakdowns (symbolism, cinematography, cast, music, BTS, Easter eggs, you can even create memes out of it ! ).
• Scene Detective → describe a scene you half-remember → find the movie + deeper analysis.

Free on iOS — would love your thoughts from a filmmaking/movie enthusiast's perspective! - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sceneit-ai/id6748627258

Keep in mind, this is just an early plot-outline, I haven't put everything I'm gonna include in the film, and I haven't yet fully developed everything in the story. I plan on writing the screenplay in the next year.

Bleeding Across the South

A tale of loyalty, desperation and loss.

Origins

Donovan Larrick, sixteen, lost his father overseas before he could walk. Kit Ketrey, seventeen, lost his mother to a heroin overdose. They work the counter at a failing pawn shop in small-town Georgia, keeping the lights on with side hustles: fake jewelry, skimmed cash, and unregistered pistols.

Donovan spends his nights on Luna’s porch. She's his girlfriend, first love and the center of his world trapped in an abusive home. He is saving every dollar he can to get her out and move out of town with her.

Don and Kit are glued together like brothers. They work dead-end shifts at the pawn shop, scamming where they can, and killing long nights with cigarettes, old kung fu movies, and each other’s company.

Segment I: Easy Money.

One night in the pawn shop’s back office, Kit stumbles on a job post that feels both stupid and serious: $1,000 cash to torch a suburban home. The request is posted under a throwaway handle by a man named Clay Holloway.

Clay’s father, Walter Holloway, had been a local real estate baron—owned half the strip malls in the county. When Walter died, his will divided everything between Clay’s two older sisters and his younger brother. Clay got nothing. “Incompetent, unfit to manage finances,” it reads. Clay fought it in court. The siblings lawyered up. After six months of bitter probate hearings, Clay was slapped with legal fees he couldn’t pay and barred from appealing again. His sisters sold off Walter’s boat and vacation property, cashed in a hefty life insurance policy, and put the suburban house--the family’s original home--on the market.

Donovan leans over Kit’s shoulder, reading every line. “A grand for one night’s work. That’s more than we’ll make in a month here.”

They reach out to the poster, Clay Holloway, and strike a deal: one thousand dollars in cash for burning the house to the ground, and payment after the job is finished, They decide on a date for tomorrow night, around 3-4AM.

3:00 A.M.

The sedan creeps down the street, headlights off. They cut the engine and let it die. The car ticks as it cools, metal settling into silence.

Donovan steps out first. Baggy black cargos stuffed into boots, suspenders hanging over a plain shirt. A rifle slung across his back, heavy. Beretta M9 on his hip, flashlight fixed under the barrel. Military posture in a quiet suburb.

Kit slips out the passenger side, wearing all black.

He looks like the dark itself. He opens the trunk, hauls out the duffel, the zipper rattling like a warning. Gas cans, chemicals, oily rags, a handful of firecrackers.

The house waits at the end of the driveway. Dark. Hollow. For Sale sign tilted in the grass, sun-bleached No Trespassing nailed to the fence. The kind of place that feels emptied of air.

They cut across the ditch, boots crunching leaves. Kit notices the breaker box. It has a pad-lock.

The carport stretches along the cement drive. They notice the sliding glass door that leads into the living room. Locked.

Donovan pulls the Beretta. Clicks the light on. Pops one round. Glass shatters, raining over the concrete in sharp little teeth.

They step inside. Careful steps over broken glass. Flashlights sweeping, guns drawn.

The house smells stale, like carpet and dust. Big mirrors reflect their beams back at them. Wide rooms. Vaulted ceilings. Built in the 80s, still carrying that weird family comfort.

Their flash lights cutting through the darkness.

Kit kneels, drops the duffel. Starts pulling gear. Gas cans. Matches. Firecrackers. He lines them up like tools on a workbench.

Don shines his light down the hallway. Checks each corner. Empty. Just beige walls, carpet, old wallpaper peeling in the dining room. The house has been stripped, but the bones are still here.

Kit twists a gas can open, the fumes spilling out sharp.

They pour, gasoline soaking deep into the carpet, dark stains spreading. Kit shoves firecrackers in the corner, sticks a rag like a fuse.

Don glances at a cracked wall mirror. His flashlight catches his reflection.

The house breathes gasoline.

Kit lights a test fuse. Smoke curls up. His voice is low. “One thousand bucks feels cheap for something this big.”

The fire begins to spread, and Don and Kit run out.

Segment II: The Repo Job.

After torching the house, Don and Kit get tipped off to another job on the forum. This one’s from a man who just lost everything in a bitter divorce. His ex-wife kept the car he loved, a cherry-red ’71 Chevelle, and then bragged about her new boyfriend driving it around town. For $800, He wants it gone. No questions asked.

The boys take him up on his offer.

3:15AM.

The street’s quiet. No cars, no lights on, just the two of them pulling up to the driveway. Don cuts the engine and kills the headlights. The car ticks as it cools.

Kit crouches behind some bushes near the garage. Don is right behind him, rifle on his back, Beretta at his side. They move slow, careful, knowing every sound carries.

The garage has a simple padlock. Kit pulls out a set of picks from his pocket and starts working it. A couple of clicks, some pressure, and the lock pops. He motions Don over. No words. Just a nod.

Inside, the garage smells like oil, dust, and old tires. The ’71 Chevelle sits tight against the shelves, the paint dull in the weak light from a single bulb overhead. Kit moves along the side, checking corners, workbenches, and boxes. Don crouches behind the car, flashlight sweeping rims, tires, windows.

“Keys?” Don asks, voice low.

Kit slides the center console open, grabs a small envelope with the registration, and tucks it into his jacket. “All clear."

They slide the Chevelle out carefully, inch by inch, along the driveway so the engine won’t start inside the garage and wake anyone up. Kit kneels beside the ignition, signaling Don.

“Stay inside. Keep an eye on the house. Any movement, any sound, you signal me.”

Don nods, moves back into the garage and gently opens the door that leads inside. He steps quietly, boots whispering over the wood floors. The house is normal—furniture, TV, books, nothing flashy. No alarms, no surprises.

He notices a slice of bread on the counter. Shrugs. Pops it in the toaster.

Cut to Kit outside, crouched at the wheel, patiently trying the ignition without revving it. Sparks, clicks, nothing.

Cut back to Don, nibbling toast, chewing slow, alert. Silence except for the faint ticking of the toaster and the subtle sound of his boots on the floor.

Curiosity wins. He creeps upstairs on tiptoe, scanning the hallway, hands brushing the railing.

Then a sound. From the bedroom.

A low, unmistakable moan. Female. Followed by rhythmic pounding.

Don freezes, grimaces, disgusted, then carefully retreats down the stairs as quietly as he can. Boots soft on the wood, body tense.

Outside, he meets Kit, who hasn’t moved a muscle.

Kit finally gets the ignition to catch. The engine hums low, no revving, no sudden noise. Don slides behind the wheel, shifting smoothly. Kit rides shotgun, scanning the backroads, eyes sharp.

They take the Chevelle off the driveway, careful not to hit gravel or make a sound, hugging the shadows. The night smells of mud and wet leaves.

Minutes later, they reach a remote swamp, thick with reeds and soft mud, a place nobody would ever think to check. Don guides the car slowly, inch by inch, until the tires sink, then the hubcaps, then the body, swallowing it whole. Water and mud cover the chrome. The Chevelle is gone, lost to the black swamp.

They climb out, boots muddy, chest heaving from adrenaline, but grinning. Don lights a cigarette.

“Clean,” he says.

Kit wipes his hands on his cargos, smirking. “Too easy.”

Segment III: The Warning

The fourth forum job isn’t fire or theft like the last -- it’s intimidation. Denny Rogers, a greasy loan shark who runs his racket out of a billiards hall, posts the job. Randall Corbin owes him a pile, and Denny wants the reminder delivered loud enough that Randall pisses himself but quiet enough the cops don’t get wind.

Don and Kit take it. They track Randall to a neon-soaked nightclub, bass rattling the walls. The crowd is a mess of perfume, sweat, and cheap vodka.

They push through until Kit spots Randall and some random woman slipping into the bathroom. Don pounds on the last stall door.

RANDALL (muffled, grunting): “Occupied, asshole!”

Don slams his boot through the lock. The door flies open, revealing Randall, shirt untucked, pants tangled at his knees, a girl crouched in front of him on the filthy tile. Her lipstick is smeared, her eyes wide. Randall curses, trying to cover himself.

DON (cold, raising the Beretta): “Out of the way, girlie.”

The girl bolts, heels clattering on the tile. Kit plants himself at the bathroom door, pistol low but ready. Don presses the barrel in-between Randall's eyes.

Don intimidates him and tells him the clock is ticking.

After leaving Randall trembling in the bathroom stall, Don and Kit head to the bar inside the club. The bass rattles their chests, neon lights reflecting off spilled drinks. They slide onto bar stools, order beers with their fake IDs, and let themselves relax a little. Kit sips cautiously, scanning the crowd for trouble. Don downs half his beer in one gulp, laughing, shaking his head at the absurdity of what just happened.

Finally, they leave through the main entrance, stepping out into the empty streets. The chilly night air hits them.

Don notices a young, buxom woman being sexually harassed by an older, sleazy man. He steps in gently at first, politely telling the man to back off. When the man pushes and mocks him, Don’s soft-hearted patience snaps -- he beats the guy mercilessly, leaving him bleeding and humiliated. The woman escapes safely, and Kit smirks at Don’s brutal efficiency. The encounter shows Don’s moral code: he’s compassionate but will not tolerate injustice, even on the streets.

Don strolls into the diner late at night, the neon sign flickering outside painting the empty booths in pink and blue. Luna’s behind the counter, effortlessly juggling orders, and he can’t resist tossing her a sarcastic joke. She fires back, sharp and playful, and just like that, the night hums with easy laughter. He lingers, helping her refill coffee, swapping stories with regulars, leaning on the counter, and Don eats a killer omelette, and for a few hours, the weight of their pasts feels a little lighter.

Segment IV: The Contract

Kit spends hours in the pawn shop’s back office, scrolling shady forums. He finds a post by Nico Riggs offering five thousand dollars to kill Vicki Ramirez, Nico Riggs wants his ex-wife dead to collect a life insurance payout and recoup losses from recent divorce settlements and court costs. The post is sloppy, bitter, and chillingly real.

The terms are simple. A small amount of crypto sits in escrow. The rest releases only after proof of death. The client wants Vicki’s phone and a photo of a playing card laid on her body.

Kit is hesitant at first. Donovan sees five thousand dollars and a way to rescue Luna. Vicki had a life insurance policy. Nico believes her death is the only way to recover the money she took in the divorce.

The Plan

They stage it as a burglary. They steal a car, wear gloves, take a .38 revolver for noise control, and a 9mm as backup. Tuesday night is chosen because Vicki usually returns from the salon late.

The plan is to cut power to lights and cameras, take the phone, drop the card, and leave without being seen.

What Goes Wrong

Vicki is not alone. Her boyfriend has two friends over watching a game.

The doorbell camera still works on battery and records their faces in partial profile. A fragment of the stolen car’s plate is captured. A neighbor hears a struggle and calls 911. Patrol cars arrive early.

Inside, the boyfriend rushes Donovan. The .38 misfires on a bad round. Donovan switches to the 9mm. Kit is tackled. A second shot ricochets and kills one of the friends.

Vicki grabs a knife and slashes Donovan’s arm. Kit shoots her. Donovan places the playing card on her body and takes her phone to satisfy the forum’s proof requirements.

They flee but drop a glove in the yard. DNA is left behind. The doorbell camera has recorded everything.

Vicki is dead, but the scene is far from clean. Three additional deaths occur. The news calls it a massacre. The forum freezes the escrow. Nico deletes his account. There is no payout, only a manhunt.

Escape

Traffic cameras and the doorbell footage catch the stolen Civic. Gas-station footage shows Donovan buying gauze and hydrogen peroxide twenty minutes after the murders.

The 9mm casings match ammo Kit recently resold from the pawn shop. Detectives begin canvassing the strip mall. Witnesses recognize Donovan and Kit.

If they stay, they will be caught. They take cash from the pawn shop, ditch the Civic, and hop a freight train heading west.

The Road

They travel through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, changing cars often. They lift wallets at truck stops. They sleep wherever they can, hitchhike, crash nightclubs and bars frequently, steal cars, hop freight trains, and avoid law enforcement at every turn, they first hop a freight town to escape and ditch their car.

Hitchhiking

Donovan and Kit leap from a slow-moving freight train onto a gravel shoulder. Their legs burn, arms are scraped, and hearts hammer.

A beat-up Honda pulls over. Morgan leans out the window. She sees the cuts and fear but does not ask questions. She lets them in.

Inside the car, they whisper jokes and share a smoke, trying to calm down. For a moment, the world feels normal. By dawn, Morgan drops them at a roadside motel. She leaves a map marked with backroads and a small trace of human kindness before disappearing.

Billy

On the streets next to a casino, Billy Tran is running with a duffel bag. He has ripped a rigged dice game and owes dangerous people.

Donovan and Kit corner him, expecting an easy score. Billy offers the car, cash, and himself. By midnight, the three of them are driving down empty streets, reckless but feeling free.

Town-to-Town

By the time they reach Lafayette, fear and tension weigh heavily on them. They juggle fake IDs, crowded clubs, and the constant fear of recognition.

“What is Love” blares on a club speaker, a cruel reminder of the carefree life they no longer have. A stripper’s keys provide the next getaway. News updates flash on phones and TVs: four dead in Georgia, two juveniles wanted, police warn they are armed and dangerous.

Who is on Their Trail

Eldrick Birch, a private investigator hired by Vicki’s sister, tracks the boys through eyewitness reports, gas-station surveillance, and pawn shop records. He shadows their movements quietly, piecing together their trail from what people say and what they leave behind.

Loris Delmar, a bounty hunter, is after Billy for skipping bond on the casino scam. Loris does not care about the murders, only bringing Billy in.

Local and state police coordinate once the doorbell footage circulates. The manhunt intensifies. The case is no longer a whodunit. It is a dragnet.

Themes

The story explores love, loyalty, and loss. It shows teens forced into crime by circumstance and desperation. Consequences are immediate, brutal, and often unfair.

West Coast based and am in prep for my next short film that’s fiscally sponsored — currently raising funds the next two months. It’s my second short and is being made on the heels of my first wrapping up its festival run later this year. We had a pretty decent tier two run. Did not play Sundance South by or tiff quite yet but we did screen at highly competitive curated festivals relevant to the targeted audiences our film resonates with most.

I am considering hiring a casting director because we released roles to breakdowns earlier this year and although we were able to cast most of our leads, there were three roles out of eight where we didn’t feel they fit the qualities we were looking for. Also, we are hoping for a name talent in one or two of the roles as well, if possible. There’s a casting director who auditioned me and brought me back for a network series that I had a previous working relationship before my move west l and am considering reaching back out.

Any tips on how to approach this conversation? Haven’t hired a CD before. Thanks!

hi everyone, I don't know that anyone will reply or not, but I want to be director, I am 18, I am in India so it's hard to get believe of parents and friends specially when I am in 12 boards, in India 12th exam is very hard, and that's why I am confused to what to do?

I have a podcast where I interview indie horror filmmakers once a month. If you made a feature film, would you be interested in coming on and talking about it? You could get the much coveted October slot!

Requirements:

1) must be a feature film. No shorts, sorry! They don't support a full length interview well enough

2) must be available for me to watch. If it's already released on Tubi or shudder or somewhere, great! If not, you'll have to send me a screener

3) I have to like it. I only interview people about movies I like.

Past guests include Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Fred Vogel (August Underground), Len Kabasinski (Skull Forest), and many more!

Hey there! I’m starting pre-production on my passion short film and need advice about color matching my Sony FX30 to my DJI Mini 4 Pro and Osmo 4.

What’s the best way to do this inside Davinci Resolve? Hopefully without the use of expensive plugins.

Also if it’s easier, would it be better to invest in a car mount for the Sony or play it safe and use the Osmo for car shots?

Thank you

Namaste, Everyone,

We want support from passionate patrons as we are making our first short film in 2025 followed by 2 feature films in 2026 & 2027. If you feel you can be a part of passion projects please watch the video and use the link to join our community... Thanks

Reel:https://www.instagram.com/reel/DORNFGqjFAt/?igsh=MXZyc3Y2cW91MnlxaQ==

WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/CVtQunjUUQsKTDWaqxTWZP?mode=ems_copy_c

I have a digital camera 2012 even tho not the best still decided to use it I'm alone how should I go about making a short film what apps would I need I don't even know the basic

Anyone here have experience filming in the woods? I wrote a script set entirely on a hunting trip, thinking it would be really cheap. Now I'm struggling to find a good location. From everything I can find online, filming on public land seems like it's mostly only suitable for bigger budgets (although I'm willing to admit I might be wrong and could've most definitely overlooked something) with the permits required. Most private land I can find online doesn't look right or isn't big enough, and the ones that are big enough would double the budget. Anyone else been in a similar predicament?

Edit: thank you everyone. I’ve gotten lots of great advice here and I have my work cut out for me. I appreciate it all!

skate film produced by me ! based out of sacramento CA everything was shot from early january up until late august let me know what y’all think !

https://youtu.be/9WfXx7bIHdQ?si=yhQOOdnRtcVETMKG

Hello, I help manage pop/emo/rock artist in the U.S. He has 25k monthly listeners on Spotify, we’re looking to start getting his music into films or any sort of related project. If you’re in need of music for the genres I described let me know I’d love to chat and hear your thoughts!

It's a variety of music and sound effects that can be useful.

Hey all,

I am a college graduate and currently working on a short film to advertise my speciality in my program.
I'm in a flight college and my speciality is bush flying, so we operate on lakes. I film from our crashboat, using a 70-200 which is most of the time used between 150 and 200mm, on a Canon 7D Mark II.

My issue is that all my videos are shaky, and in general pretty badly-framed. In general, it's either the waves on the lake, the movement of the boat, the wind or my incapacity to keep up with the planes' speed that doesn't help.

I was wondering if anyone had tips for improved stability? IS is always enabled on Mode 2, and there is no in-body stabilization on the 7D2. I am kinda loosing it looking at the footage, as winter is coming and so floats season is coming to an end, and I'd like to get new footage at the lake in time for the film. I mostly shoot sports/fast (?) photography so this was less of an issue for me preivously.

I don't have budget nor space on the boat (it's an Airsolid 22 I believe, and we're always a couple of people on the deck so not a lot of space is available) for those big fancy video rigs, that I don't think even work with a setup like mine.

I've attached an exemple of a static aircraft video, and a rolling shot for exemples.

Thanks!

Static plane video

Rolling shot

Just finished a wacky advertisement. Would love to hear your feedback

Ps: I’m the guy in the broccoli costume and all of the actors are my friends

I'm making a show for YouTube (3d or 2d of mix idk) and I...uh...DONT HAVE A PLOT. ANYWAY, NEED IDEASSSS. I want a TADC style wacky animation show with humanoid animals. also, if any of yall are wiling to do character design for free, then TYSM (I need to start a fund before paying anyone). It's going to be a teen/adult animated series.

I just finished my first short film, and honestly… while I was shooting it, I was a ball of anxiety and dread. I kind of hated the whole process. But I pushed through, sent it out to some festivals, and it actually got into one I’m really happy about. One I’m excited and surprised by.

Now: I’ve written a new idea and I can’t stop thinking about making it. I want to film it, even though I remember loathing the experience of the last one.

Is this just how filmmaking works? Or am I secretly a masochist?

Hey everyone, hope you all doing well. my first short films title announcement trailer is here. it will be releasing this month, and i can’t wait for you guys to watch it. It’s all shot on an iphone and during our trip to Malaysia this summer. stay tuned for more updates on the release!

My short film Just a Girl has been released on Omeleto. I hope you all enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na3PAsBGOH8&ab_channel=Omeleto

Pricing aside (Vimeo's pricing hikes are ridiculous), what is the most beneficial platform for sharing a short film?
If I want to spread this film across the internet and share on my socials etc.

I've been told that being a Vimeo Video of the Week is a great honor, but that's nowhere near a guarantee. I know YouTube is the largest and easiest to use platform, but there's something missing from the aesthetic of it.

What's the consensus here?

I’m a filmmaker and just submitted a short to Alter. I don’t expect it to be accepted — but does anyone know how long it takes them to respond to submissions? I’m just hoping I’m not waiting for six months.

How to find other filmmakers to colab with to make a short film with? Are there any good sites to find someone to colab with in my area? Thanks.