I’ve been attempting to put this little habit into practice recently: Cheerleading. Not literal cheerleading, a la “Bring It On” or for a sports team. I’m incredibly uncoordinated so that would be terrible. My way of cheerleading has been to make a point of being very vocal about work that should be seen in my field. Fun fact – Did you know that people are twice as likely to leave a bad review than a good review? Yeah, ok, this is just according to “studies” that I read about on the internet. But after doing some observation of everyday life,…
Author: Sophie Webb
Sophie Webb
Sophie Webb is a filmmaker and performer from Sydney, Australia. She is passionate about microbudget filmmaking for its ability to open up the medium to a more diverse range of artists and storytellers. She now lives in LA and has directed several short films, music videos and most recently a microbudget feature. She is a proud member of Women In Film Los Angeles and her ultimate goal is to be a part of changing the way women and minorities are portrayed in mainstream media. Her all time favorite film directed by a woman is “Fish Tank” by Andrea Arnold.
The moment you start producing your own content, you automatically become the boss of your own “company”. Unfortunately, being a boss means that sometimes you need to make tough decisions and have tricky conversations. For me personally, having these tricky conversations about everything ranging from money to creative differences, has been one of the hardest things about being a producer and content creator. I never had ambitions of becoming the boss or CEO of a company, but once I started producing work I soon realized that this was part of my new job, whether I liked it or not. I…
Back home in Australia I have a wonderful friend named Sarah. Sarah and I grew up in neighboring small towns outside of Sydney and we made each other laugh a lot. Sarah was (and still is) one of those girls who always seemed to have her shit together. I could go on about how great she is for the entire length of this blog post, but I’ll cut to the chase and just let you know what’s important – Sarah is an awesome person. So, as you can imagine, the fact that I’ve missed every important moment in her life…
Most of us who work freelance in the arts have experienced dry spells, where there seems to be no work available. Then, suddenly, all the opportunities come at once. When this happens to me I try to say “Yes!” to as many as possible and then somewhere along the way, I realize I may be in over my head. I don’t know about you, but these tend to be the times that I let my health fall by the wayside. When I’m super busy I tell myself, there’s no time to exercise, definitely no time to cook, and much less…
There’s a piece of advice that I often hear from friends and colleagues in the filmmaking community; “If you’re a director, you must NEVER edit your own footage!” When I’ve questioned them about the logic behind this statement, they usually say something like, “You can’t be objective about what you shot” or “You’re married to the work. You need fresh eyes on it.” I do agree with some of this, but for the most part I think that learning to edit my own footage has played the most pivotal role in helping me to grow as a director. Here’s why:…
I’ve met many creatives over the years who have tried to tackle their careers with an ‘all or nothing’ approach. Mantras such as; “This year, I’ll go for broke!” are not uncommon among struggling artists, aspiring toward fame and fortune in their field. I’ve been guilty of thinking this way myself sometimes, but after seeing many artists become broke and desperate after stubbornly sticking with this philosophy, only to abandon their art completely once they are unable to make ends meet, I’ve come to realize this is never a good way to live. The reality is, that being able to…
There is so much disappointing information in the media about the lack of opportunity for female directors in Hollywood. It seems like every week another infograph or pie chart is released that shows the same depressing numbers. Female directors are drastically underrepresented in Hollywood. This is part of the reason why I try to go out of my way to support the work of female filmmakers. If there’s a film playing at the cinema directed by a woman, I’m much more likely to get off my butt, go buy a ticket and see it in the theater rather than wait…
I work freelance and consider myself a business, so I enjoy reading about successful entrepreneurs. I buy their memoirs, read articles about them, listen to their podcasts and interviews – I love stories about hard work paying off, because it motivates me to work hard myself. One common theme I began to notice is that many of these people who excel in their field swear by having a morning routine. For many of them, this routine includes; meditation, exercise, coffee (or some kind of weird juice) before they start their daily business tasks. I contemplated my own morning routine. Did…
I’ve always been jealous of creative duos. Especially those who are also related; The Duplass Brothers, The Coen Brothers, The Dardenne Brothers. It must be an amazing thing to have a collaborator who you trust completely and who understands you on a creative AND personal level. I only have one sister and she has zero interest in pursuing a career in the arts (smart move, sis!). And since I haven’t been lucky enough to find my creative soulmate outside my own family unit, I’ve often felt lost when it comes to seeking feedback on my creative work. A few months…
Crowdfunding can seem like a great way for struggling filmmakers to get their projects made. But the reality is, most crowdfunding campaigns fail. Go onto the Indiegogo or Kickstarter websites and scroll through the hundreds of closed campaigns. You’ll see the harsh reality – that most of them do not hit their target. In fact, most don’t even make it half way. I know from experience how disappointing it can be to have a crowdfunding campaign fail. I ran one myself to fund my first feature film. I started with such high hopes, read all the articles about how to…
Last year I directed my very first micro budget feature film from a screenplay I co-wrote. For one important role I needed to cast an older male actor in his late 50’s, early 60’s. I was worried that it would be very hard to find a good actor that age who would be willing to work for an unknown first time feature director with a tiny budget and an even tinier physical stature. I’m a five-foot tall and ninety-eight pound woman. I often buy my clothes from the kid’s section of department stores – partly because they fit and partly…
Are you one of those people who never gets jealous of others success and genuinely feels nothing but love and admiration for your peers when their careers suddenly skyrocket, even if yours remains stagnant? Then, congratulations! YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SOUL! But this blog post is not for you. So keep walkin’. The entertainment industry is a crazy business where things can seemingly change overnight. The girl you wait tables with may quit all of a sudden because she just got her big break as a staff writer on a TV show, leaving you to cover her section at the…