5 Tips for your Filmmaking Career

Whether you're an aspiring storyteller in Lethbridge or a budding filmmaker in Vancouver, every creative journey starts somewhere. From discovering your "why" to fostering meaningful connections, there are key steps that can help you succeed as a filmmaker. 

In our recent TELUS STORYHIVE Live Roundtable Discussion: A Filmmaker Dialogue on September 17, we spoke with four STORYHIVE alumni who have been in our Editions program and have since made impressive strides in the industry.

They shared how they transformed their visions into reality and built thriving careers fueled by their passion for storytelling. Here are the 5 key insights they shared.

1. Know your “why?” “Know exactly what your ‘why?’ is. I think for me, it’s when I want to be able to tell somebody about a story that I want to tell. The first thing they ask is, ‘give me that pitch.’ But I think for me, it's always been like, ‘why am I telling these stories? What is my purpose as a filmmaker? What is my role in the wider community as well?’ And you gotta use some humour. I feel like that's what lands with people.” - Ilhan Abdullahi 

2. Come with a clear vision “Come to [your team] knowing that you have done the work, you have done the envisioning and the planning and the imagining. You've you've done the work to know what it is, you have that vision and you know why it's good or why it's special or why it will hit. The first thing is selling them on the vision and with the logline.” - Lawrence Le Lam

3. Tell authentic stories “There's that need for authentic stories to be told. One of my mentors, Doreen Manuel, one of the things that she says is, ‘Nothing about us without us,’ and I think about that a lot, especially for Indigenous people in cinema. For any minority storytellers, [it should be] ‘Nothing about us without us.’ We should be the ones who are creating these stories, who are behind the cameras, in front of the cameras. There are our stories and we need to make sure that we're the ones who are telling them. [Don’t be] afraid to tell your story and make sure that you're taking up space because your stories are important and they need to be told.” - Shaelyn Johnston

4. Find your community and create good relationships “That classic saying about filmmaking, ‘it's a relationship industry,’ and surrounding yourself with creatives and collaborators that you align with—that’s finding your community. I think that's really where trust is built.” - Derek Kwan

5. Apply for funding “I had the privilege to be part of a lot of emerging programs and emerging filmmaking programs, and being part of different cohorts and receiving first-time filmmaking funding or emerging funding, and now it's like ‘what's next?’ What does that look like in terms of pitching trying to get bigger budgets, pitching projects with bigger scope?” - Derek Kwan “Take these opportunities, like what STORYHIVE is offering through the Indigenous Storyteller Edition and through other programs and funding bodies out there. [These funding opportunities are] creating opportunities for Indigenous filmmakers.” - Shaelyn Johnston

Interested in getting your own project funded? Save the dates and get your pitches ready for some exciting opportunities coming up for filmmakers, digital content creators and video podcasters. No video production experience is required! 

To learn more from these incredible filmmakers, you can watch TELUS STORYHIVE Live Roundtable Discussion: A Filmmaker Dialogue on TELUS Optik TV channel 9, Stream+ and the STORYHIVE YouTube channel now.