I believe that filmmaking is a genuinely collaborative art. Of course, as independent filmmakers, we can and often wear many hats to get our projects off the ground. Over the years, most likely than not, you have picked up a range of hands-on skills and tonnes of practical knowledge, which surely would allow you to make a whole film single-handedly if backed to the wall. However, in my opinion, this is not the point of filmmaking. Filmmaking is a collaborative art and each team member brings something unique, one of a kind, to the table helping to take the project towards the direction, which the director or creator wants. All those people from all those different departments have a wealth of knowledge that allows the director to make an amazingly unique film or show. That is, generally, one of the things I love about filmmaking the most. It is the possibility to get many people with a variety of skills involved in one project, working towards the same vision, and making it a reality. Filmmaking …

I believe that to be working independently in the creative field one needs to be highly organised, especially when you have a part-time or sometimes even a full-time job that isn’t related to your artistic career but allows you to pay your bills. If you aren’t organised, time can easily slip through your fingers and this bastard never stops, you cannot recoup what you have lost. That is the only commodity we cannot buy back, no matter how much money we have. I noticed that after a few weeks of repeating certain activities every day, those activities become easier to do and become a part of the daily, weekly or monthly routine. For years I was devoted to only making daily lists. However, recently I decided to change my approach and to divide my planning into daily, weekly, fortnightly, as well as yearly tasks. You know, operational, tactical, and strategic approach. The activities/tasks I want to accomplish in a year I write down on post-it notes. One task per note. I pick up one of …

1. The most common way of finding a sales agent is at film festivals. Film festivals screenings and premieres have been used to attract both: sales agents and distributors for years. 2. If you are not doing the film festival circle with your film, writing to sales agents and introducing your project is a good idea. Having substantial online following won’t hurt you while negotiating with the sales agent. In fact, it can be a big asset in your portfolio and the negotiating power towards you and your project. Of course, before you approach any agent, don’t forget to research their agency. Be sure the sales agent you are planning to contact, represent films in your genre. Otherwise, you are wasting everyone’s time and look quite unprofessional. 3. Asking around other filmmakers or your colleagues for recommendations is always a good idea to start; a personal connection can only help you build the initial rapport. 4. Before you sign a deal with a sales agent, make sure you fully understand what you are signing. If …

Sales agent’s in the film and TV industry main important task is to help you sell your project to distributors, TV networks, airlines, hotel chains, and any other outlets that screen films and shows. The sales agent is the middle man between the production and the people exhibiting the content and usually can get to places a filmmaker cannot get to or knows decision makers the filmmaker doesn’t know. You certainly don’t need a sales agent if you are taking the creative distribution path. With creative distribution, you can upload your film/content to all/any of the VOD platforms yourself without having someone charge you money for doing that. Sales agents usually take their films catalogues to various film markets around the world, where buyers gather and try to sell your film either in bulk (with other similar films), or as an independent product (depending on how strong your film performed at the festival circus, or whether you have any celebrities attached to your film). The sales agent is not going to help you promote your …