Let Me Help You Make Films
My father, John Clarke, is having a very hard time financially, and I am doing all that I can to help him. 100% of the money I make on my Patreon will go towards helping him make ends meet and keep a roof over his head.
You can also support my father directly on his own Patreon account, where he is using his vast gardening knowledge and experience to help others.
For as long as I’ve been making movies truly independently (over 20 feature-length films and counting in the last 15 years) I have done my best to answer any and all filmmaking questions that people reach out to me with. I’ve helped people who were just starting out, as well as people with some experience but who wished to break out of the constant permission-seeking paradigm and start giving themselves the green light for a change. Wherever you are at in your filmmaking journey, I can help YOU make your filmmaking dreams come true and build an entire filmography of your own movies that you own fully and stay owning fully, even in distribution.
I’ve helped people from all walks of life, and all over the world, see filmmaking in a new light and understand their vital place in film history. There has never been a better, easier, or more important time to make your own film. This is the truly independent filmmaking revolution.
I also give practical advice too—what equipment you should get in order to achieve what you specifically want to do (and how best to use it) as well as how to find actors, and locations, etcetera. In short, I give both the WHY and the HOW, making sure people are motivated but also full of the practical know-how necessary in order to achieve their filmmaking goals.
I cover all of the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ in my book, ‘Kill The Lion: A Manifesto and How-To Guide for the Truly Independent Filmmaking Revolution’, and I would encourage anyone interested in making their own movies to get a copy. But, as it is just a book, it can’t help you in the more thorough and specifically-tailored way that most people require—one-on-one help is always ideal.
That is where my Patreon comes in. For $30 per month you get one 30-minute phone call with me each month to discuss anything you want about filmmaking. You can also direct message me filmmaking-related questions on here whenever you want, and I will reply to the messages in the order that I receive them. In short, just because you’ll be making films yourself doesn’t mean you’ll be alone—I will be there to help guide you whenever you need it.
This guidance will save you a lot of time and energy, and help you avert or solve a lot of problems, and it will also likely save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. For instance, often times the best camera for YOU is not the latest and most expensive camera—it’s simply the camera whose positive attributes align specifically with what you’re trying to do, and whose negative attributes you don’t mind. There is no ‘perfect camera’—only cameras that are perfect for a specific project. (This of course also applies to lenses, and audio recorders, and various other equipment.)
Most DIY filmmaking guidance on the internet is not coming from actual filmmakers—just people who like making YouTube videos about how to make movies, but who don’t even make movies (or who made one or two bad ones and then gave up). In truth, help from someone like me is priceless—there is no price tag that can be put on being able to communicate regularly with, quite frankly, one of the most consistent, talented, and knowledgable filmmakers in this space. But, I refuse to offer myself at a premium—$30 per month is an amount that is affordable to pretty much anyone. Either you can afford it yourself by skipping eating out a restaurant once a month, or someone you know who believes in you and wants to help you reach your goals can afford to treat you to a subscription.
If a Patreon like my own had been around when I was just starting making movies, I would have been a subscriber. I had to learn everything myself through a lot of trial and error, and that was a long, hard, and lonely road. But, I’d like to think that I was meant to take that road so that one day others would not have to. Take the easier (but no less admirable) path and subscribe today.
As stated in the beginning, the entire reason I am doing this is to help my father in his time of need. From the bottom of my heart, thank you in advance for joining my Patreon, and I look forward to speaking to you soon.
You can find my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/killthelionfilms
And my dad’s Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/johnclarkegardening