The Winter issue of Filmmaker Mag is on newsstands now. If you’re interested in checking out the newest Culture Hacker column it’s now live on the Filmmaker site. In the current column I spend some time with a number entrepreneurs who are bootstrapping some interesting startups.

It has been said that amazing things come out of difficult times. The recession of the late ’70s saw the birth of Apple and Microsoft. One can only wonder what innovation is going on today in garages, studio apartments and basements across the country.

I’ve often found it surprising that filmmakers spend years developing a film only to watch it die soon after it reaches the world. I’m sick of hearing the terms “creative,” “artist,” or even the phrase “I just want to make films,” as if uttering the expression excuses the lack of interest in the business aspect of our craft.

At the end of the day filmmakers are entrepreneurs. Independent filmmaking is very similar to bootstrapping a startup — long hours, little to no pay and big dreams. But are filmmakers so focused on a single film that they are missing larger opportunities to tell the stories they wish to make? Over the course of the last few months I’ve reached out to a number of interesting entrepreneurs in an effort to better understand what it takes to birth a company in today’s difficult economic times. In the process I came across some insight, which I think can be beneficial to filmmakers. READ MORE