FILMMAKER SUCCESS BLOGS

Explore expert insights on the business of filmmaking, including film funding, marketing, and distribution, and career strategy for independent filmmakers.

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35 Films. 1 Series. And a Lesson Every Filmmaker Needs to Hear

September 05, 20262 min read


35 Films. 1 Series. And a Lesson Every Filmmaker Needs to Hear

In my August 2026 newsletter, I wrote about how proud we are of the 27 feature films that my clients have made and that we have listed on our website at https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/filmsindistribution-


We had recently added two more films - Shakti and Extranjera - and I started a conversation with my team about if we were at 27 or 29 with the two most recent films: So, I decided to go ahead and count them for myself. I opened the website and counted 35 features and 1 series. THIRTY FIVE!!!!!


THIRTY FIVE????


THIRTY FIVE!!!!


I was stunned! How could we have been so wrong? How could we have missed so many films? Well, I’m not totally sure, but the fact is that our clients have raised the finance, produced the film, and moved their films into distribution 35 times! It’s really amazing! We are not a studio. We are not financed. This is simply the result that filmmakers have with their hard work, talent and grit, and the guidance they need on the business side of their filmmaking.


There is so much to navigate when making a feature film, and many filmmakers have zero experience in the business side and even less in the fundraising. LOL! But once they have my guidance and experience to rely on that their energy and efforts are actually adding up to forward movement, they do very, very well. What I find is that it’s not that filmmakers are not good at business, it’s that they have no training. Those are two different things.


Filmmakers can do well at business IF they have training and guidance.


So, join us and take the action you need to get your film funded, produced and distributed globally. If 35 filmmakers can do it, then so can you!

film distributionfilm business coachfundraising training
blog author avatar

Joanne Butcher (joannefilm)

Joanne Butcher is a film business and fundraising coach whose clients collectively represent over 153 feature films in development, 25 feature films in distribution, and a PBS series. She has consulted on 50+ successful crowdfunding campaigns and brings decades of cross-sector fundraising experience to her company, Filmmaker Success. Through programs such as The Film Box Office S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Formula™ and The Virtual Fundraising Team, Joanne helps filmmakers and nonprofits rethink fundraising, raise money strategically, and achieve sustainable results.

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Filmmaker Success Blogs

Explore expert insights on the business of filmmaking, including film funding, marketing, and distribution, and career strategy for independent filmmakers.

Filmmaker Success logo and slogan with Joanne Butcher over a film clapper and film camera background

35 Films. 1 Series. And a Lesson Every Filmmaker Needs to Hear

September 05, 20262 min read


35 Films. 1 Series. And a Lesson Every Filmmaker Needs to Hear

In my August 2026 newsletter, I wrote about how proud we are of the 27 feature films that my clients have made and that we have listed on our website at https://www.filmmakersuccess.com/filmsindistribution-


We had recently added two more films - Shakti and Extranjera - and I started a conversation with my team about if we were at 27 or 29 with the two most recent films: So, I decided to go ahead and count them for myself. I opened the website and counted 35 features and 1 series. THIRTY FIVE!!!!!


THIRTY FIVE????


THIRTY FIVE!!!!


I was stunned! How could we have been so wrong? How could we have missed so many films? Well, I’m not totally sure, but the fact is that our clients have raised the finance, produced the film, and moved their films into distribution 35 times! It’s really amazing! We are not a studio. We are not financed. This is simply the result that filmmakers have with their hard work, talent and grit, and the guidance they need on the business side of their filmmaking.


There is so much to navigate when making a feature film, and many filmmakers have zero experience in the business side and even less in the fundraising. LOL! But once they have my guidance and experience to rely on that their energy and efforts are actually adding up to forward movement, they do very, very well. What I find is that it’s not that filmmakers are not good at business, it’s that they have no training. Those are two different things.


Filmmakers can do well at business IF they have training and guidance.


So, join us and take the action you need to get your film funded, produced and distributed globally. If 35 filmmakers can do it, then so can you!

film distributionfilm business coachfundraising training
blog author avatar

Joanne Butcher (joannefilm)

Joanne Butcher is a film business and fundraising coach whose clients collectively represent over 153 feature films in development, 25 feature films in distribution, and a PBS series. She has consulted on 50+ successful crowdfunding campaigns and brings decades of cross-sector fundraising experience to her company, Filmmaker Success. Through programs such as The Film Box Office S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Formula™ and The Virtual Fundraising Team, Joanne helps filmmakers and nonprofits rethink fundraising, raise money strategically, and achieve sustainable results.

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Make Movies. Make Money. Make the World a Better Place.

Filmmakers are the most creative people in the world. Whether you write, produce, direct, act, compose scores, storyboard (the list goes on!), I truly believe that you have a unique story to tell and that that story can change the world.

Where I most often see independent filmmakers (second and third

feature filmmakers not excluded) struggle, though, is in turning that creativity into a well-made, successful, and financially viable film.

And that's where I come in.

With my experience in marketing, fundraising, and producing, I have guided clients through writing Nicholl's award-winning scripts, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, producing the films they've always dreamed of, and transforming their overall thought processes around creating.

My clients currently have 25 films in distribution, with 15 more on the way later this year. Others have nationwide programming on PBS, and many are working on internationally produced documentary and narrative feature films.

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