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Are you ready to make your next big film?

September 03, 2025•3 min read

Are you ready to make your next big film?

What would be “big” for you? What would be upleveling your filmmaking - for you? Maybe it’s time for you to make your first feature film. Maybe it’s time for you to increase the budget of your next film. How are you going to raise that budget? How are you going to reach the next level in your filmmaking work?

Here are 3 ways that you might find yourself stuck in successfully making that next big film:

1. Going too big: So many times when I am talking to filmmakers, they have picked a next “big” step that is SO big, it doesn’t really make sense. I met someone recently who is working on raising $25,000,000 to make their first feature film. As far as I know, there is no one who has ever made a $25,000,000 first film. And even if that had ever been achieved in the past, how likely is it that she might be able to do that? Highly unlikely. But there are many, many people who have made a first feature film at a lower level budget than that.
2. Setting a goal other than getting international distribution: In my book, Chapter 5 is called: Create A Distribution Plan. Most filmmakers will say, “Well how do I get distribution before I make my film?” Well, when my clients work with me, they already know they have distribution before they make their films. But if you are not working with me and you don’t have distribution, you can begin by planning to get distribution for your film. Planning to get distribution means setting that as your goal, as your North star, as your focus as to where you are heading with your film. It means learning everything you can about distribution and what the income-generating side of your filmmaking experience will be.
3. Attaching A-listers: For many filmmakers, the next big film means attaching an A-lister. I had a client once who I introduced to a friend of mine who was an actor herself and was married to an A-lister. They began a relationship talking about her acting in his film and then about possibly producing and attaching her A-list husband to the project. The process was going really well, when out of the blue, one day, the filmmaker asked me about the possibility of getting Timothée Chalamet attached to his film. Where did that come from? Did we know Chalamet? DId we know anyone who knew Chalamet? We veered from working towards attaching an A-lister with someone who could actually make that happen, to trying to attach a super A-lister that we had no connection with and who is probably booked out until 2030!

As you plan on making your next “big” film, be sure to choose the next step that works best for you. You will know what that next step is when you find a step that moves you forward and gets you unstuck.

If you can’t figure out what that next step is, set up a time for a Filmmaker Success Breakthrough Session with me and we’ll take a deep dive and figure out what that next step is.

Joanne Butcher (joannefilm)

Joanne Butcher is a film business coach with a roster of clients that have over 143 feature films in various stages of development and over 21 clients with feature films in distribution, as well as one client with a series on PBS. She has experience consulting on over 40 successful crowdfunding campaigns. She uses her decades of experience as a fundraiser in multiple sectors through her business, Filmmaker Success, where she runs The Film Box Office S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Formula™ and The Virtual Fundraising Team to help filmmakers and non-profits change their way of thinking, raise money, and achieve their goals.

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I'm Joanne Butcher

Film Business Coach and Consultant

"Are you ready to take a leap of faith and make the film you've been dreaming of making?

Have you given any thought to how to make your films financially viable? Profitable?

Is it time to finally tell the story you were always meant to tell?

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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 13 films in distribution, with 5 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.