The girl in the logo is modeled after my daughter, Gracie. But, now I look at it and see myself.

It’s funny to care about something so much.

When I had children, a phrase that I would have gagged at pre-kids at actually rang true. A kind observer noted that having children is like wearing your heart outside your body.

For me, (possibly also unfortunately), with podcasting, doing patreon, public speaking, teaching and essays like this, I tend to wear my heart on the outside in multiple ways. I live my filmmaking life in public, which has lead me here, to you.

Best Friends Forever is my first feature after having children, which is, in part, why it has taken forever to make. We’re fundraising to close a budget gap and we’re 2 stock footage licenses away from picture lock. My birthday is tomorrow. The stock footage shots aren’t holding us up (those particular shots just take a little time to license), but the need to pay for all our post production vendors is. And if I didn’t have these amazing children to prioritize, I would just put all my (albeit meager) money into finishing this film.

We turn to you, our community, to help make a dent, if you are open to it.

If you were ever open to buying me a birthday drink for tomorrow, I ask you to submit that amount, via Venmo (@Liz-Manashil), which I will transfer to our LLC’s bank account to help bridge the gap for post production. That drink could be a 1 dollar lemonade from a lemonade stand. Honestly, it all really helps.

What we’re fundraising for:

• payment to our editor

• paying the licensing 3 stock video clips

• payment of around 80 VFX shots

• payment to our composer

• payment to our mixer

• credit card debt

• remaining music licenses

If you wanted to invest at least $3,000 for an AP credit, you got it! It’s yours! Let’s talk.

If you wanted your donation to be tax deductible, and it’s a meaningful amount - let’s talk! We have ties to fiscal sponsors.

If we find 10 3k investments/donations, we’re set!!!

It’s been a journey. One that I’m so glad I’m still on.

• 6 years ago we wrote the script.

• For 3 years, Amy Taylor and I worked on it.

• 3 years ago, my producers and I started weekly production meetings.

• 2 years ago we fundraised for production (thank you infinitely for getting us there).

• 1 year ago we shot the film.

• We’re 2 stock footage licenses away from picture lock.

• We’re 4 months away from fully locking the film.

Any amount truly helps us. Any donation makes it into the credits of this film as a thank you.

Thanks for letting me turn my birthday into a makeshift fundraiser!

This movie is still on the inside of me. I’m excited to get it on the outside, unsure of how it will be accepted/treated/loved by those other than our internal team. As of today, this project is the one project I’ve put the most time/energy/care and love into outside of a human being.
Thanks for considering being a part of our crazy BFF family.

Best,

Liz

3 years ago, at Gracie’s OBGYN appointment, I had a very high BP read and my doctor told me I just earned a ticket to the delivery room. I told them it was just because Sean and I got in a disagreement that morning. TLDR moral of the essay- blame Sean. I did not want to stay at the hospital. I had nothing with me. We hadn’t packed for delivery yet, and my father had just died, 6 weeks earlier, in the same hospital chain. Memories of the last time I saw him were everywhere. However, my gynecologist, being a logical woman who wanted to keep two women safe and alive, asked me to walk myself over from OBGYN to Delivery. I did and started to spiral. Please note: no doctors blamed Sean for my high blood pressure. However, that one makes sense.

I wasn’t ready. The memories of Colin’s birth- the very long labor, the magnesium, the vacating of the bowels, the spotlight on me as THE ENTIRE WORLD watched me give birth (I just remember there was this dude sitting on a stool, who set up a spotlight straight down at where Colin would come out, complimented us on playing Bowie. Dude. Who were you? What was all that about?). It was not ideal.

Back in 2023, I started texting my friends and family. My brother and sister-in-law jumped in to take care of Laura Palmer and Colin. Sean brought a haphazard baby bag and some snacks and we started to face the fact that we were going to have a baby. Again.

However, once we were in the delivery room, everything was actually as perfect as it could ever be. It was all the drama leading up to it, all the fears, the anxieties of what has gone wrong, what could go wrong. But in the delivery room - two nurses were steady as rocks, helpful, supportive. Sean and I watched WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS for hours. I knew what to ask for this time. I even waited on the epidural so I could feel a little bit of the contractions as I never felt anything with Colin. 3/10 do not recommend. Gracie’s birth itself was relatively painless, beautiful, and was accompanied by Fleetwood Mac. The lights were dim. I got to have a shower before the epidural so I was nice and clean. It was truly ideal.

Fast forward 18 months - Gracie was behind in all her landmarks other than fine motor skills and eating (I mean, she’s my daughter). We got signed up for Regional Center support, and got paired with fantastic development, speech and physical therapists who took her from landmark to landmark and taught Sean and I a lot along the way. She’s now fully caught up and even ahead in some areas.

What have I learned from these scenarios? Emotionally, practically nothing. I’ll still freak out at the drop of a hat. However, intellectually, that things can be scary, most things work out in the end, and that people actually are supportive, kind and can be anchors for you when you’re in a rough state. There are experts, there are resources, if there’s a will, there’s a way.

In 2020, Amy Taylor and I started working on “Friendship is Hell”- which has evolved into the current title of BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. I cannot count how many drafts we wrote. Amy was there the entire way, there to bounce ideas off of, there to write all the funny lines. There to ease all my worries that it didn’t make sense, or to attempt to answer my on-going questions about logic in paranormal stories.

The most amazing producers came on board, the most insanely fantastic crew, one by one and the process of making this movie - looking back on it - was the most fortuitous of ones. The cast - holy shit - the crew - holy shit - everything EVERYTHING was fantastic. Did we have all the resources we wanted? No. But we had enough. And for a while, I thought about the film the way I think about every film I made, while I’m making it. That it’s a selfish exercise that no one will like and that it’s a waste of money and time for everyone but that I cannot compel myself to stop. I’m in and we’re going to finish and I’m going to make it the best I can from my vantage point as a director but that everyone else is very silly for participating along with me.

And then 10 years after we finish the film, I fall in love with it and finally see it as quality and realize that all the other people, they gave so much to this dream. That I’m lucky to know such amazing artists. That maybe it wasn’t a long con on my end but maybe we were all making art the whole time - even if I didn’t see it then.

That’s where I’m at now. For the first time, the 10 years came sooner than traditional time allows. We soft-locked BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (still editing the cold open), and I love it. I see it. I’m proud of it. The past year with our editor Sam Hook, we crafted every single moment to be as good as it could be. It’s not a perfect film but I feel very confident that this is the best version of what we shot.

The dark worldview through which I’m used to seeing everything is starting to dissipate in fits and starts. The work I make feels better. I’m starting to feel like I’m okay at this. When I allow myself to care, visibly, I’m no longer under the clouds of pure anxiety. Maybe the worst case scenario isn’t the likeliest scenario.

In 2 weeks I’ll be turning 42. It’s a seminal birthday for me because my mother had me at 42. I always thought that a second life could happen at that age, and that once I pass the threshold, the sand in the hourglass will sift faster and more dramatically.

It’s not true. People can have 2nd, 3rd, 4th, lives at any age. However, for me in particular, this birthday feels important. We’ll be picture locked by this date, we’ll be delivering to color, VFX. My daughter will be out of almost all of her therapies. Colin will still be a budding actor, programmer, artist, writer. The film will be starting festival submissions. And now I can’t help but wonder, what is next?

With the closing of doors and the opening of others, what should be the focus as we continue to shepherd this movie that I love so much into the world?

It’ll be new features. It’ll be new writing. And I’m going to try, I will really try, to approach work with a level of confidence that the work needs from its director. I hate this turn in my approach. I want to be self effacing Liz standing next to the work, pointing over to it limply. However, I am slowly learning that the confidence impacts how others see the work.

But, also, it’s time to start focusing on other stuff too. Ugh. Like FRIENDSHIP and HEALTH and JOY and LONGEVITY and FACING FEARS and all that gross stuff.

So, I document all the drama of the past few years to see it with new eyes. We got through it, Liz. And though I won’t say I’m better for it (who wants to see their kids struggle?!), we got through it and we’re armed with more knowledge of what is out there to support our family.

In terms of filmmaking, I had no idea I could direct this film. I just knew I was compelled to do it and thankfully was surrounded by the absolute best people to make it happen alongside me. Perhaps now I can start to step more into owning this role of director that everyone comments that I so self-deprecatingly inhabit. That’s a goal for the future!

Other goals for the coming years:

• relaxing

• feeling good about my body

• friendship (as previously mentioned, it’s something I need to work on!)

Things that are happening (due to my age) that are exciting me:

• I'm making a fool of myself in horror dance classes and seem to care a little less than I would 10 years ago!

So, as Gracie turns 3 and I prepare to turn 42, and we lock this movie and start to push it out into the world, I’m looking back on all that has happened as of late, and all we want to accomplish going forward as I head into my second life. And potty training (which we still haven’t done).

An obvious answer floated to the surface. Because so much can go wrong. Regardless of your team. Technology fails. Things fall. People are imperfect. And these were just pickups without actors.

Then, once you add actors into the mix - what if I say something accidentally that offends this person I barely know? What if we never get to where we need to emotionally for the right performance and then all this money is wasted? The stakes get even higher.

Back to the pickups set. Jokes were told. Footage was obtained. It was gorgeous. I laughed, I was ON. Blood streaming, charged. But I wasn’t feeling full body joy. My chest was tight as my face laughed.

And then I realized that I haven’t felt full body joy since before I had children unless I’m at home with them around me, knowing they are safe. It’s not even an ever-present thought that prevents me letting go and having fun. It’s just a wall that was put up involuntarily when I’m away from them that just has me living in a disassociated state (a minor one). I’m unable to let go, I’m always worrying about something no. matter. what.

I saw a great video recently about early motherhood that compared it to being in a Final Destination movie. Caretakers can make a threat out of anything. Every paperclip on the ground becomes a long chained Rube Goldberg device that leads to the peril of your child - there is danger anywhere, never relax.

A few weeks ago I got news that I achieved what was - for me - my greatest professional goal. I have wanted to, for the past… 15 years or so… wanted to just be seen as an artist who could have a place at the table. Who COULD be in the discussion. I don’t even need to be in the discussion, I just wanted to be seen as … an option. I had been rejected by major festivals again and again regardless of knowing and connecting with some major players throughout my time working at Sundance. Those things aren’t connected but it made rejections feel even more personal. I kept being invited to be a mentor to filmmakers that I wanted to swap places with.

However, recently, my perspective has changed.

A few weeks ago we got notification that we were accepted into Tribeca’s Works in Progress program. We were also invited to their LA reception.

There we were, surrounded by Tribeca festival filmmakers. We were still the red headed step children (WIP) and not necessarily full fledged festival filmmakers ourselves. But you know what? I was feeling FULL BODY JOY for the first time in ages.

So much so that I was sore the next day from the amount of real smiles, grinning, guffaws I experienced the night before.

I was at the table. Finally. FINALLY. And I said this over and over that night, but if it doesn’t get better than that? If I am not accepted into any other program, by another fancy schmancy festival? I feel okay with that. I achieved this personal goal of just being thought of as an artist by the curators who hold weight - TO ME. I feel like I broke through some wall somehow and that now, more things are possible.

I know this shouldn’t and doesn’t matter to everyone. In fact, Hudson Philips has a great blog that came out today about how you should choose yourself, but these curators mean a hell of a lot to me. I spent a very small portion of my life in a dream job getting to see behind the curtain and I know how much programmers, curators, and indie film support staff care about art.

So, we’re gearing up for Tribeca’s Creators Market, I’m flying away from the family yet again for a few days. Dreading the distance, but looking forward to potentially feeling that full body joy again - in the room, considered by my peers as an artist in addition to an outside voice who pipes in from time to time about the state of indie film.

I can’t help but think that all of this has come because I decided to leave my job in distribution consulting, and rechannel all my energy into production, creation, and making. Supporting artists rather than prime them for disappointment. These things feel connected somehow. The career pivot and the fact that we really really really wanted this and worked for it in a way I never had with my other projects. In a way I didn’t know how to before.

Anyway, I buried the lede. We’re going to Tribeca with the movie we’ve been working on for 6 years. Lemme know if you’re in NY around early June. Let’s do this!

https://tribecafilm.com/festival/creatorsmarket

Missing: everyone who ever touched BFF.

So much has happened since we last chatted. My 2 year old daughter who has been in development, physical therapy, and speech therapy has all but caught up to her age range. My son has written 15000000 book series (“Pet Day” “The Room” “Pic-Man” and more!), and both Sean and I are working again. I have a new job and have fully left indie film distribution!

I’m the new Director of Film Production at AMDA as of February 16th.

I will admit. It’s great to not talk about how horrible the state of distribution is every. single. day.

I had no idea my skills as a filmmaker could be transferable to academia outside of teaching. I’m working with students to complete our Green Light process - to go through paperwork with regard to crewing up, safety, locations, intimacy/stunt coordinators and casting to have safe film shoots. I truly love my new job but learning the new chaos of a new environment and less time seeing my kids has been the main challenge. But health insurance!

The main reason I’m writing is to say that I’m heading to Phoenix Film Festival for the weekend of the 18th/19th for three separate events. I’m hoping if you’re in the Phoenix area, you’ll come say hi!

1. Microbudget Filmmaking Panel: Saturday, April 18 12:30pm

2. Film Screening of a movie I directed 16 years ago but we never released— THE END OF NICOLE KIDMAN: Saturday, April 18 3:40pm

3. Live podcast recording for Making Movies Is Hard on Sunday April 19, 12:30pm

Colin and I will be there on our first trip with just the two of us!!!!

With regard to our film BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (new title TBA), we’re shooting our pickups and cold open in late April/early May. Dates locked, location locked, casting and crewing up now!

Grateful to be telling stories and making movies. Thanks for letting me be a part of this community.

Best,

Liz

I read it over. I deleted it.

Then I started thinking about how many of us decided to believe in ourselves, go after our dreams, and because of that, this year was particularly hard. Work became scarce, faith was tested.

However, I can’t control that. I can control how much water I drink. And when I drink more water, I seem to have more energy to tackle the crumbling entertainment landscape.

Drink more water in 2026.

P.S. Also, if it works for you, read more romantasy (it’s working for me).

My 1st grader created an opportunity for himself. He didn’t fold inwardly - he moved on, and went directly to his audience - fellow 1st graders. All he needed was the platform - the classroom time his teacher allowed. He took the story to the teacher and she - presented with it - said yes.

The cost was low. The outcome - huge- emotionally. His hard work was rewarded. Is he a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist? No (not yet says this overbearing mother). But he got to workshop his art with his peers, supported by his mentor, and got to experience audience reaction in real time.

I’m really inspired by my 6 year old son who focused on creation over outcome. His joy at recounting the reactions of his fellow classmates reminded me of how I felt when we recently ran a test screening of my latest feature. I’m still riding high from hearing the audience gasp, laugh and groan. My heart leaped each time there was an audible reaction to the film. That event pushed me forward. It made me feel like what I was doing as a storyteller was connecting, the work was working.

I’ve been a part of many different efforts in independent film. From working with distribution guru Peter Broderick, managing Sundance’s short lived but well loved Creative Distribution Initiative, learning from Picture Motion’s impactful distribution strategies, collaborating alongside The Film Collaborative on all their ambitious efforts (the Distributor Report Cards included), as well as Dear Producer and their efforts to increase transparency through their editorial pieces like the Distribution Fact Sheet. I have also worked on efforts with Naomi McDougall Jones on how to redesign the independent film ecosystem, and how to strategize knowing the less than ideal economic outcomes of those who came before us and who are among us.

I entered into the entertainment industry having been afforded every privilege - going to the top film school in the country and working for the top film festival. I have come out the other end of all this artist support work, plus directing three features, with a sense of economic insecurity as an artist. Thanks to this wealth of experience, I am even more convinced that the best path forward is one of limited budgets, creative workarounds, and to keep producing art for art’s sake.

After 13 years of working in distribution support, where day in and day out, I was a bearer of bad news, I’ve decided to now focus on the positive and help storytellers create. Create with a sense of the market, sure, create with an eye on keeping budgets low, minimizing risk, but still create. I want to help birth more instead of spending my days being Chicken Little and screaming how the sky is falling.

Considering the state of independent film financing and distribution, the only sensible way to create is with a low overhead.

I’m building events, classes, and seminars aimed to help members of my community make movies with the resources they have. And to make them the best that we can. To practice, to get better. To make art as often as possible. The tenets we espouse (and they are sure to continually evolve) are:

• To not look at work as a means to an end. Every film teaches a lesson. The film is not a calling card. The film is the event.

• Making low budget work is a privilege. It incorporates sacrifice, hard work, dedication, perseverance and creativity. We do not look down on microbudget art. It is not lesser than higher budget work.

• Every film is an opportunity to explore. To try something new, to create a new world.

• Artists aren’t born great. Their work does not come out perfect. Mircrobudget storytelling affords us to practice, to hone our skills, to get better.

• Every film should not cost you your livelihood, your house, your mortgage. Making art should not risk your financial security. We encourage art to be made with the resources around us.

• Audaciousness and ambition can still be incorporated into microbudget film and should be encouraged.

• All participants in a microbudget film are consenting to the experience until they are not. We will not feel guilty for asking for support. We will not be surprised if people have to walk away from the experience. We are lucky and grateful for the time and energy people fellow artists gift us.

I will be spending the next few years creating events, resources and classes to encourage filmmakers to make their small, personal, weird and cheap movies.

The goal is to create. The goal is to exchange resources. I want to help you do it.

Interested in joining us? Subscribe to this substack. Join our patreon. Email me at womanashil@gmail.com or get in touch however works for you. I’m everywhere.

I compartmentalize. Things do not hit me until hours, days, weeks later. But last night I had a heaviness on me so I started to read old letters and messages between us as this was a man I dated at a time when he was going through a bit of a mental breakdown.

This was a pretty formative time for me, I even made a movie about it! Bread and Butter was my first feature and the plotline of the film was inspired by two men I was talking to, two men I was interested in romantically. Our lead character of Amelia was deciding between a man that she deemed as interesting as a character in a book and a much more stable man who had his feet on the ground. What Amelia learned in the movie is that all of Leonard’s (the more dramatic character) actions that she deemed romantic, were actually symptoms of his mental illness.

Aaron, on whom the character of Leonard was based, died this summer. I don’t have a lot of details. Aaron and I had exchanged messages throughout the years. He even supported each subsequent film I made on Kickstarter. He used to send me very kind messages, my favorite of which was his response to Bread and Butter after he found out that the lead character was based on him. It feels like an invasion to share that message here but it was truly the best message I could have received from him under the circumstances.

In a fiction film, a lot of the choices are made for dramatic effect. But Aaron got that. He understood the need to deviate. But he saw the soul of the character as a tribute to him and actually thanked me for making the film.

I looked back on those old letters between Aaron and I and they feel like another age. Another person. Last night, I hid upstairs from my two children, my husband, lying on the bed, remembering my willful ignorance to see Aaron’s mental breakdown as quirky. I would be there for him, pick him up, check on him, feed him. But I loved the opportunities to nurture. I loved that someone needed me. What I didn’t see at that time, and what I made the movie about, is what romantic naiveté can do to someone’s inability to see objectively. I am grateful for our time together but I also know that it was a time where we were on completely different pages. I wanted a mate. He wanted stability.

I have written most of my romantic relationships into my films as a way to exorcise them out of my head. To parse and analyze what went right, what went wrong. Some men know that they’ve been immortalized in the films and I’ve been grateful for the reactions. Others are still in the dark.

Rest in peace, Aaron. Thank you for your part in my life, in my work and sorry for not seeing things clearly when we were together.

So I wanted to reach out to let you know about a few things! Firstly - all about our 3rd feature currently titled Best Friends Forever.

1. Earlier this week we watched the second rough cut of the film and delivered notes. Our editor Sam Hook is doing a KILLER job with this film.

2. Amy and I are writing our “pickups” (which will be a new added scene and not traditional pickups). We will shoot them most likely in Sept/Oct.

3. We’re fundraising. We’re working on a trailer to reflect our film but will be fundraising for the rest of post production as well as our pickups. Let us know if you are interested in coming on to get us to the finish line! We’re so close!

4. Saturday marks 1 year since our KS campaign wrapped, and now 2 months since we shot the feature!

5. We’re pitching a panel to SXSW to start our public documentation of the building of this film. Vote here to help get us selected by the festival!

   1. https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw26/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1753115621029001k8kS

6. On our Patreon we recently had an investor AMA and we’ll be doing more interviews with crew members in the coming weeks. Join us at $1/month:

   https://www.patreon.com/c/LizManashil

Now, the birthday stuff! Sunday I turn 41. Because things are always a little tight schedule wise, I built some celebrations into what I normally do.

1. Every sunday we’ve been doing a film friends hike somewhere in Los Angeles for over a year now. This Sunday we’ll be hiking the Brand Library like in Glendale. We’re leaving from our meeting spot at 10am. Please join us!

2. I’ve been doing a hot spin class for several months now that has become very important to me. My spin teacher agreed to do a theme ride for my birthday, I chose Paul McCartney. To sign up for the class, on Sunday after 4pm, please head here and choose Monday’s 8:30 am ride:

   1. https://swtcycle.com/la/classes/

   2. Please note this is spinning in a heated room. I LOVE it but it’s not for everyone.

3. The real birthday present is getting to make this movie so thanks for making that happen this year, y’all. I cannot express my gratitude enough. And I guess the kids count too as good presents. So, thank you kids. Sean’s okay.

Love,

Liz

I’m writing you over a month after principal photography of our film, BFF (title pending) has wrapped. We have a lot of faith in this film. Not just in the quality, but in its ability to be used as a case study. We did not build this film perfectly and we’re not claiming to be a how-to guide in indie film. However, we want people to learn from our experience and we feel that if we can start from the very beginning with transparency, we can help build a longitudinal case study about one microbudget indie film.

We started in development with a patreon campaign that is still going after 2+ years. Step two was making the film with a framework for equity at every level. Step three is a post production case study presentation at SXSW via their PanelPicker program.

We’re building a panel to present at the conference but we need your votes to convince SXSW to program it!

Here’s the link to check out our quick rough video and panel description: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw26/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1753115621029001k8kS

How to vote:

“To vote for a proposal, each individual will need a SXSW account. Sign up through SXSW ID. After an account has been created, a person can vote once per proposal – selecting "heart" icon.”

If we show that there’s a demand for this type of transparency, it will encourage the festival to program us. Additionally, we’ve gathered four major forces from our film (we wish we could have asked the whole cast/crew to be a part of it, four was the max!) to speak about development and production from their particular vantage points.

Check it out and support it being programmed at the festival!!!

Much love,
Liz

I had spent 4 years dreaming up and planning for this feature, talking ambitiously about nontoxic film sets, enjoying the process and being as ethical as possible, working within our budget to create something special.

Amy Taylor and I started working together in the early days of 2021 to co-write what is to be my third feature as a director, currently titled “Best Friends Forever.” A little bit of press on our cast: https://deadline.com/2025/06/bobby-moynihan-body-horror-best-friends-forever-1236424155/#comments

The casting announcement came out on day one of our shoot and none of us could stop ourselves from joking about how the headline might as well have been MAN CAST IN WOMAN MOVIE. Props to Cara Chute Rosenbaum for the bit and for all her work in casting so many others than the headline.

Back to scene - Amy and I talked extensively about character, plot, themes. We wrote various iterations of this film with different inciting incidents, different worlds, different origins of evil. We built a team of amazing producers, craftspeople I had worked with before and newer teammates. We landed on a strong version and started to go out to cast thanks to the aforementioned and astoundingly amazing Cara Chute Rosenbaum.

And so going to set on Day One, I had the weight of 4 years of rumination. 4 years of dreaming, obsessing, iterating. I was so scared I wouldn’t live up to all of it. I put an extensive amount of pressure on my own shoulders. My producers and I had so many zoom meetings, we had so many patreon meet ups, there was so much TALK about making this film. The only clear feeling I have now is gratitude and relief and a lot of thoughts about how I could make things better on the next one. But my brain is still a jumble, it’s still making sense of what happened.

I’ll be starting the Patreon back up so I can talk transparently about editing the film, pickups, distribution pitches, and a general postmortem for the production experience. Feel free to join us here: https://www.patreon.com/c/LizManashil

Thanks for being a part of making BFF, I’m thrilled to say we’re close to our assembly cut and that I have faith that thanks to the efforts of all, the movie will come together magically. More as I have it.

Love,

Liz

Photo by Henry Barrial!

When I meet with filmmakers about how to make the most out of their release, they very often have limited resources, time and energy. Here are a list of things that I think our industry needs (amongst many other things not mentioned here) in order to help filmmakers stay with their films and actively promote them: 

1. A YouTube (or other) platform for original pilots

Starting with a softball here. A filmmaking colleague made a pilot and submitted to the very short list of festivals that take episodic content. It did not make a splash and we were lost with what to do with the piece next. The filmmaker did not have reps, was not able to pitch the project around to production companies. It would be meaningful to have a platform where independent tv pilots can launch and have a chance to capture audiences in a democratic way. If this exists, please point me to it. 

2. Aggregators that aggregate. Not distributors that moonlight as aggregators. 

The definition of aggregator has changed. Almost all, if not all, the traditional aggregators that I am aware of take some sort of percentage from the revenue of filmmakers in exchange for placing content up on platforms. What used to be a service is now traditional distribution parading under a different label. The way I’ve learned to define a distributor is by their marketing efforts in exchange for a split of revenue. Most digital distributors do a paltry effort at marketing and take a split regardless. Splits need to go down if a distributor isn’t truly marketing a title and aggregators who take a split of revenue should stop calling themselves aggregators. 

3. More nontheatrical resources. 

Many filmmakers miss out on the opportunity to license their films to small groups in their semi-theatrical window. This happens because they do not have access to the contact information of these screening hosts. This information is not accessible because each film needs a bespoke list of NGOs, nonprofits, religious organizations for outreach. Wouldn’t the world of indie film be even more effective if we had a database of all screening hosts interested in impact and general nontheatrical film events? What if this information was not behind a gate but available publicly to connect community and artist? Gamechanging. 

4. A current list of sales agents and distributors and a very clear definition for each company regarding what they do. 

Every few weeks I have a client come to me with a suggested distributor who is actually a sales company, and a sales company that also does distribution. This is a murky point for independent film. I call for all sales companies to be explicit about what their sales process is (most filmmakers do not know) and to define themselves transparently so filmmakers can find them. I am aware Cinando exists. It is not exhaustive. 

5. A platform for all festivals to download festival deliverables. 

Or, a call for all festivals to utilize their submission platform for deliverables. Wouldn’t this world be better if all filmmakers could upload all their festival deliverables upon submission to a film festival so they do not have to manage each festival's fulfillment process in a bespoke way? I am a festival rep for shorts and features and every festival we get accepted into has their own process of receiving our film. Some h264, some DCP. Some download off of film freeway. Some use dropbox. Some have their own website for uploads. Filmmakers are paying to submit to a festival. They are not receiving any cut of the tickets sales in most circumstances. They are often going out of pocket to travel and promote. Make festival delivery easier. 

6. The eradication of festival premieres. This is a major pain point for the indie filmmaker. Let’s stop living in fear that a film has already played in our country, our region, or our city. If we worked in a system where festivals abided by a super clear calendar of submissions and notifications that everyone followed, I wouldn't be so adamant about this one. But, the calendaring of festivals is all over the place! And, filmmakers finish their film when they finish their film. The festival process is long and arduous and they want to start submitting ASAP so that they can move into the distribution phase and start paying back their long suffering investors. If we eradicate festival premieres, filmmakers could just submit to the festivals that they wanted to play, festivals could just curate the films they want to show. How many times have I tried to coach a filmmaker to pull out of a festival gracefully because two festivals wanted their world premiere? There is no grace to it and it’s unnecessary. Filmmakers need every screening opportunity. In a world where festivals very often do not transport, house, or give filmmakers a cut of the ticket split, they should stop handcuffing filmmakers and stop requiring them to try to predict the future as they submit to film festivals. 

I hope I haven’t offended too many people with this list. Mainly I’m worried about my friends who are festival programmers who are facing a very tough marketplace themselves and trying to incentivize ticket sales with promises of world premieres. However, let’s think bigger. Filmmakers are exhausted. Their resources are strapped. They are working their hardest to get their films out into the world while following unstandardized systems with unspoken byzantine rules. If they navigate them poorly, they miss opportunities to connect with audiences- something that is so vital for emerging storytellers. If their time was less tied up with trying to find the right distribution teammates, strategically submitting to festivals (in a calendar year that pits festivals against each other), they could spend that time and energy promoting the film on your platform, making everyone more money. Let’s work together to provide transparent resources for our community so we can all thrive. 

We don’t decide to work together because you want me to lie to you. We work together because I want to share with you, transparently, the state of our industry + how the industry is responding to your work.

I have a few titles that are not being selected at festivals and are receiving anemic responses from distributors. One may ask - why are you even sharing this. This makes you look bad, Liz, like you don’t know what you’re doing.

However, my identity isn’t wrapped up in selling myself as a miracle worker. I see myself as a filmmaker trying to support my peers when they hit an incredibly hard part of filmmaking. I pitch myself as a supportive teammate who utilizes my relationships to get your film screened and considered. I cannot guarantee anything. I am not a puppet master. I am a person who is going to try to make your film look as good as possible.

And the movies I work with are good movies. These are movies of substance, filmmakers exploring themes that are substantive, in really beautiful ways. And that’s the problem. They aren’t straight shooting slasher films. They don’t have name cast. They aren’t documentaries about food, sex, or extreme sports. They’re just well told documentaries and fiction films made within the resources that the filmmaker has access to. And these movies aren’t doing well within the traditional system.

Quoting a distributor I just pitched one of these movies to, “Another decent film that would be very hard to get placed and make any revenue on.” This is a song I hear all the time.

We can complain, as filmmakers, that distributors don’t want to take chances, but if you were in their seat, with people’s livelihoods relying on your curatorial decisions, you would probably make conservative decisions as well. The better path to walk down, instead of one of being beholden to conservative choice, is to make the film you want to and confidently navigate the distribution process knowing that you don’t need others in order to feel validated as a filmmaker.

If you want the support of a traditional distributor, you need to play their game by making a movie they can easily sell. But, better to make the movie you want to make and to use the window of time of investigating distributors as recon.

We should be using the time of distribution as a time of networking, foundation building and research. We ask distributors to screen our films because it’s a way for us to be seen as artists by tastemakers and gatekeepers, but we do not presume that we will be embraced. We hope for the best and prepare for the worst at the exact same time. We pitch everywhere all at once, preparing to self distribute.

I understand many filmmakers do not want to take that on. And for you, I say, there’s a handful of catalogue distributors who say yes to a lot of content and will just put your film out there and passively put out a press release. Perhaps that is enough for you. It has been enough for several of my clients. I do not blame them. Many filmmakers just want to move on.

Why say all this, Liz? Because I want to dispel the myth that distribution is about merit. Just because you made a good nay great movie doesn’t mean you are deserving of a great distribution deal. Commercial and mainstream are what is being rewarded right now.

A last anecdote for you. I pitched a title to a digital distributor who didn’t like the first fifteen minutes. By the way, that’s ALL they watched. This is an Altman-esque dramedy with solid performances and a well crafted structure. What did the distributor say? That they were hoping the film would play like a Hallmark movie.

These are people who get into the industry because they love movies. They are being forced to select lowest common denominator films a LOT of the time. There are outliers to this for but the most part, distributors are looking for the inoffensive, the familiar, and the easily sellable.

Don’t let that inform your work. Know the landscape, use it to your advantage, build your audience, grow it person by person, and keep going. And keep making kooky, weird, perverted, strange and bold movies.

Love,

Liz

Hope you are wonderful. Sorry to have to be so loud this week. After Friday, the cadence will slow down quite a bit.

Why? you ask. Because Friday at 5pm PT is the end of our crowdfunding campaign for our third feature, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.

I sent out a newsletter yesterday with some reasons to support the film. Here are some more!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bffmanashil/best-friends-forever-a-horror-comedy-by-liz-manashil

1. You believe in representation and you want to see a queer horror comedy with diverse representations of gender, bodies, race, and sexuality.

2. You like to be grossed out and you want to see us get to put the grossest things we can imagine on screen.

3. You love comedy and comedians and you’re excited that Liz does too and she’ll be populating the film with them.

4. You want to be a hero today and you know even a donation of $1 will make you a hero in at least one person’s eyes (Liz’s). THANK YOU FOR EVEN THINKING OF DONATING TODAY!

5. You simply want Liz to stop talking about fundraising and you think your donation will help quell the sound (it will!).

6. You like to believe in impossible things happening. At this rate, it’s nearly impossible to raise $11,564 in four days but you’d like to be a part of an effort to try doing something crazy.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bffmanashil/best-friends-forever-a-horror-comedy-by-liz-manashil

Thank you so much for all of your support thus far.

Best,

Liz

Hope you are wonderful. I’m still not sure if substack is better than mailchimp so I keep switching back and forth as I send these emails out. Sorry for any confusion. Let me know if you have a preference!

Last night, thanks to a particular saint, we hit our 110% goal on Kickstarter! Now we are at a fork in the road. Be conservative or be bold?

Each time I choose ambition and set a goal for us with a specific time, we do not hit it. I don’t know who is paying close attention, but we’re batting 0/3 (is this the accurate way to reference lack of success using sports?) in terms of goals with time-based deadlines.

Perhaps I’m being too ambitious? But, something inside of me is encouraging me to choose ambition again. It could be the caffeine. But, I’m going with it!

Kickstarter Campaign Link (Click here!)

We’re going to try our best to hit $40,000 by August 23rd at 5pm PT. That’s the end of the entire campaign. We have 10 days to do it. Will we be successful? Who knows! If the past is any clue, probably not! But, let’s try.

Kickstarter will be doing some promotion of the campaign on the 15th, the 19th and the 23rd on their newsletters and home pages. Big note is that we are slated to be on the Kickstarter homepage on August 19th. Huge deal. Excited to see if that helps us out. If you happen to see it there, please feel free to share/post about it!

However, most donations come from people I know or fans of original horror. So, if you have any friends/family that you think would like this project - please spread the word. It makes a huge difference.

Kickstarter campaign link (click here!)

A few answers to some frequently asked questions -

You hit your goal, why are you still fundraising?

• Well, the budget for the film is not $25,000. That number was chosen because it was the number I thought we could raise if we worked very hard. I was limiting and wrong and am overwhelmed by how amazing my network is.

What are you going to do with the additional money you raise?

• Every dollar that we raise on Kickstarter goes into the making of the movie. It goes to cast and crew wages, equipment rentals, location fees. Making a movie costs a lot of money because it involves the creative energy and valuable time of many players. There’s a world where we could maybe make this movie for $25,000 but that would be if we did it unsafely and worked people to the bone. We don’t want to do that. We don’t want to keep killing Sean.

Are you going to keep fundraising after the campaign is over?

• Yes, we’re talking with investors, finalizing our deck, and thinking about partnering with a fiscal sponsor if anyone wants to donate large amounts to us in exchange for a tax break. We are open to different arrangements. Let us know if you have any interest in supporting our film in different ways.

The headline is a giant thank you to all of those who have supported us until this point. Just 10 more days of me posting embarrassing high school photos, snapshots of adorable children and creating countdowns on instagram. If you have been on the fence about joining the team, let me know if you have any questions about Kickstarter, our project, or anything at all. We want to grow our community as we make this movie. We need you.

The link for easy access to donate to our campaign!

Best,

Liz (and Sean/Colin/Gracie/Laura Palmer/ sea monkeys)

PS The sea monkeys are really a thing. We were down to one just a few months ago and now we have five! They are amazing.

If you’ve been following along, it’s been a whirlwind of a Kickstarter campaign. I had no clue we’d be this close to our goal this early. So, our new plan is to try to hit our goal as soon as possible (Wednesday EOD if we can), and then spend the rest of the campaign trying to raise past Kickstarter/stripe fees + attempt to push into some stretch goals.

Kickstarter Campaign Link

Our film is not budgeted at $25,000. That was the largest amount I thought it would be almost impossible to raise. Now that we’ve been doing so well - thanks to the UNBELIEVABLE kindness of my network - we want to push past those self imposed limits and see what is possible.

If you are open to it, and if you were thinking of donating at some point in the campaign, my request is for you to do it today or tomorrow to help us hit our goal. Once we hit $25,000, new rewards will emerge, and I also have some ideas about expanding our audience a little bit.

Thank you so much for considering a donation today.

So grateful for the people I know,

Liz

If you are reading this, you are a friend, family member, or someone interested in independent film. I’ve been working on my third feature for the past four years and we pulled the trigger today to go live with our crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.

Here is the link to support our campaign.

Every single cent donated to the Kickstarter will go to making the best movie possible. Please check out our video as it details why we’re crowdfunding, and what the movie is about.
Also, if you like to see Sean get maimed, you might enjoy it for that reason alone.

I’'ll try not to annoy everyone too much for this next month but please know that your support is very much appreciated. It’s no coincidence we are launching to end right before my 40th birthday.

This will be my first feature I will make after having children. It’s been a rough road trying to find the time and mental space to develop this film, but I’ve been able to build the best team possible who have turned this nightmare (literally) into a fantastic film with so much potential.

Thanks so much for considering coming on board our team!

Love,

Liz

For years I had been using Mailchimp to send out newsletters but I’d like to see if Substack is a better option.

I use newsletters to make personal updates, updates about the films I make, and also to share free resources in the world of distribution, audience building and artist development.

I’m writing this first issue to let you know that in the coming weeks, we will be fundraising for our third feature, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (working title) and we’re in the midst of casting, locking locations, crewing up and getting ourselves ready to go!

Most of you know I’m incredibly transparent about the process of filmmaking so I would expect this newsletter to be similar in tone to others in the past. Substack has subscription models but we’re keeping this a free newsletter for the time being.

We’d love to have you join us as we talk freely about the making of the film and share resources that have worked (or do not work) for us as we progress. There may also be a picture of a child, dog, or cute non-dog animal along the way. And maybe some Chappell Roan songs.

Best,

Liz

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