How To Succeed In Show Business Without Selling Your Soul To American Idol

Meet Colin.

He may kill me for posting this picture from high school – but this is the lovable, goofy guy I remember.

Not only did Colin and I spend many Saturday mornings together on a school bus (traveling to speech meets across Minnesota), but we also spent hours together rehearsing for multiple high school drama productions. We were “those” geeky chic kids and we loved every minute of it.

Sadly, I hung up my drama hat at the end of high school to move into the (equally dramatic) world of fashion design, but Colin continued to hone his acting skills, eventually moving to London post-drama school to pursue his dreams of becoming a writer, actor and producer.

I was nothing short of delighted when I received a Facebook message from Colin six months ago, catching me up on his life and letting me know that, along with a few friends, he was launching his own production company – Untethered Films.

Impressed that he’d turned his high school passion into a full-fledged career, I sent Colin some questions. I think you’ll find his answers both inspiring and motivational!

What is Untethered Films?

We are a film production company based in London, UK. Our specialty is stories with a cross-Atlantic sensibility – i.e. principal characters are from both the UK and North America. We’ve also recently started producing music videos.

What first inspired you to start the company? 

The four of us that founded Untethered went to drama school together. None of us trained as filmmakers. We began by making shorts mostly so that we could act when we were out of work, but we quickly realized that we enjoyed the process of filming itself. There’s nothing like being on a film set – whether it’s acting, directing, holding a boom microphone, or getting everyone’s teas and coffees. It’s a really exciting and pressurized environment.

Once we agreed that we wanted to form a production company, it was a matter of figuring out how we would separate ourselves from other budding film companies. Half of us were American, half were British so it seemed logical to produce material that featured characters from both countries. The added bonus is it’s helped us develop audiences on both sides of the pond who relate to the stories in different ways.

How many people are working on this project full time (aka have no other job)?

There are currently five of us on the producing board. We all work for Untethered full-time, but it’s notoriously hard to begin making money as a film company when you’re still a start-up, so we all have other full-time jobs. It’s a bit insane having the energy to do both, and it often feels like we’re juggling about 12 balls each. Thankfully nothing’s come crashing down yet, and we love it. We wouldn’t put in this much time and energy if we didn’t.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since launching?

Plan to spend a lot of time planning.

Since we’d all been on film sets as actors previously, we knew the many ways in which your time can feel wasted and abused. I find it really surprising the number of young filmmakers who aren’t prepared for what can go wrong, and it’s really damaging to their reputations. Nobody wants to work with someone they can’t trust to deliver.

From the start, we agreed that we’d make every effort to have our sets run as efficiently as possible, while still being fun to work on. This has meant mountains of preparation. You basically have to think of all the possible problems that could arise and plan accordingly. The result has been that our sets generally wrap on time (a rare commodity in the film industry) and people comment that it feels like we’re a family on set. There’s a nice rhythm to the way we get things done, and when people say they enjoyed working with us, we’re over-the-moon.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome since launching?

Having people take us seriously. The arts are a funny place. No one’s really interested in you until you’re a sure-thing.

I’m sure the same can be said of most businesses, but people are very afraid to take a risk with new talent when it comes to film. Who can blame them? So much money goes into making one that the potential for financial loss is massive. We’ve always taken ourselves and our work seriously, even when we just starting out with bad equipment and didn’t have the strongest sense of what we were doing. Friends, families, and industry professionals are now on our side, but we first had to prove that we weren’t just a group of kids messing around with a camera.

It’s been earned; we’re still earning it.

What’s been your biggest accomplishment since launching?

During the summer we made five short films with a shoe-string budget. With our additional full-time jobs, it was an incredible amount of work.

We pulled in more people than we’d ever worked with before and had locations throughout London. Along with a focus on creating amazing films, we were also determined to make sure that our sets were run effectively and that people had a positive experience working with us.

We had our screening night in October, and it was standing room only. It was deeply satisfying to have the fruits of everyone’s labor being viewed by an eager audience. At the end of the screening, I got to go up to do the ‘thanks for coming’ speech. It took a while to quiet everyone down. The applause and cheers for what we’d done were overwhelming. It was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.

What advice do you have for other aspiring entrepreneurs?

Know that you’re not going to be an overnight success.

When someone seems to emerge from nowhere as ‘the next big thing,’ they’ve probably been working on developing their ideas for a long time. Thanks to the Internet we feel like if something doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye, something’s wrong. In reality, it’s an uphill battle.

Success, no matter how you define it, takes time. If it’s something you love, it’s worth the work.

Colin – the above picture pretty much sums up my feelings on your new venture. I was proud to know you then and I’m proud to know you now. We can’t wait to see what amaing adventures and accomplishments are in store for you and your team!

For more information on Untethered Films visit www.untetheredfilms.com. You can also follow Colin on Twitter and like Untethered Films on Facebook.

Dream Bigger,