You're Already a Filmmaker!

This past weekend I released my new feature film, Pretend That You Love Me. Before returning to my weekly short films, I wanted to talk candidly about filmmaking and share some things I wish somebody had told me. Big thanks to everyone who checked out the movie.
Love, J-Man

I’m not even a film maker and this dude is making me feel more alive than I’ve felt in months.

Pretend That You Love Me is one of my favorite movies ever

I went to film school too. My thesis film was probably the worst thing I've ever made. But nearly ten years later, I still consider the stupid shorts I made with my friends on the side as some of my best work.
Never stop following your passion, Joel.

"You shouldn't look at people creating in an art form as competition, that's so backwards"
He said it!, HE SAID IT!
You inspire me dude.

"You'll never make it in Hollywood"
-What if Hollywood isn't my goal? What if fame isn't my goal? What if I just want to record some stuff and post it online?
Big problem is people trying to make "art" a for profit industry. If it's not profitable, then it isn't valuable. But what if we just want to create, what if we just want to share. Does it have to have monetary value? Can't I just express myself? I love you, man. Really appreciate this message. Thank you for all your work.

"Pretend That You Love Me" is just as much a feature film as anything Christopher Nolan, or Disney, or any other Hollywood studio or director creates.

Youre an amazing filmmaker, trust me. Youre not trying to be anything other than yourself and it's refreshing and honest. Dont lose that man fr

hell yes decommodify art!

I was talking to my friends the other day and said they could make their own short film, tv-show or full-length movie if they wanted to using no camera at all. Only scribbled drawings, a microphone and decent editing.
They did not believe me, and it was so odd to me, because that is pretty much what I already do for a living.
That motivated me to get more ambitious, and this video definitely helped me feel that I'm on a good path.

This is the final straw that breaks the camel's back for whether or not I'm going to film school. Fuck that. I'm glad I got what I have now, I'll do the rest on my fucking own. Thanks for giving quite possibly the best advice I've ever heard ever. I love your work man, you are my filmmaking rolemodel.

“You don’t even need a story in a film. Who cares?”
Too many great ideas in this video. Well done.

love him or hate him, this guy's spitting straight facts
seriously though I got nothing to add that you haven't said yourself, your filmmaking philosophy is so inclusive and freeing and so obviously correct that it boggles my mind that it's not a more widespread attitude

The 4 people who disliked this have a health bar for sure

“Ya know what quality over quantity people make they make nothing” so true

I like how so much of this applies to any artistic medium: painting, writing, etc. It encourages me to not save every song I write until it's perfect. I need to either get them out there or send the lyrics to someone I can collaborate with and finish them.

Hey Joel! Evan here,
I remember when you laid out your film philosophy to me when I helped you on Double Deuce, and it made so much sense and made me feel better about my own creative instincts. Keep on man, you are one of the most talented and creative people I know.

One filmmaker to another, thank you so much for making me feel like I'm not alone.

I'm not a filmmaker, aspiring or otherwise, but I got a lot out of this. This comment and thumbs up is my applause. Thanks a lot, Joel!

I'm an illustrator and I've been stuck in a depression for about 2+ years. I haven't made anything more than a sketch out of fear of producing something that doesn't hold up to my own standards and it embarrassing to show people things I've made. You saying "quality vs quantity people make nothing" hit me! I write all of my ideas down but never make anything out of them, and for what! I can't believe I've let my fear and perfectionism control me for this long when I literally have nothing to lose lol. I'll never make anything again if I keep up the mantra that quality is better than quantity. Thank you Joel

RT. My thesis project out of media school discouraged me because I had gotten my hopes up/put so much money and work into it and it didn't do anything at the festivals. I'm glad giving up on that process brought me to where I am now, though, making movies whenever and however I want. Great vid.

This is how going to school to be a writer is - they take your money, and even break "bad" habits (meaning, any original idea or style you had, will be pared down to conform to an industry). And so you graduate, and you don't have a natural sense of writing anymore, and you have to go back to square one, technique wise, and maybe even take on a career that isn't related. So, what you say, Joel, resonates. Steven Spielberg used to use his mom for action shots when he was a kid making films. And take the guy who made the indy film The Magician, Scott Ryan. Someone saw his film and turned it into a series called Mr. Inbetween. What keeps film makers going is the dream. A film shouldn't have to have a huge budget or a huge cast, it just needs to tell a story that resonates with the people who watch it. Remember that we have always been beings who sit around the fire and tell stories. We are still that, very much so. I see this corporate attitude you talk about happening with game developers. Every once in a while you get one or two people who create their game and unleash it to great success (Stardew Valley is just one example). What any student needs to understand is 1) your TIME is valuable and 2) your WORK is valuable, and 3) Your ideas are valuable. Don't let an industry reduce you to low-wages and long hours working for them (in the process even taking your ideas), because they are abusing you and your talent, and they are walking away with your money (without giving you credit).

I really needed to hear this, man. All too often I fall prey to the quality over quantity mentality and end up sitting around doing nothing. Think I might start making some shit again.

Hi Joel,
I don't do a lot of films, and honestly I rarely take pictures. But, the advice you give here transcends film. I've bookmarked this video and watch it every now and then because it's just genuinely good advice; to never get discouraged. To never put someone down. I'm in my mid 20's, so the feeling of discouragement from every industry is really common, and hearing this advice from you helps me get through it.

I am wildly grateful for this. And for the fact that you live by this because it’s brought so much GOOD COOL STUFF to the world.
Early on as an artist, I internalized that emphasis on quality so much that I got a pit in my stomach to just approach my own private sketchbook. I wanted all the pages to look really neat and complete. Then one day I just let myself draw something really bad. It looked horrible and I loved it. I had unlocked the world of letting myself make bad, ugly stuff and “waste” a whole notebook. And that’s the only way the good stuff was able to stick out from the mess and I got to know myself as an artist. Fail, fail again, fail better!

As someone who loves making videos and sketches simply for the joy of making people laugh and telling a story that I came up with at 3am while slightly drunk, this video and this message in general is really inspiring and it makes what I'm doing feel even more fulfilling. I also feel so much more excited to just create content which I've been struggling with recently so thank you for this.

The movie made me cry within 20 minutes, it felt so natural and great to see a film without the fanciness of Hollywood. I was more engaged with the characters and the story then another generic movie that always follows the same beats and tropes. I would love to see more of your films in the future. You da Pimp man.

These aren't just wise words for film makers, but also for anyone who creates any form of art. I'm a musician primarily and this still really resonated with me. Good shit dude.

I found Pretend That You Love Me to be very cathartic; I laughed, I cried and I existed in a different world for not only an hour, but all the moments after, when I reflected on it.
I had planned to make several mini documentaries a couple years ago, but my anxiety talked me out of it... after finding your channel, I'm finally feeling prepared to take on the challenge.
Thank you for all your hard work, Joel - the tears of joy and shared pain, the wonderfully fresh style you bring to your films. I'm excited to see what else you have in store - you're an inspiration.

I'm lucky in the sense that I go to a "film school" that isn't _really_ a film school. The major is actually Design & Visual Communications, and mostly we take design courses (which I am terrible at XD), but there is one opportunity every semester to take one film course, and at first that bothered me a lot. "Why do I have to learn design to learn film?" and "Why does my uni not even have advanced/fancy equipment to learn with?" At this point I'm very, very grateful that it ended up this way. I don't know how to use big equipment- but I (at least I hope) know how to tell a story. There's many things regular films students have learned that I haven't, but I had the opportunity to learn closely from a filmmaker (the only good film teacher in my major) who knows how to tell stories. I never learned to use technical things very well (so basically I don't even know how to do grunt work properly even if I was paid to XD), but I learned how to write better, how to see better, how to listen to others better. I'm still pretty awful at whatever it is I'm doing, but I'm grateful I went through this shift that helped me switch perspectives greatly. And I'm slowly starting to let go of the pretentious stuck-up thoughts I used to have in my head of what a film is "supposed" to be.
PS: When I make my feature, even if it's years later, I'll send it to you :)

The old ways of creation and distribution of entertainment are dying out, but I think it's being disguised somewhat by the big studios spending insane money on a few movies that are marketed to hell and they make billions. And people still think that's what they need to aspire to. Meanwhile we've had 15 years of people just doing what they want on youtube, soundcloud, twitch etc, bypassing all the institutional bullshit.
Anyone can create whatever they want now, at whatever level they want. People making music are always complaining there's no money in the industry, they can't get on the radio, streaming services pay peanuts etc. Who cares? You're able to create and release from your bedroom which was not an option before. Even if no one checks it out, it's way better than the old ways where you were almost certainly never going to get a get chance to create anything in the first place. Hell, you can even do crowdfunding and get records pressed!
One of my favourite forms of entertainment right now is watching a twitch stream of a few guys who... do whatever they want. They've got their whole house set up for streaming with green walls, they play games and roleplay as funny characters they've developed over the years (even released songs as them!), they do art streams just drawing and shooting the shit with viewers, they do a DnD stream in full cosplay, they film skits for major events like Halloween. Where else could you get a dozen hours of unique, live, interactive entertainment every week for FREE?
Modern life has a lot of problems, many of which will get worse, but the ability to create and enjoy unique entertainment with little to no corporate strings attached is not one of them.

I just graduated from my Performance Arts degree in the worst year, and have been struggling with creating anything since then. So much of what you said I feel applies to the Arts in general. I’ve felt so blocked by institutional pressure from being in that kind of education, I haven’t been able see what I want to make.
I discovered your channel a few weeks ago Joel, and have made it through most of it, I think. I love your work a lot. Your words have really struck a chord with me, and I feel incredibly inspired. It’s this kind of attitude that benefits all forms of art. It’s this kind of attitude that makes real passionate artists, and allows people to create genuinely personal, inventive, inclusive and expressive art.
Some of the best advice I ever got, from one of my tutors, was it doesn’t really matter what you’re making, just keeping making something everyday. Just create, and enjoy it, and learn what you want to do through experimenting. One can theorise and think it over as much as you want, but you won’t really know anything until you actually just try stuff out and mess around.
Thanks, man. Really glad to see how much you’re blowing up. You definitely deserve it.

hearing this as a film student is very encouraging, for awhile i was a little bummed about finding work in the industry like how you were saying but now me and my homies from school are starting a sketch show and i couldn’t be more excited to see where it goes, thank you for showing me that you can be successful at it while not being in the actual “industry”

Made a lot of films in college, actually was the film club president at my school my last year. I found it hard filming large projects with college students, just because they were flaky. Meeting with people from the industry, there was always a sort of elitist attitude. I just ran through a lot of your videos, and watched "Pretend That You Love Me". You have some beautiful content. Its inspiring me to get back to creating. Looking forward to what else you in store man

Just wanted to tell you that, yeah, the "industry" is highly discouraging. When I was just a teenager, I wanted to make films and the sorts and there was this one place I could show something, and it was a small club in midtown that people usually went to see old movies but have grown on a much greater thing when they started playing B movies like "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" or "The Fly" and they were accepting short films from anyone really. I submitted some of my content to them and there was that feedback in the end of each session that we discussed the short films and the full length film that we just watched and, man, It felt so good to being in there
I then tried to start a Band, working with audio and filming music videos for each of the tracks, and... things went down hill from there. But I look at your work and it motivates me to try again, perhaps. Give it another go.

“You’re already a filmmaker, if you film something on your iPhone that’s a film. People on Snapchat who do videos, that’s a film.” Joel SO much of your thoughts on filmmaking resonate so heavily with me and my thoughts toward art. I am an artist, but for a long time I called myself an aspiring artist. Or that I wanted to be an artist, as in one that was paid and being a part of professional productions. It makes me sad nowadays seeing people having a hard time proclaiming themselves as artists. If you can do silly little doodles on a throwaway piece of paper or in your school books, you’re an artist. If you’re in love with it and you want to do more of it, you’re an artist. You don’t need to be on any level of standard in order to be involved in art. Anyone can be an artist, whether it’s just you and your paper, or if its you and one other person, or ten million others. Honestly it gets under my skin sometimes. The core of it all is just to have fun and to love dicking around with mediums. Not to adhere to traditional systems that were bullshit in the first place. That’s what has held so many people back from pursuing any art.

Stumbled again into this video. Just made a little skit for a school project on my instagram account, felt scared posting it because it was my first ever skit that wasn’t viewed by just my friends, it was viewed by people I didn’t even talk to. This video comforted me, thank you Joel. Love you too man.

Real talk, Joel - This might be the most inspirational speech I've ever heard from anyone. Thank you so much for this.

7:35 One of my favorite filmmakers, Don Hertzfeldt, has been doing full animated films by himself for years. He's critically recognized and beloved among his fans, but hasn't quite been able to get a deal with any big distributors. He just raised a bunch of money to distribute his work and fund future projects through kickstarter. This means his work is primarily funded by the people who consume it, which means the creator gets full control, just the way we like it. I hope media production leans more in this direction as time goes on, it's so much healthier for everyone involved.

As somebody who just went through four years of tertiary education studying Audio Engineering & Sound Production, being forced to study Musical Arts because an institute shut down the original degree I was studying WHILE I was studying it, working as a grunt pushing stage crates around for event tech companies, starting a 'small business' as an event technician and branding it just so I can feel like I'm being taken seriously in the 'music/event industry', this was really refreshing. I grew up a creative, playing in bands, writing stories, drawing etc and I went to study what I studied as an escape from mediocrity working a warehouse job, only to find that the industry I was considering my salvation was just as if not more corrupt. I get to mix live music every weekend, but even then I'm pretty over that and want to plunge into post-production and game development a lot deeper. The only thing is, now I'm terrified to push these things further than a hobbyist level even though I have the skills needed to break into 'industry'. I find the idea of 'the industry' really strange at this point, for any aspect of the entertainment industry, because in reality it's more like - here's a conglomerate of multi-billion dollar businesses that have control over most of what people experience in the media, they convince the world they're doing 99% of the work, but in reality it's actually that they're doing 1% of the work with 99% of control over programming. There are so many parallels in music as there are film, because what you say resonates with me so well and that's all I've been exposed to for almost five years now. Educational institutes seem to be there as a means of funneling people into businesses with enough knowledge to do basic operation/task(s) but not enough to threaten the traditional regime.
P.S. Huge fan of your work.

"You get quality through quantity".... "don't think of other artists as competition, that's industry and business" .... these 2 statements are really inspiring, thanks for existing Joel.

Thanks a ton for this video. I've been always afraid of making animations because I'm afraid its gonna look bad. Being a beginner artist sucks because for me there is more fear than motivation to create anything. Now I'm working on getting rid of this mindset and try to create something even if it's bad or not. (Also Pretend That You Love Me was my introduction to your channel and I loved every second of that movie, so thanks for that lmao)

I'm in a few filmmaking groups on facebook, a few of them are for indie filmmaking. One group has just the most vicious examples of exactly what you were talking about in the middle of your video. People saying you can't do this you can't do that. The worst of it was professional filmmakers getting on their high horse and commenting on micro or no budget filmmaker posts. I read one guy say, "filmmaking is a privilege, not a right"🙄, like he had the audacity to tell new artists that they're not filmmakers if they don't have x budget. So ridiculous. Ty for the great attitude and inspiration.

I don't think i've left a youtube comment anywherebefore watching this video, but I had to, because woah you're speaking to my soul right now. Joel, you're basically describing exactly the story of the last decade of my life. I started at film school ten years ago, and come this summer, it'll have been seven years since I graduated. When I was a teenager I used to make short films all the time, and upload them to this very channel which i've only used for browsing youtube for the last decade at least. I loved filmmaking, making silly shorts, and then I went to film school - and don't get me wrong it was amazing to be able to JUST make films for three years, I met all my best friends, it was worth it alone for the social community I found there - but slowly but surely, we had the idea of making a short film kind of explode in our heads from something fun we could do over a weekend to some gargantuan huge expensive endevour, something that needs at least nine drafts of a script that's overwritten to death and full of way too many big and important dramatic themes that we just didn't have the life experience to understand, and a full crew, professional actors instead of ourselves. We got around to making our grad films, which took a year, and then we graduated with little to no actual knowledge of how to get into the actual film industry. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome to be able to do all that, it was fun as hell - but when you leave filmschool, and you loose that community of one-hundred-something other students who are always ready to help at the drop of a hat, and you're all on your own, and you loose the equipment that the school provides, and the studio space, and when you need to start focusing on a career somehow instead - it kind of all starts to fall apart. So we ended up as grunts in camera, sound, VFX, editing departments, wherever. Now almost ten years later, almost everyone I know has quit the "film industry grunt life" and is doing their own thing, and I only know two or three people out of a hundred who are still pursuing careers in the live action film industry. I am working in an adjacient industry now, and I'm grateful for that, it feels good to be here but it's taken me a very long time to find my way to where I am now, and looking back I can't help but to feel that film school put me on a years long grunt-diversion, and I might have found my sweet spot in animation much sooner than if I hadn't of had certain predictable film school mantras drummed into my head for those critical three years.
I tried making another four short films after graduating, about one per year since leaving film school. I tried to make them in the way film school taught me - lots of kit, lots of crew, professional actors instead of me my friends, and.... three of those four never even got finished. The only one that did was an improved one that got shot with no warning over a weekend.
I think your commentary on the issues with the industry of film schools and the film industry are completely accurate and valid, and I'm really glad that this video exists because it feels like you've just captured lightning in a bottle. Your films are amazing and I'm super glad that they exist and that they're all out there for us to discover, and be touched by and feel inspired by them. It's been years since I made anything, but this has left me feeling really inspired to try something in MY WAY again, in the easy way, the "just do it" way. Thank you for that. Really.

I've had my stuff rejected from festivals. I'm doing everything I can to "make it." I direct, write, and film a show with lots of people; had a Hollywood actor come in from LA; and self publish a magazine that goes along with the series. Your video has cheered me up and motivated me. Thank you.

Thank you for the inspiration, Joel! I really needed to hear a lot of this. I've made films all my life, but recently hit a big wall worrying too much about quality. And you're right, the best way to quality is through quantity. Time to make some movies!

Man, I really needed to hear this. I've been an 'aspiring' filmmaker for a very long time, but have never really made much since graduating from university almost 5 years ago. I've always had that mentality that I can't make anything unless I at least have some actors, or some good locations etc, or if I have a film just set in my house that it will be boring, but that it clearly not true at all. I found your channel about a week ago and have been watching so much of your content and it, along with this video, has really inspired me. I've written many shorts/couple of features over the years that I'm really bloody proud of, but never made them, and over the last few months I've been writing tonnes of ideas for comedy shorts, and discovering your channel has given me a much needed kick to actually make some. In the UK we are currently in lockdown more or less, but while I'm inside there is nothing stopping me from making ideas by myself, as you demonstrate so well how easily that can be done, and the ideas be great at that. I'm going to start making films on here, then when I can see my friends again I can start filming things with them too, but there's no excuse for me not to start now.

Something that I feel I needed to hear. Thank you. I'm currently preparing for a feature film, and I feel the perfectionist within me is making it a bigger deal than it is.

You are a good person Joel.
I can tell.

As someone who spent the last half decade going through the beast that is "art school" its really good to hear someone else feel this way. It's overwhelming to think about trying to break into the film industry and i constantly tell myself I should just make things on my own. I'm so glad I found your channel. Thank you for being a genuine and wonderful human ♡

I thought your "not a real movie" Island was better even than The Dark Knight, a real movie that I really didn't care for.

Joel you’re my favourite filmmaker working today, I love your work, you’re a great inspiration to me, you’re incredible! It’s because of you I’m making my own movie in October... you’ll be the first people I’ll send it to, It’d mean the world if you’d watch it!! Thanks, solly!! Thank

This is so wholesome. I don't know what that really means, I've never used that expression before... but if it means what I think it means, then this ramble is wholesome. *Smiles awkwardly into the camera for ten seconds*

I'm not pretending. I really love you, Joel. You are an inspiration!

Thanks so much for this man. I’m assuming we’re around the same age, and I am definitely one of those “”aspiring filmmakers””- and I am very discouraged and sad, like, all the time. Constantly, every day. I also went to film school (well, not Film School, but a decently-resourced film program at a public college) and I definitely believed that I could just be an ‘acronym job’ on film sets for a while and then some sort of magic would kick in 🤦🏼‍♀️ Jokes on me because I couldn’t even get PA jobs. Hah. I was doing some background actor work just to be present on film sets because I loved the energy so so much. I’ve kind of given up but this is helping me want to start trying again. I mean, I’ve already done some cool shit, I’ve made 16mm shorts and edited other people’s work and had fun doing it. In 2021 I’m gonna get a camera and start messing around with it. Thanks for the wisdom, and glad I stumbled across your channel!

Do you have something to write on?
Do you have something to write with?
Yes?
You are a writer. If someone reads what you write,
You are an Author.
Have you ever written bullet points?
A list?
A series of texts?
You are a poet.
Are you alive?
You are an artist.
This is not sarcastic
This is not exaggeration
This is not hyperbole
This is real.
There are no requirements
No barriers of entry
And no thresholds of "Quality" which need to be met
For your art to be real
And for it to be meaningful.
You are your limits.
And, a hard lesson I only realized recently was something Joel said so perfectly at 13:36.
There is no quality without quantity. Create. Keep creating. Never stop.
I would not be surprised if Joel was put onto the history books of Internet media, if not film/art as a whole: there is an artistic awakening rising from the internet, and a market of absurd artistry I expect will only growing exponentially. It's already starting: in the Backrooms, the SCP Foundation, Creepypasta, memes, hashtags, and, of course, KRplus. The internet is still new, and it's still under-estimated, even with how much society has integrated it already. You can tell how much it is under-estimated by just looking at how it's presented in the movie industry: either as a gimick people play with, people work around or use as a notification-system(emergency broadcast/simple communication), or a thing people need to fight against. But, this isn't just childishness, or small hobby-groups. It's not just a tool to communicate with family, be productive for the office, or get the latest news. This is a medium for art movements, protests, and communities.
Big things are happening on the internet, and things are either going to keep growing, and get a-lot more exciting and liberating, or the Monopoly Man is gonna buy the land to drill for oil. Stake your posts by delving into your interests and fascinations. Your life is yours. Your art is yours. Grab it while you can, and hold on tight, because this is gonna be one HELL of a ride.
P.S.A. From a fellow aspiring artist/internet user/human being

I'm a game designer and an artist, this was inspiring and the right kick in the pants to hear in order to start making things.
You put it so well, a lot of this stuff carries over to so many different mediums of art. Thanks for this Joel.

I'm not a filmmaker, but I'm a writer. I've written so much of my life, primarily for school, and occasional creative things here and there. The past year I started to write creatively more consistantly, but something I didn't realize until this video is I'm putting quality over quantity to the extreme. I've been discouraged, spending hours to get such a small amount of things. A few weeks ago it actually came somewhat naturally-I wrote something incredibly high-quality that didn't take that long. I thought that meant this was working. Now, I realize I'm spending more time trying to make "quality" than actually writing, and it's something I love to do. Putting this impossible level of quality over writing is making me not write, and worse than that, it's making me dislike writing, somewhat I love doing.
I feel like school might be the reason I've done this. Working for a grade for most of my writing, and putting so much time to get that perfect grade. The emotional turmoil and stress, but it finally resulting in a good grade, I thought that was the way to do it. Now I feel like it's more of a toxic system, valuing numbers over my own growth in writing. I know I can write a great paper, so I force myself to, and thirty hours later when I've finished it and gotten an amazing grade and praise, I walk away happy, then after a few days of calm it's back to suffering. I feel like I need to stop valuing the numbers as much, and get a grade that's "good enough." But now I'm being a hypocrite, because I'm writing my final paper for this year, and it's worth 20% of the grade, and it's an assigement I hate but I know I can get a good grade on, and I'm going to do it again. . . .
Hm. First part of this was pretty coherant, second part a bit of a ramble. I suppose I feel a bit trapped. For writing for school, I think I need to do it, but maybe I can let myself be a little more lax. For creative writing, I'm going to try doing quality > quantity.
Thank you :)

Been struggling as a film grad and this showed up on my recommendeds at just the right time to talk some sense back into me. Thanks

Hey Joel, this is the video that really pushed me to realise my dreams. I had been watching your stuff all of 2020, and I remember watching your feature films while sick in bed and just being in awe. After that I borrowed a camera and shot improv films that whole summer, and I still haven't returned it. Your style, kindness, humour make you such a wonderful person to watch and you feel like a friend I've known since I was a kid. Thank you so much man, we appreciate you.

I can relate to this. I studied animation in college. I ended up feeling like i was just getting funneled into a machine, conditioned into making animations in a specific way. I had a good time at college but I feel that If you have a computer you can make animations, any way you want, no need to go to college or university and get moulded into an industry drone. Thank you for this video, Joel.

I've been overthinking making art (again) for the past few months and this really resonates with me. I share a lot of these same sentiments but rarely follow suit myself. Thanks Joel, I really appreciate ya.

I've been writing my own music for a few months now and the "quantity over quality" part of this was something I definitely needed to hear.

Pretend That You Love Me reminded me of my early years of filmmaking. A camera, tripod, microphone and some friends reciting script. It's one of my favourite films for that reason.
You've shown me that I don't need three lenses, two camera bodies, a gimbal, lights and other expensive hardware. I haven't been making anything lately, and the pursuit of perfection is why.
Your channel is a breath of fresh air, thank you.

your impact on film is so much bigger than any one individual could know at this point.

This really resonated with me, even though I'm not a filmmaker but an academic feeling ground down by the quest for tenure. Universities will continuously dangle the promise of a permanent job in front of you, but they do not care about your wellbeing or even the quality of education you provide. And really, I did not ever want to be pipelined into the calculus teaching industry. So I'm opting out. I can prove my own theorems without being cheap labour for a system that has no space for me and is designed to keep me desperate.

This came at a strangely serendipitous time for me. I just graduated film school, made my thesis film, and just last night submitted it to many of those festivals you mentioned. I'm literally in the exact spot you illustrated, and this limbo state feels like uncharted territory, but the first five minutes of this video really demystified it.
It's very soothing to know that you've found a place for yourself and your art and you're advice about anyone being able to make a movie is really comforting. There is no price on creativity, and there is no threshold to the bounds of your imagination, despite the obstacles (tangible or not). As I've heard and shared with others, "the best movie is a done movie!" I appreciate you, the movies and shorts you make, and the willingness be so honest with your audience.
Thank you for your sage advice, and looking forward to the next anything.
Huzzah,
Jack Murtha

I was brought to this video from your 100,000 subscriber video and some of the things you said are exact thoughts I've had and actually talked about in the handful of live action videos I've put up. I want to make a lot more films but definitely hold myself back due to quality. But I also struggle with time. And time management. Haha I am inspired by your dedication to your craft and want to apply myself as you have yourself. Your stuff can be a little out there but in each video there are absolute gems of moments. Anyway, like a lot of others KRplus has kinda thrown your channel at my face. But I was intrigued and here I am diving into dozens of videos and even watching one of your feature length films. You're doing, as you said in one of your videos, the Lord's work. hahaha love the content and hope to have a feature length film to present one day. Keep up the amazing work. This is still only the beginning for you dude!

"You get quality through quantity." - Joel Haver (You put that on a mug and I'll buy it) I've been wresting with this idea of deminishing returns for effort for a while. I've made hundres of videos of all sorts, and I'm still learning every sing time. That quote puts to words the concept I've been wrestling with yet failing to explain. Thank you!

It's amazing how all that you said applies not just for filmmaking but for any kind of art that you always wanted to do but you didn't do because of what the world (or yourself) says to you. I always try to make things and I really just enjoy it and I think at the end... that's the point!. I know that everyone is so fucking talented and have something to say but sometimes we are so full of media things and all the money and all the fame and you look at yourself and say "I'm not like these artists, I'm just a normal person"... Thank you so much, Joel, for reminding us that we all are just people and we all have something to offer. I fucking love your work

I love you so fucking much, Joel. You are an awesome human being.

your videos and movies and personality have helped me more than anything else I've tried. 2 and a half years ago I was experimenting with drugs and psychedelics trying to cope with the passing of a close family member. when I finally processed that they're really gone, I had a full on mental breakdown with psychosis and anxiety attacks every day. my brain hit that "de-personalization/de-realization" switch to protect me so I was left numbed for a long time. you've made me do 2 things I couldn't before: laugh and cry. and it feels sooooo goooood to be able to do those again. I can't tell you how many times I've watched some of your videos. these days I'm still not back to my old self, but I can go outside and sit down and be calm and enjoy nature. it's been years since I was able to do that, and it could be a coincidence, but I only started improving when I found your channel, so thank you.
I plan to start making my own movies soon (once it stops being so hot).

As an "aspiring author" this is quite nice to hear too.

Joel, this is wonderful!

I needed to hear this, thank you Joel.

This was a good perspective man well done

I'd like to thank you, Joel. For attempting to encourage myself, and everyone to be creative, unapologetically.

Great video Joel! Thanks for sharing your insight.

This pandemic and lock down had me making lots of Mortal Kombat masks to wear over the plain white ones you buy and it sparked the creativity in me to make short films with them and my other predator stuff I made for a comic con. The only money I invested in my short films are just the materials for the masks, fortunately voicemod and shotcut are free to use, so I can do lots of stuff on my own. It's fun and I never imagined I could be acting in my own movies wearing cool cosplays, saying funny shit I wrote in one night and making cheap stands for my phone to keep the video steady lol.

This is the best advice and motivation I've heard! Thank you

So righteous Joel. You're speaking my language and I wanna be a part of this drive back to decency.

These videos where you talk about your perspective on film-making are always so motivational. Great creative lubricant for any filmmaker! :)

What a beautiful message, man. Thanks for sharing your passion and your work with all of us!

Thank you dearly for making this. Really really inspiring. For sharing all your films for free, it’s eye opening for me

Thats really thoughtful of you to watch peoples feature length film, especially someone as experianced with low budget independent film making such as yourself. Its really encouraging

Somehow it gives me joy every time I check your channel and the list of patreons is bigger and bigger.

I really needed to hear this. Thank you

This is really inspiring. You're right, everyone is cynical because they wish they had the courage to do what they really want to do.

these r exactly my feelings! i've been making films since eighth grade and film school has never been a goal. just glad that u r such a shining light of creativity and expression.

i really needed to hear this, thanks Joel

I'm happy I found your stuff, thanks for posting.

Very insightful. I'm so glad I found your channel. Keep up the great work, mate.

Thanks for sharing. I really needed to hear this.

You are truly a gem Joel. Thank you for being you ;).

This, and Joel Haver, is brilliant. I didn’t go to film school either but learned (am learning) by doing. I’ve done that with 7 novels and numerous theatre plays, and now film and animation. It’s punk. It’s taking power. Haver is a hero.

Very great video! And it's useful for people involved in other art forms aswell.

Thanks buddy!
I needed that!

Thanks Joel... I've had a problem with never being able to get through the editing process because it doesn't look like a "real" movie to me. But now that I've seen your films and have heard you talk, I understand it doesn't have to look like a "real" movie to make a person feel and think. I'm going to give it a shot.

This is EPIC thank you for doing what you do!

Thank you! This encouraged me 🙏