Indie Films as Side Hustle

Hi there I am a full time engineer with steady career, family, kids etc. I have always been passionate about movies and want to get more involved in indie film making however I am able. I would like to learn how others have collaborated effectively on projects with limited free time. I have worked for 2 years in special makeup effects and have made some self directed short projects.
 
Yes I agree with you. Maybe hustle was referring more to the staying busy and learning aspect! My jnterest lies more in completing some creative projects and learning new skills, not relying on for income. That’s why I was mentioning the limited time, I have probably 10-15 hrs per week I can spend later in evenings and on weekends, so interested to see if anyone has been able to get indie films made in a similar scenario.
 
Yes I agree with you. Maybe hustle was referring more to the staying busy and learning aspect! My jnterest lies more in completing some creative projects and learning new skills, not relying on for income. That’s why I was mentioning the limited time, I have probably 10-15 hrs per week I can spend later in evenings and on weekends, so interested to see if anyone has been able to get indie films made in a similar scenario.
Most indie stuff is filmed on weekends. I don’t think your schedule will hold you back at allZ if you have less time it just means you schedule production an extra month later. This way you still can plan using only a limited set of hours per week
 
For my short films I did the preproduction work on my off time. Just like you are planning.
Then took a couple of days off to shoot. Then did the post on my limited free time. Exactly
as you are planning.

For my first few indie features it was no different except I took three weeks off work for the
18 day shoot.

Believe it or not, I made several “three-day-hell” features. We could pick up equipment at
3PM Friday and return it 10AM Monday for a one day rental. So we would make a movie on
the weekend. Pre and post was all done over several weeks (or months) in my free time.
Like you, about 10-15 hours per week.
 
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Thanks sfoster and directorik for your comments. It is reassuring to see there should be a way forward as far as my available time is concerned. I guess I am also used to working on my own mostly and the thought of trying to get other people’s schedules to work with my limited hours for a collaborative project makes me a bit nervous about networking. I tend to imagine that anyone else interested in film is putting 100% of their time into it.

I like the idea of the forced 2-3 day shoot.
 
What I found when trying to get other people involved is to have a plan
and stick to it.

When it comes time to shoot don't try to work around other people's
schedules. Set your shoot dates and find people who are willing to commit
to those days.

No one who is making a living is putting 100% of their time into making a
movie. Everyone who wants to make a movie is doing the work in their free
time. We're all in the same place.

Even as I made my living making movies (makeup EFX by the way) I spent
my limited free time working on MY movie. I'd be on set 12 hours and
traveling for 2 making it 14 hours from door to door. Then I'd put in a couple
of hours the movie I was making.
 
The above is truer than true.

I will add to that, the other thing you should do is set hard dates. Procrastination is a bitch. So let's say in your mind you know you can "probably" shoot in January. You are not ready but you can be. So don't let the "can be" get in the way. Set dates. Call people. When they ask the shooting dates don't say "I'm thinking sometime in January, if that works for you." Say "The shooting dates are January 12, 13, and 14." Now you have a goal. Work toward it. It will get done!
 
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