The Creator Problem: Why Good Movies Are Hard to Make

By Kent Thalman

Everyone today is talking about the problems facing the entertainment industry. Box office numbers are struggling, indie films rarely turn a profit, and consumers scroll streaming channels endlessly with nothing to watch. We believe the cause of these and other issues cannot be found on a spreadsheet, but are woven into the fabric of our society and the entertainment industry at large.

Hollywood is known for being difficult to "break into" and even more difficult to survive, especially for families. Divorce, betrayal, and ego-driven competitiveness abound. But success and artistry are built upon principles of leadership and service. The cause of familial collapse in our industry, and the vacuum of inspiring content have a single cause: the people producing a majority of our content lack values and mentorship. Many of the world's great filmmakers came up in a system full of mentorship. They were raised in a culture that prioritized sacrifice, service, love and forgiveness. Obviously, things were never as rose-colored as we like to imagine. There has always been an appeal to base-human instincts, even back then. But in the midst of the animal farm, there was also a powerful voice for our humanity. This human voice can exist again. In a world where storytelling has been abandoned in favor of message-making, its restoration depends on craftsmanship and character.

In order to build these two things, let us address the filmmaker. If you are a filmmaker, keep reading. If you’re not, you can still make a difference. I will get to that in this article.

For a filmmaker to build their craft, they must grow their character, and vis-a-versa. The number one enemy I have experienced personally to art is fear. Fear of failure (financially and artistically, which bounce back and forth). Fear of being hated by my crew. Fear of disappointing my family. Fear of having chosen the wrong career…and so on. None of this fear serves me as an artist. However, the facing of it, and growing beyond it does.

Improving my craft comes from both knowledge and practice. And it helps to dispel my fears. Reading great literature and screenplays, and watching great films help me demystify the process and open my imagination. Some things like to charade as knowledge, and I have learned from personal experience that they are wolves in sheep’s clothing: principally social media and YouTube, and even some blogs and movies, especially new movies. Despite the arguments against higher education in many circles, my experience in film school opened a world of vast knowledge which has blessed my life and career on a daily basis.*

Improving character is a somewhat more difficult task, but it can be done, one day at a time. For me, the greatest benefits to my character have come from:

1. Devoting my life to a Being and a cause greater than myself. My purpose here is not to evangelize, but I know of no greater way to change my life and my inner self than to abandon selfishness and give my will to some Higher Power.

2. Not putting off starting a family in favor of a career. Again, I do not intend to preach my way of life, and everyone’s life will look different for various reasons. I make no moral judgements. But I have found that those that harbor the belief that delaying marriage and/or children will allow them to get ahead faster in the film industry are disappointed in the results of that decision. And I’ve witnessed no correlation between delaying families and the realization of film-career goals. However, (and this is 100% personal) becoming spouses and parents has stretched and influenced my wife and I’s art beyond what would have been possible otherwise. This of course is secondary to the richness and challenges it has brought to our personal lives outside our careers.

3. Seeking to serve, rather than seeking to win. The more disciplined I am each day, the more I can bless my family. The harder I work, the more I can hire my fellow artists and friends and contribute to my community. The better my skills, the more of a steal my clients feel they are getting. The more time I spend with my children, the more humble and unselfish I become (hopefully). The more I serve others without reward, the greater my love and sense of self-worth grow. The more my love grows, the more I can contribute as an artist.

You may be asking, “what does all this character building have to do with my film career?” At least one very important answer to this question is that all artists will inevitably make what they are. That isn’t to say that flawed people can’t make wonderful films. We’re all flawed in different ways. But one can be flawed and have learned character in a personal crucible of mortality, or they can resign themselves to moral corruption in exchange for temporary success. Both choices will be reflected in the cinema we make and share as individuals and as a society.

The danger of ignoring our inner life in favor of a craft-only approach is that it inevitably leads to the problem most filmmakers and audiences are encountering today: message making over storytelling. Message making is what we do when we are afraid to explore all sides of ourselves as human beings. We reject one side, and want to explore the side we think all people (including ourselves) should be. The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t work. People do not usually change their beliefs when encountering message-focused media. In fact, they dive deeper into their current world views, especially when watching something that opposes their ideas. The other loss this causes is the missed opportunity of connecting across our differences. When an artist becomes capable of true honesty in their work (the enemy of this honesty is fear, remember), they are able to connect with others that might look, speak, vote, and live totally differently than they do. The great truth is this: charitable cinema can heal the world, because love creates change without the need for lectures. Love inspires the best in all of us. Thus, learning to be honest with oneself, and love oneself anyway, is the artist’s great burden and opportunity. 

This is not to suggest that great films have no point of view. A message comes from a filmmaker’s conscious beliefs. A point of view comes from their unconscious character. For a filmmaker with integrity, those two things are almost if not exactly the same. This unity of self requires a lifetime of work and humility.

Weak character mixed with excellent craftsmanship leads to toxic art. Strong character with poor craftsmanship leads to uninspiring sermons, but not cinema. Charitable character mixed with excellent craftsmanship leads to powerful stories.

Addressing these two issues (career building through character growth and craft knowledge) is the principle focus of the Film and Family Foundation. Through the Feature Filmmaker Academy, the Foundation sponsors students who want to make films in a way that strengthens both the filmmakers and the audiences. This claim is not centered around message-driven films, as most “family focused” cinema tends to be, but rather on enabling filmmakers, regardless of their personal circumstances, to have the tools, knowledge and inner fortitude to be able to create something honest. We believe that anyone, anywhere can make a career in feature filmmaking, no matter their family size or make up, as long as they are creative, put first things first, and are willing to put in the work to learn and make. We have done this with five children and without sacrificing our abandoning values. It has been difficult, but worth it.

You can help by subscribing to and sharing this blog or our podcast, Film and Family. You can also donate to our foundation, which enables us to continue to create free educational resources, and also supports scholarships for future Feature Filmmaker Academy students. Making your donation recurring lays the foundation for the next generation of honest storytellers and great artists which will come back to bless you, the entertainment industry, and families across the globe that connect through these shared stories.

*Please note that I graduated from a university that allowed me to graduate without debt, by working a part time job and relying on scholarships and/or FAFSA. Taking out a loan the size of a small mortgage to pay for a film degree may or may not be worth it. That’s for you to decide.