Exploring Filmmaking - Five Things I'm Doing to Get my Feature Film Made

Making movies is hard. I knew that going into this.

What I'm finding right now is that I'm just getting...impatient. I just want to be farther along in the process than I already am. Perhaps because I'm looking ahead and know this is going to take another two years (at least).

Unlike making a short film, tackling a feature is less of a sprint and more than a marathon (something I know a bit about as an avid runner). The biggest thing that's changed for me in the last couple weeks is a change in mindset.

I've set a date for when I'm going to shoot my feature film and now I'm just working towards it.

I've always been someone who gets things done. I mean, last year alone I made three short films, produced and directed a major theatre production, and wrote a feature screenplay. Last week, two separate podcasts (No Film School and The Screenwriting Life) mentioned an idea: just pick a date you're going to shoot and start working towards it. It seemed so serendipitous that I'm going to try it out with my feature Strangers.

I didn't go to film school so I learn wherever I can.

So here goes: I will enter principal photography for my debut feature film by the fall of 2026.

Whew. Having something concrete to work towards, with a concrete timeline, feels good. Now it's just a matter of making it happen... That shouldn't be too hard, right?

I've been steadily working towards this goal since the start of the year, so I thought I'd share an update of where I'm at and what I've been doing for anyone who's interested.

My process of getting projects off the ground is what I lovingly call the "spaghetti approach". Basically: throw lots of things at the wall and see what sticks. So here's five things I've been throwing at the wall. We'll see what sticks...

1. I'm submitting my short film of the project to film festivals.

Strangers is based on a short film (which is sort of like a proof of concept for the project) which I've recently finished submitting to film festivals. I just got the first big news! My short film got an Official Selection for its first festival!

Strangers has been selected and nominated for an award by the Okotoks Film Festival.

We're also nominated for an award for Best Visual/Practical Effects, which is really lovely. They announce the winners in about a month, so keep your fingers crossed for me. (By the way, this is the same short film I shared the 12 biggest lessons I learned making, in case you're interested in that.)

The festival is quite small, but it's really close to home so I'm excited that a lot of the cast and crew are going to be able to attend.

I've submitted the Strangers short to quite a few more festivals, so I'm hoping this will be the first of many selections for the project. In total, I submitted for 40 festivals, and I'm currently at a selection rate of 33%. Is that high? Is that low? I have no idea, but if this rate keeps up, I'll land in about a dozen festivals which I would be happy with.

My hope is that screening at some festivals (especially if I get into a big one like Fantasia, which just unveiled the first wave for their films for 2025) could help me launch the project into a feature. Winning an award would be a great way to start the festival season, so I'm stoked we got nominated. (You can see a peek of our "award-nominated" creature puppet in the poster image above.)

And totally unrelated to Strangers, another short film of mine got into a different festival! So I've got two short films premiering at two different festivals in the next month. That's something!

I've been trying to focus more on celebrating my wins lately. My default seems to be ignoring when something good happens because I'm so focused on the next project, the next step, the next big thing. So here goes a short little celebration for getting into some film festivals:

Okay, back to it.

2. I'm writing grants to get funds for development and production.

Grant writing has been taking up most of my time over the last month. I checked my notes, and I've now submitted nine grants so far in 2025—and it's only the first week of May! I'm doing two more next week which'll put me at 11 grants in about 20 weeks. Not too shabby. (Only four of the grants are for Strangers, I have other things going on.)

The big thing for me is that I submitted to Telefilm's Talent to Watch program for the first time, which is specifically for first-time feature directors. CSIF, the local filmmakers society, helped me a lot getting this one together, which I'm super grateful for.

If successful, the grant is big enough that it could fund the whole project as a micro-budget feature. So while I'm writing grants for smaller amounts to get through development, the Telefilm money is what I'm really hoping for. I spent pretty much the entire month of April working on it so... fingers crossed I guess?

As a side note, Telefilm just announced their big-budget English film slate for this year. It was great to see fellow Calgarian screenwriter Jason Filiatrault on the list, as well as Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock director Jordan Canning. It was less exciting to see that of the 12 projects selected, 0 were from Alberta. That's something I'd love to change...

My amazing producer Kaleigh Richards (left), and I (along with the amazing Dallas Soonias) worked on the big Telefilm grant together. Not like this because she's busy on set working on a cool new TV show, but we did it!

3. I'm sending my script to production companies and studios.

Well, so far I've shared the script with a development executive at one studio. The feature screenplay for Strangers isn't done yet, so I'm not sending it out widely. But this was someone I've developed a bit of a relationship with, so I sent an early draft. So more on this one later.

Mostly, I'm focusing my efforts on sending out the script to places I can get some feedback (and maybe add some legitimacy to the project).

4. I've been submitting the screenplay to labs and contests.

I've got a few submissions in to screenwriting contests and labs (remember when I wrote about that?). I did apply for the Frontières Market Short to Feature Lab and Blood in the Snow Horror Development Lab is on my list to do this month. I think some dedicated development (and learning time!) at a lab would be great for me and the project. Plus that'll help get the project out in front of more eyes in the industry.

For contests, I'm giving some of them a try. I don't think a screenwriting contest is going to make a huge difference in getting the movie made, unless I end up placing first somewhere prestigious. (Too bad they just changed the rules for the Nicholl Fellowship.) I submitted to the Page International Screenwriting Awards, and the deadline for the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition is coming up, so I'll be submitting for that.

Like I said, I'm doing a bit of a shotgun approach right now, just firing widely and seeing if I hit the mark somewhere. All this leads me to the thing I'm focusing the most for this month...

5. I'm making the screenplay the absolute best it can be.

After spending most of last month writing grants, I'm turning my attention to actually working on the script. Now that the short film is done and starting its film festival circuit, I have more time to dedicate to this.

I want a really solid script to follow up with in case the short does get any interest or buzz at festivals. I've finished four drafts of the feature screenplay, but I'm guessing I'll need to do another four drafts until I start feeling good about the script.

I sent out a work-in-progress to a handful of friends and industry people I trust. The feedback was great, even this early in the writing process. I boiled the notes down to basically one thing: the characters need more work. Readers said it in different ways, but it's clear that what's missing is deeper relationships and more complicated characters. So that's what I'm focusing on right now!

There we are. Five things I'm doing to help get my movie made. These are all sort of concrete, actionable things. But, possibly more importantly, here's a reminder (mostly for myself) of the four things I'm working on as part of my journey as a filmmaker:

1. I'm shifting my mindset from wanting to make a movie to making a movie.

2. I'm taking my time because I know this is a marathon.

3. I'm celebrating my wins when I have them.

4. I'm focusing on what's in my control (like making the script the best I can make it).

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I write about the process of making movies and my filmmaking journey.