We were lucky to catch up with Thomas Proffitt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Thomas thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.
If I could talk to Thomas Proffitt in 2019 I’d tell him there’s no short cut to passion. That year I was making films I was passionate about. But then I dipped. I started focusing on making lazy comedy sketches, podcasts when I had nothing to say, basically trying to create content for content’s sake. My justification was “Well I’m just trying to break through the noise, so I need to aim for volume not quality in these certain things. Meanwhile I’m writing feature film scripts where I am putting quality and time into it.” But what I didn’t know at the time was if you don’t aim for your best with even the small projects, it effects everything else. Everything you do, comes from the same well, and if you poison one thing, it effects the rest of the water that is creativity. The features I was writing for years I had to scrap or need rewritten. You are the well of your creativity. So how would I tell myself to put this into action then? I’d take a good hard look at myself and say “what are you doing that matters, to you, and to the world?” I’ve had to do this recently. I just directed probably the best film I’ve ever done ‘Good Mothers’ (https://youtu.be/OQn_M8WrO8s), the performances, editing, score, cinematography, SFX MU, directing everything is top notch from what I’ve done before, but I’m not happy with the story or the script. It’s nihilistic and about darkness winning for the sake of being cool. I’m at a place where I think no one has time for that, especially me. I want to make films that set people on a positive track from now on. If I were to start over right now. I’d focus on finding peace in myself, creating something meaningful from said peace (a compelling script to produce and direct), and then work my tail off on that. That’s where I’m at now, and in doing that I’ve experienced the most positive growth of my life. I think that will also result in my greatest success some day, because it’ll be well deserved. The world rewards people who provide value, and if you find a way to make a positive impact with your work, you’re providing real value.
Thomas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My names Thomas Proffitt, I’m a writer, director, cinematographer and founder of Proffittable Productions. I started making stop motion animations when I was in elementary school over fifteen years ago. That evolved into a love of filmmaking, with a dream of making films that influence others the way my favorite writer directors influence me, i.e. Nolan, Tarantino, and Tarkovsky. Five years ago I founded my production company, and I’ve been making films professionally since. I do commercials and weddings, but narrative work is my real passion, either writing and directing my own films, or DPing films for hire. I’ve built up myself and my business to be a one stop shop for all things filmmaking. Even if you can’t dream it, we can most likely make it. Most recently I’ve launched a service I call Actor Seen Project (ActorSeenProject.com), where I produce scenes for actors to use in their demo reels. My hope is to, like everything else I do, over deliver. I want to give actors the experience of working with someone who is aspiring to be among the best, because that makes the difference in your work as an actor. And right now it’s difficult to impossible for many actors to land good roles to progress their career. It’s a tale as old as time at this point, the actors struggle through infinite auditions. My hope is to provide a service that can give actors a leap forward for the price of good headshots. It’s a dream job that allows me to make a living doing what I love, narrative work, so I can hone my skills. But my greater mission is direct my first feature film, which I’m very close to doing, I just have to get the script right. After that, it’s continuing to make features and build up a filmography of projects I’ve written and directed, that I’m proud of, and provides value to the world. If I can succeed at this, my greatest mission that I can dream of right now, is to invest in filmmakers who I believe in, and their films and give them the resources and freedom to pursue their individual voice. I think doing that is vital for helping launch a new wave of great cinema. I think cinema has a renaissance coming, better than any era we’ve ever seen, and it’s coming sooner than people think.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I recently heard Martin Scorsese was reported saying “The industry is over.” I agree, but I also agree with Scorsese when he said “Create your own industry,” or “Find your own way.” I think great films, and great cinema is a result of passionate filmmakers pursuing their voice as artists, devoid of external or business influences. Yes it’s important to hear feedback, bounce ideas off of people, but great films are not made by committee which is predominately how films are made today, and great eras in cinema are not made by great films alone. Great cinema comes from great filmmakers. Look at the “film school brats” Scorsese, Spielberg, Lucas, DePalma, Coppola, etc. They took over after I hear the studio heads started dying out, and the people who took their places didn’t know what they were doing, so they hired a bunch of crazy film school students, gave them a bunch of money and barely any supervision, something that’s unheard of today, and we ended up with so many classics, Taxi Driver, Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, the list goes on. Now today? They’re trying to do remakes. You want a remake of that era? Do what they did right, find talented filmmakers and invest in them, and give them freedom. It doesn’t even have to be a lot of money per filmmaker or film. Now I agree that the industry is over, and I think that’s a good thing. I think the days of filmmakers depending on studios should be over. Make your own film now, what’s stopping you? Don’t get bogged down by equipment and resources, make due with what you have and focus on building craft. If you don’t have money, write a great script, and get people to volunteer, or make deals. Money is an obstacle, not an impenetrable wall. Will can blast through any wall. If it matters to you that you make great films someday, awesome, do it! Tarantino would have made ‘Reservoir Dogs’ himself for his own money if he didn’t find funding. I think he still would have become very successful. Christopher Nolan spent three years and six thousand dollars making his directorial debut ‘Following’ on weekends when his cast and crew were off work, and he’s the best filmmaker in the world right now. We have the internet and democratized technology, use it, make your film, and sell it yourself. I think my first feature I might be doing just that, but I might be releasing the film one scene a week on YouTube in chronological order, but give people the option to buy the full film immediately the way it was meant to be seen, and at the end of each video have a call to action on where to buy and watch it. This might not work, but I think it’s worth trying. The upside to radical ideas like this is great, and we live in exciting times. YouTube has access to the biggest audience in the world, bigger than theaters in any time in history. And if you want to shape culture the way Shakespeare knew, you need to make it accessible to all classes of people. Cinema is about making films, and people experiencing them, either in theaters or on the web, and as far as business goes, your goal isn’t to be greedy, just to make a profit, so you can continue doing what you love, making movies for the world.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This is without a doubt the most useful leadership book I have ever read, nothing else comes close. It’s a simple and elegant concept that was carved in blood. Take ownership of everything. Everything that can go wrong, is your responsibility. Everything your superiors, your subordinates, your coworkers do wrong, is your responsibility. This is a challenge, I struggle with it, but I strive to master it. When you demonstrate extreme ownership, people around you do the same. You take accountability for their mistakes, they learn to do the same for yours. I’d rather work with a group who’s accountable for each other, than casting blame for their own faults. What if something isn’t your fault? Take accountability for it, eventually you’ll figure out how you or your team could avoid facing that problem in the future. But you won’t learn this if you don’t start. Extreme Ownership is thinking creatively about how you can expand your sphere of influence in any leadership situation. Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” So take Extreme Ownership, and you’ll be surprised how much influence you didn’t know you could have. Plus, if you show people you care more about them, and the mission, than yourself? You’ll be surprised how willing they are to have your back in difficult times.
On a spiritual note, there’s a few books that have helped me find inner peace, reading the words on the page, or hearing them in audio book form soothes my soul, or helps me be accountable for my own suffering in life. They are in order of when I found them in life. ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius. ‘The Dao De Jing’ by Lao Tzu. And Eckhart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’, and ‘A New Earth’. All of these books have played a huge role in helping me find inner peace, which I think is vital for human beings to evolve into their greatest potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://proffittableproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proffittableproductions/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@proffittableproductions
- Other: Actor Seen Project, professional actor scenes for the price of good headshots: https://actorseenproject.com/ Good Mothers, the short film featured in the photos: https://youtu.be/OQn_M8WrO8s
Image Credits
Stills and photos are from my company’s project ‘Good Mothers’. Stills from footage are lit and captured by myself (Thomas) and the BTS Photos are captured by Miranda Griffin. My company owns the copyright for both stills and photos.