The world of indie filmmaking is full of pitfalls and heartbreaks. Making a decent, watchable film is hard and even if you succeed in making a good film, good luck getting it in front of anybody. Filmmaking is expensive, difficult, and not for the weak. Justin McConnell knows these highs and lows really well, in fact he spent five years of his life making a movie about it, talking to a wide array of indie filmmakers and producers along the way.
McConnell’s new film, Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business, is a journey that is five years of his life trying to get various projects off the ground, shooting shorts on a micro-budget, and trying to sell himself to producers and distributers. It’s a harrowing trudge through trenches and we feel McConnell’s failures and successes on a gut level.
If you’ve ever wanted to get into directing, writing, or producing films, Clapboard Jungle is a must watch, because as director Izzy Lee says in the film, to get into indie filmmaking you “have to be a fucking masochist.” McConnell’s way isn’t the only way, but he is a knowledgeable and likable person, who you’ll be rooting for, and what he’s created with this film is an eye-opening truth that can arm you for your own harrowing journey.
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