The two assets that determine your career trajectory

Today’s newsletter is about two assets that rarely get discussed in the same conversation: time and ownership.

They are often treated as separate topics: time management on one side, deal structures on the other. But they’re connected, and understanding how they interact will change the way you approach your career.

Time is the asset most filmmakers undervalue

Most filmmakers treat time as a byproduct of development; something that passes while they wait for conditions to improve.

The script needs one more pass…

The finance plan needs one more piece…

The right moment hasn’t arrived…

The opportunity cost of this habit is made invisible by the belief that it will eventually come together.

That belief is expensive.

My first film Plague was made entirely outside working hours and shot during annual leave. That was the only window available at that point in life. I used it. The calculation wasn’t “when will this be ready.” It was: what conditions do I have right now, and can I build around them?

The producers who consistently get films made don’t wait for optimal conditions. They build against real external deadlines: a market, a tax incentive window, a cast attachment, a festival submission. These force decisions that would otherwise be postponed indefinitely.

Ask yourself: are you working on a project (or multiple projects) that has no external deadline?

If you are, what are you expecting the outcome will be?

When COVID hit in 2020, I treated the downtime as a runway. Three films went into production between mid-2021 and mid-2022 as a direct result. The time was the same for everyone. The difference was what was done with it.

Ownership determines where revenue flows, long after production ends

Films have long tails. Licensing deals, streaming revivals, territory sales, educational rights. These continue to generate revenue well after the press cycle has moved on. That revenue goes to owners.

Most filmmakers think about ownership too late, when the negotiation is already underway. By then, the IP may already have moved, the deal structure may already be set, and your leverage is limited.

The filmmakers who build careers with genuine financial independence are almost always the ones who took ownership seriously from the start:

• Securing IP before it became worth fighting over.

• Structuring deals that reflected their actual contribution.

• Understanding the difference between building something you own and building something for someone else.

Over a career, that difference compounds.

How time and ownership connect

Time spent building something you own is categorically different from time spent building something for someone else. Both require work. Both are productive. But the separation shows up years later, in revenue, creative control, and the ability to make the next film without asking for permission.

Development that stalls indefinitely costs you both. You lose the time, and often you don’t end up owning anything at the end of it.

This is the worst possible outcome for a filmmaker.

The practical implication is this: treat time as a finite resource with a real cost and treat ownership as a structural requirement that gets baked it at the start.

Filmmakers who understand both tend to move faster and retain more of what they build.

This is the key to success in the film industry.

See you next week.

Alexi