6 Filmmaking Tips from Lynn Shelton

The director of ‘Humpday’ and ‘Outside In’ shares her advice on making a career for yourself in the industry.

As a director, producer, writer, editor, and actor, Lynn Shelton is a multi-talented filmmaker. Starting out in the industry as a film editor, Shelton transitioned to directing with her first feature, We Go Way Back, which was released in 2006. Since then she’s made a handful of other films, including Your Sister’s Sister and Touchy Feely, and she’s helmed many episodes of major television shows including Mad Men, Fresh Off the Boat, and New Girl.

Because she’s been so successful in her career, interviewers regularly ask her how she does it and how others could learn from her. We’ve collected some of her lessons newcomers to the field of filmmaking below.

Make Your Movie

If you’re an aspiring filmmaker, first and foremost, you’ve got to be proactive. At the 2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards, during her acceptance speech for the “Someone to Watch” award, Shelton gave some motivational advice:

“Anyone of you who are out there thinking that you can’t make a movie because nobody is stepping up to the plate and giving you money and permission to do it. You can. You can do it. You can empower yourself. You can pick up a camera. The technology is there. You can get your friends together and you can make a movie. You should do it. Now.”

Another essential part of encouraging good relationships with your collaborators involves being open to conversing with those funding your project about your creative choices as well as theirs. Shelton told Variety in 2014 that being inclusive in your creative process is key:

“It’s very easy to have creative freedom when you’re making movies for a very small amount of money. The more money involved, the more complicated it becomes because there are people involved who want to make sure they’re not throwing their cash down a big hole. As the director, you need to be ready to have conversations with those people and make sure everyone feels heard and feels part of the project.”

A Background in Editing Can Help

If being a director is your primary goal, understanding editing is an essential part of the job. Shelton expressed to MovieMaker magazine in 2015 how her editing background helps her on set,  especially with improvised films:

“Another adage proclaims that the final script is written in the edit room. Once again, this is especially true with improvised films. I’ve often felt that one advantage I have in directing improvisation is my background as an editor. As the actors are finding their way through a scene, my editor brain is keeping track of whether or not we are gathering enough material to sew the scene together later. Sometimes the cameras will roll for 10, 20, 30 minutes on what will ultimately be sharpened into a five-minute scene. As long as the meat is in there somewhere, my editor and I will be able to hone in on it later. Make sure to have an excellent editor on board when you set out to make this kind of film. If they’ve had experience editing documentaries or other improvised performances, all the better.”

Shelton with Emily Blunt on the set of ‘Your Sister’s Sister’ (IFC Films) 

Acting and Directing are Different

While a background in acting can also be advantageous to an aspiring director, don’t get caught up in thinking knowing one means knowing the other.  In an interview with IndieWire in 2015, Shelton recommended that actors study up on how to direct other actors:

“I wish someone had told me that acting is not the same thing as directing. Having experience working with actors as another actor does not automatically translate into being able to direct them. It gives you a great deal of empathy for the process (which is extremely useful) but directing actors requires a separate skill set and communication strategy than those used in acting.

“If you have an acting background, I recommend that you take a ‘Directing Actors’ class or at least read a book or two on the topic before taking on the challenge. Judith Weston’s ‘Directing Actors‘ was a helpful starting point for me. If I’d read it before directing my first feature instead of after, it would have made the process that much easier on both my cast and myself!”

Of course, she does see a benefit to having an acting background and says she continues to look for some acting work every now and then to remind herself of the experience. In the Paste interview, she says:

“It just keeps me empathetic. It reminds me of the fact that everybody is working their asses off on a film, but nobody has a harder job than the actor. And it is so easy to forget that! Especially if you keep working with higher and higher caliber actors. Because they are the ones that make it look so easy. They make it look like nothing. They make it look like breathing. But it’s not. It is freaking hard to be un-self-consciously, emotionally available in the most artificial situation. You’re doing scenes out of order. You have to do the scenes again and again and again…I think the thing I offer most as a fellow actor—or, really, a former actor—is empathy. For [the actor’s] experience. And the vulnerability. And what that costs you.”

Breathe

When asked for some quick advice on Twitter in 2014 Shelton replied:

@Zach_Baum Remember to BREATHE!

— Lynn Shelton (@lynnsheltonfilm) November 5, 2014

What We Learned

If you want to be a filmmaker, you can’t wait around for someone to hand you the money or the resources to do it, because that may never happen. Instead, take it upon yourself to gather friends and affordable equipment and make your movie. Then try TV and return to film again. Remembering to respect and value those who work alongside you is necessary and will strengthen your project overall. Bringing other talents you may have to the director’s chair, such as editing or acting, can be beneficial to your project, but don’t kid yourself into thinking they’re the same things. Filmmaking can be a very rewarding job, but also a stressful one, so remember to also stop and take a breath every now and then.

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