Comments on: Why I Lived out of a Suitcase for Ten Months (And Why You Should Too!)

By: Shawn Ryan on Writing for the Screen: ‘Lead as Interesting a Life as Possible’ - NoFilmSchool

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:21:13 +0000

[...] When starting this site I felt the same way Shawn did, which was that I didn’t have enough life experiences on which to draw, and I thought the best thing I could do would be to put myself through “life school” as opposed to film school. Thus the name of this site. Writing is challenging for everyone, but I think it’s especially difficult when you’re young, and I’m only now starting to feel like I’ve logged enough miles to have a sense of where I’m going. And of course I agree with his “sleep on people’s couches” advice since I did exactly that for a year. [...]

By: Anton

Anton — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:29:14 +0000

Koo, you made me think a lot. I have a family and a kid, but the principles are always the same. The only thing is that the whole family should make a choice, not only you

By: Why I’m Ordering a RED SCARLET-X, and How it Relates to My Feature ‘Man-child’ - NoFilmSchool

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:59:29 +0000

[...] a car (or paying car insurance), by refraining from moving into a new apartment, by saving money living out of a suitcase for a year, by not going on extravagant trips or buying really nice clothes, and by not having health [...]

By: David W

David W — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:41:23 +0000

Great article! Being a working cinematographer (less as of late) a newish father (she is three) and a teacher of film for the last two years in Hollywood, I can appreciate many if not all of your points. Certainly, to each their own, I went back to school, film school (AFI) for a MFA ( I also knew I wanted to teach) after 8 years in a production environment. I only now, after being out of school for over ten years have realized that film school was worth it. Why? I actually believe even after eight years on set(s) that I became a better filmmaker for it.
The two schools if you will of thought of learning (the film set), is your “school” or you can take the traditional route. I believe there is needs to be a blending of the two.
That said the one major thing you have not mentioned although eluded to was that you had a great support system, Zack. Or if I’m mistaken, thats implied. If so this is huge. Going it completely solo is a slightly different beast. By no means am I trying to take from what you have accomplished, amazing and frankly you can look yourself in the mirror and say:” I’m doing it”. That said the TWO of you were there along this journey to kick each other in the ass, and not it the head!
Cheers, keep pushing cant wait to see the finished feature…..

By: Poll: What Do You Want to See in the Next Version of NoFilmSchool? - NoFilmSchool

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:21:48 +0000

[...] in January of last year, which makes this design 20 months old. It was the best I could do while living out of a suitcase and devoting a maximum of one week to the photoshopping of this design (I didn’t want to [...]

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:22:44 +0000

Hey mate, thanks for your article,
haven’t read it yet but am planning on leaving for the road, and i’m sur it’ll be useful.
Cheers, all the best, i’ll get back to you in a year or two !

By: Hours Don’t Lie: Why Tracking Time = Getting Things Done (and Why to Live Abroad) | NoFilmSchool

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:20:15 +0000

[...] out enough time to achieve those dreams. Hours don’t lie. Remember in my case these are actual hours spent working (most of them out of a suitcase), not hours spent at a place of work (which might involve a large portion of time surfing the web or [...]

By: Independent Web Creatives: Get $6,000 of Software Tools for $99 with the SXSW ‘Lean Startup Bundle’ | NoFilmSchool

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:24:12 +0000

[...] the Lean Startup Bundle. Designed for “lean” startups that keep the overhead low, as I did in order to launch NFS, this particular app bundle includes a lot of tools for independent web workers. App bundles are [...]

By: Petey

Petey — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:00:30 +0000

Wow, this is a really helpful but also very difficult thing to read after spending the past 11 months “on sabbatical” using unemployment income and savings. The problem is, I didn’t do much creatively with that time — except travel and recovering from workaholism — and am now considering taking a job again up in Seattle, which would mean leaving Portland and my documentary film class that starts tomorrow night, which I’ve already paid for (!).

The tough truth is that some of us can’t get our creative act together when we’re working 50+ hours/week but also can’t do it when we’re on sabbatical because we get lazy or don’t know where to start. NoFilmSchool has been really helpful in showing me that there is another way and there are tools online to help me start!!! Thank you.

By: Walden

Walden — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:39:34 +0000

Hi – interesting read… particularly to me. I’m probably the only “homeless” guy in the country with his own TV/Cinema production studio (I’m defining my studio as being my 5D Mark II plus my computer & Adobe CS5 Premiere Pro/Production Premium suite, and defining being homeless as not having a normal home or apartment that I own or rent… currently I flop in an old trailer that leaks torrents in most every room and doesn’t even lock up… the owner doesn’t mind me staying here since it makes it less likely that vandals will mess the place up any further – but my spot here isn’t guaranteed & at any time I could be obliged to move on). I did just “retire” this last year (started taking my social security benefits early), so I now actually have an income… looking forward to traveling in Latin America (so your stint in Costa Rica got my attention) and in fact may relocated down there somewhere in a more permanent fashion. I speak Spanish fluently, and am conversant in Portuguese as well, and I hope to find ways to produce some income on the side using my 5D Mark II for video projects & possibly some stock photography. Video projects might include some documentary productions, how-to videos, and perhaps some video-for-hire stuff. I might even consider a blog as well. I enjoyed the recounting of your experiences… keep up the good work!!!

By: Markus Haken

Markus Haken — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:14:01 +0000

Very inspiring post, Ryan. Thank you for this. You sharing your expierences has been so helpful for me.

By: xlerate

xlerate — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 06:42:05 +0000

Great article.
I admire how through all of your couchsurfing, surgeries & apartment hunting… you have maintained a crisp blog.

And the DSLR guide should get one mention a week.
It is fantastically laid our and visually appealing.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:54:29 +0000

Man o man…was this timely. I am a old film guy who really wanted to be indie. But it has taken many years for gear to evolve and to be economically viable.
In August of this year I signed off the board of my software startup, I sold all my shit, bought a T2i and an H4 and moved to Mexico to write a script. I had always been a big fan of el mariatchi and I had grown up in Mexico as a kid. So I have spent the last 3 months very lean, and writing the screenplay.
I have struggled with not having an income, but am soon to change my status here that will allow me to work as an artist and also put me into one of the lowest taxes in the world. My big concern was not displacing any other people in the process…so far so good.
Thanks Ryan for your awesome site and for your great DSLR Cinematographers guide.

By: How to Save $700 on a DSLR - NoFilmSchool

How to Save $700 on a DSLR - NoFilmSchool — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:05:54 +0000

[...] it’s probably not worth your time to jump through these hoops. But since I’ve been living frugally for a bit, it was worth it for me to follow this method. In fact, if that $700 figure seems hypothetical and [...]

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:06:29 +0000

Did Will Smith “really focus on one thing” though? He was one of the biggest crossover artists in terms of being a rapper AND an actor. You can also add film producer, TV producer, and record producer to his resume…

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:10:27 +0000

Robin — glad to hear that working on other people’s projects has been rewarding for you. I haven’t worked on very many adequately budgeted (time or money-wise) shoots and so my experience hasn’t been as stress-free as yours, but I can see how that could be the case as long as folks are organized and competent. As for relationships, it can be a challenge and/or it can be a help — every situation is different!

Andrew — thanks for the article, I agree with much of what Ken says on his self-sustaining site.

By: Robin Schmidt

Robin Schmidt — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:00:40 +0000

Yo yo, as always it kind of feels like you and I are living parallel lives at the moment Ryan! I worked like an absolute whore for my own production company teaching myself a number of different trades in order to pursue my long-term career goal of drama. Winning a big competition has helped me financially, but mainly being smart with my finances, investing in the right technology (namely DSLRs) has also assisted, but being able to pick and choose my hours, devote almost 100% of my time to drama projects that didn’t originate in my own head has also been massively useful. When it’s not your baby you can be way more objective, learn way more and stress less. When I embark on my feature project next year it will be with so much more experience on the ground. I would never have been able to contemplate taking the time to do that this year without all the groundwork laid over many many years busting a gut when I was younger. Be smart, work hard, but work smart and you’ll definitely find the rewards. However…. big caveat here… relationships do get in the way, and I take it you’re probably not in one right now or you’d never have been able to live the vagabond life!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:46:45 +0000

Thanks for the answer, Ryan! I kinda wondered if it would look something like that. Fwiw, I’ve found Ken Rockwell’s article on a related topic valuable: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/how-to-afford-anything.htm

By: Blake

Blake — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:18:38 +0000

Great post, Ryan.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:33:30 +0000

Right — if you have fifty grand in savings, this is more of a no-brainer. I didn’t, and as I say in the post, I had “basically enough to buy a used car.” I don’t know the exact amount as Mint calculates your net worth not only on your money in the bank but also on things you wouldn’t touch (like a 401k). The point of posting the graph is to show that it’s possible to do this without draining very much from the bank account — no matter what you start with.