February 12, 2026
We all remember the scene, buck-naked actor Cuba Gooding Jr., playing athlete Rod Tidwell, demanding better representation from his agent, the groveling Jerry Maguire, played by our old friend Tom Cruise…But wait…that wasn’t the “Show me the Money” scene, that was the “Help me, Help You” scene.
We will get back to that in a moment.
The “Show me the Money” scene happens later, when Jerry is losing clients faster than the seconds tick, the incoming calls are dropping like flies. “What can I do for you?” asks Maguire, “It’s a very personal and important thing”, reply’s Tidwell, “hell it’s a family motto” -“here it is…”
He whispers with intent.
”Show me the Money”!
Now on with the show:
Get any group of filmmakers together, present company included, and we will all talk about the projects we are developing. The amazing films we want to make and the opportunity we yearn for. However, the one topic that is hardly ever breached is:
HOW THE F^%$ ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!?
If you actually broach the question, and I have, you can hear the pin drop, the record scratch, and the mouse fart. This simple question will kill passion and inspiration, it will drown out the amazing, exciting, exhilarating, and infectious energy. It will suck the air out of the room. In essence, it’s a buzz kill, or as my kids used to say, A Dream Crusher!
Cut To:
Social media, we see hundreds of posts ranging from “I Will Make You A Great Screenwriter” to “How To Sell Your Screenplay in 30 Seconds” and, of course, “I will show you exactly how to fund your movie”, gurus who, with little to no experience, will tell you “Exactly How to Get Your Movie Made.” Except that the problem here-in lies, it’s all ‘wonderful’ practice without any real substantive path to achieve such success! Imagine for a second, if a basketball coach from the local High School offered classes on how to be the next Michael Jordan, or a local small business owner said they could make you the next Richard Branson…I assume you get my point, good intentions perhaps, but big picture end results, TBD.
(Note: Yes, I do understand that there are teachers in the world who can be a stepping stone for the success of someone else. Of course, many successful people had teachers, instructors, and maybe gurus who never attained mass success. But I also accept that many successes are a culmination of many teachers, instructors, and gurus, as well as luck, ability, and chaos…My, my, that was verbose.)
To my knowledge, I haven’t seen Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Greta Gerwig Et al. (fill in favorite director, producer, screenwriter here ____________) offer classes on how to be successful like them. Perhaps because there is no magic bullet, rhyme or reason, nor a common trajectory.
But you know what is?
MONEY – The one and only common denominator, as elusive to filmmakers as the Elixir of Life to humankind. (The funding to make a film, that is, regardless of personal wealth, let’s be clear.)
I therefore pontificate, at the risk of offending a few:
If any self-proclaimed guru or famously successful filmmaker were capable of quantifying the definitive opportunity, through omniscient, divine foreknowledge on how to raise money and make a film made, then they would.
(Pontificate: to express one’s opinions in a way considered annoyingly pompous)
Am I missing something here? Anyone?
I know I have written about this before. Mostly from my own perspective on the many angles I am exploring to raise at least One Million Dollars. Now, I am asking FFS, can we all talk about the T-Rex in the room? This goes way beyond pink elephant-sized proportions. This gets into the real nitty-gritty of it all, where the rubber meets the road.
OK, Jimmy, calm down, let’s reset the clock and put your exasperation on the back burner for a bit.
Sorry folks, what he is trying to say is:
Essentially, it really does begin and end with access to financing, plain and simple.
Show Me The Money!
Seemingly, the only way to actually make a film is with MONEY! My former college professor, Stu Beach, stated it so eloquently at the end of a short film he made:
“Disney lied to me, it’s not about having imagination, it’s about money”
Anyway to raise capital, money, cash, moolah, cheddah to make a film based on a great, good, or terrible screenplay, MONEY IS the great elixir, the damn-breaker, the rainmaker. Money enables the next ‘it’ director, starry-eyed filmmaker, or dreamer with no experience, to actually make a film.
Art is subjective, always was, always will be; however, filmmaking just happens to be one of the most expensive, wide-reaching (in terms of skilled craftspeople required) art forms that I know of.
So, please, can we have honest discussions? Group support in place of billing for “expertise”. Proactive paths leading forward to funding independent films? Just think about the accolades, the rewards, and the career opportunities created for such efforts! Think long term, think investment in the future.
(By Independent film, I define them as such: Under $5m, no studio attached, no major star ‘attachment’, no big-name uber wealthy ‘families’ involved directly, an original screenplay, a good, if not great, screenplay, oh, and reality check…distribution…TBD)
Cut Back To: Locker room scene in Jerry Maguire reference; there are so many good people/ indie filmmakers, pleading for better representation.
Every filmmaker, screenwriter, agent, manager, producer, actor, DP, AD… they/we are all Rod Tidwell, and we are all Jerry Maguire too! The talent, the advocate, agent, and client all rolled into one. This is a team effort, people, collective, and segmented into regions, nationwide, and neighborly. Being proactive locally and supportive globally.
Can I see and hear from the people in the back, say it like you mean it brothers and sisters, people of all genders!