In Advisor Studio sessions, film and television industry professionals share field experiences and insights into their specific areas of craft, including writing, directing, and producing for TV and film. 

Filmmakers Miguel Silveira and Missy Hernandez decided to make a feature film about the 2020 presidential election just two weeks before Election Day. In this Advisor Studio, you will learn how they conceived, wrote, and directed The Last Election and Other Love Stories, a powerful snapshot of a pivotal moment in recent history.

In this recorded session, Silveira and Hernandez reveal the storytelling and production planning tactics they used to get their film made quickly and cheaply. Both professional educators, Silveira and Hernandez provide a blueprint to help your next project, regardless of time or budget constraints. This session is designed as a mindset reset to get you out of your head and into production.

The session begins with an overview of “classic” storytelling structure and traditional approach to film production. In a case study of The Last Election and Other Love Stories, the pair discusses why and how they stretched or abandoned certain filmmaking “rules” to fit the project they were crafting for the resources and time they had, without sacrificing safety or their filmmaking ethics. They also explore the challenges and benefits of hybrid storytelling and share insights into how to inspire collaborators into taking this journey with you.

Ideas addressed in this session will include:

• Why aim to make a film in one day/weekend?
• How your lack of money can become your biggest asset
• Key production questions to consider:
• What do you have?
• Who do you know?
• What do they have?
• What do you have… to offer?
• The “game structure” of filmmaking:
• Puzzle pieces
• Working backwards
• Making friends with your shooting ratio
• Three questions to keep your audience hooked

This Advisor Studio is designed to benefit filmmakers at any level – those just starting as well as those stuck in the long grind of developing and financing a passion project. It is for anyone who has ever talked themselves out of making a film because they thought it was too hard, too expensive, or too ambitious for their skill level. This session demonstrates how to combine story and production brainstorming to bypass production challenges before they exist.