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Owned by Alec
For filmmakers facing the complexity of making great cinema. Find friends and gain clarity, direction, and insight to create films with confidence.🎥
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31 contributions to Roast & Promote 🔥📢
27d •
🎬 Brand new YouTube series, Day 1 of a 17-day series. Roast it — I can take it.
Some of you already know, I'm a SAG-AFTRA actor and a Professor of Communication, which means I've spent my whole career either performing or teaching other people how to communicate. And somehow this is the most exposed I've felt hitting "publish." The video: I'm doing a 17-day personal development system on camera, one day at a time, starting with why most people abandon their goals in the first week (spoiler: the famous "Yale goal study" everyone quotes was completely made up). I'd genuinely love feedback on the hook, the pacing, the thumbnail, anything. I'd rather know now than 16 videos from now. PS this is a 22 minute long video, no pressure to watch it for that long!!! I know the rules. https://youtu.be/1wlSlo4kcT8
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1 like • 26d
Just a comment on the picture quality: I would increase the contrast and possibly lower the exposure. Those would be the easy fixes. At the 40 s mark, there's an odd push in? If possible, remove that. It doesn't appear to be motivated by anything you're saying.
Jun 8 •
Roast My YouTube Video: “How to Make an AI Film”, Honest Feedback Only
I just posted a new YouTube video breaking down my full AI film workflow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZoOvT9GAZg I’m not looking for compliments. I need the real critique. Roast the video on: - Hook: did it make you want to keep watching? - Clarity: was the workflow easy to follow? - Delivery: where did I lose your attention? - Value: did it feel useful or too surface-level? Be direct. I’m trying to improve the content, not protect my ego. @Paulo Costa, The Roaster @Nick Nebelsky @Rb Rathore @Eric William @Gus Gray @Matthias Schweiker @Dave Hughes
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3 likes • 28d
I thought @Nick Nebelsky nailed the video issues well. Not much to add there. On the YT post, you might want to consider adding as a freebie at least one of the agents you talk about - mention that you can download the rest from the community. A giveaway like that can build trust and desire for more. One thing that worries me as a filmmaker: in this video, where you're choosing shots, there's no real consideration of location and how it figures into the choice of shots. You talk about keeping taste in your hands, but you're effectively handing over the job of production designer to the AI. Then the AI becomes the cinematographer and pumps out various shots based on the production design it pumped out. That's getting away from the human as the source of taste.... Fact is, making films with AI while maintaining the human as the source of taste asks the filmmaker to be all of the following: director producer scriptwriter production designer art director location scout scripty cinematographer composer editor sound designer colorist production manager (and since you're bound to need some fuel along the way, your own crafty 🤣) Point is, it's putting a lot on the filmmaker, and really, the only way this kind of endeavor is ever going to become artistically viable at scale is the way people like Zack London are already doing it: mini studios of experts brought together. Hmmm, just like a Hollywood production except on a vastly smaller scale.... Anyways, sorry for veering a bit off topic into my own rumination on this subject - your video is well-produced and thought out, and the graphics are primo. Keep up the good work.
May 31 •
Roast My About Page
Hello to my Crispy BBQ lovers! I have the draft of my ABOUT page. I need a roast. The work is not complete, but before moving on to the next chapter I think it is time to get the charcoal going, and some burgers and beer. https://www.skool.com/master-academy-film-photo-art/about I added a clear path of what to expect (two new thumbnails are coming up soon) and a video to explain what you can learn on my Master Academy. For now there is one video that I hope you will indulge in viewing as I think that if there are ever gonna be some real paying skoolers, this is one thing that will need attention...but this is why I decided to come to Skool. I have to thank you all for the help @Dave Hughes for giving me the spark to start doing things right; @Cristal Vancarson because she is relentless and a ball of light and positivity; @Chrissy Hogue Bartels for raising the bar; for @Paulo Costa, The Roaster that is giving me the chance to get roasted and is a master in connecting professional, talented, and giving people...plus he does a mean BBQ. Thank you all for the roast and the help. Sometimes it might seem small, but even a comment can change the course of a story. Sergio
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3 likes • May 31
@Elliott Robertson ditto the above. Those are the only notes I really had @Sergio Spadavecchia
May 27 •
Help me shape my life [This is a Big One]
Hello all you amazing BBQ lovers. This is a massive roast, and I am sure that I'm doing all this wrong…nonetheless I need help. This is a long one...so take your time! In this moment I have to bet on one thing only and focus on that "thing" only. I wish I knew what...and here is where you "smokey charcoal lovers" come into play. ➡️ OPTIONS: 1. 🔥 I stay on Skool and start teaching over 30 years of my experience as a Creative Director and director of Photography, giving all I got to bring over three decades of working with the biggest brands on earth here in classes on Skool in courses that will have to sustain me (if I go broke there is no internet to upload classes to Skool); 2. 💻 Stick to my Job, or apply on LinkedIn for a new one, (yes I did quit, but an offer came through) so I have a chance to go back and work in the company that I built from scratch making bare minimum; yet filming more shows, editing more shows, web design, print, etc etc etc... with the false sense of security, or endlessly applying to new job offers (but I do not want to skew your decision); 3. 💸 Start a whole new business (without many funds remaining) and that would mean leave everything and go and hunt for clients, sales, advertising my business, and be a sole proprietor and eventually hire some help to ease the load. But this is a tough one. 🙏 PLEASE... Please take your time as this is truly important and I would love for all of you not to jump in and giving a superficial opinion based on your experience, but use *your experience* to roast my website (not finished and in the works); roast my shows (so have a glass of 🍷 wine...or two, and enjoy the 📽️DocuSeries) as I filmed, edited, coloured, soundFX, scores, produced, and delivered to majot VOD (Prime, Roku, Pluto, etc etc.); roast my past career (LinkedIn) and... TELL ME WHAT YOU WOULD DO, LINKS TO CHECK My Website (work-in-progress) http://aeternummentis.com/ My Shows a few samples as I produced over 30 episodes (Private Link)
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2 likes • May 28
@Paulo Costa, The Roaster very true!
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1 like • May 28
@Sergio Spadavecchia I'm glad if anything I said was at all helpful 😊 Regarding your invite: that's very kind of you Sergio. I would be honored to join your community.
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May 26 •
Okay I'm back...
Someone said something and it truly hit home and reminded me of something, almost to the point of good tears. So let me get your thoughts on these that will become my about page image.
Poll
5 members have voted
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1 like • May 27
@Lion Fludd I agree with Gus that maybe the Skool logo compete with your own message. I think they’re all good, but I like the first one best, though maybe without the hands, since the closer one is blurred. Or maybe with the hands but closer together and near your body so that they are in focus. Just some thoughts.
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@alecgraf
30 years writing novels and screenplays. 10 years as an indie filmmaker. Now I help filmmakers navigate the complexity of making great films.
Active 6m ago
Joined Apr 8, 2026