artists shape history
Over 20 years of blood, sweat, and diner outings:
You have talents as a writer and filmmaker that are uniquely yours.
You want to create those films that run through your mind. You can see these movies or shows in your head. And you have things to say that should be said – and that we should hear.
Maybe you give voice to a community that’s been kept invisible and marginalized. Or you want to use storytelling to inspire people to work together and build the kind of world we want to live in. Or you’ve always been passionate and creative and know in your heart of hearts that you’d blow us away if your talents were given a chance.
You are right to think these things.
So What Gives?
Despite those few moments of grace when you remember that you have something important to offer, years of procrastination go by. Fact is, no artist can do it alone.
We lack money, we lack time, we’re overwhelmed by responsibilities, distractions, and other work (as in: paid work!). In these times, creative work feels frivolous and selfish during personal, national, or global crises. But more than anything else, what gets in our way are the insecurities and doubts that plague us. What if I’m a hack?
That’s me right after college, trying to look like a bad ass but definitely not feeling like one.
My name is Ela Thier
My name is Ela Thier, and holy cow do I know about all of the above. If we haven’t met before, here’s a little about me:
I graduated from film school in 1993. After graduation, I felt discouraged, didn’t think I had what it takes, and couldn’t handle what felt like cut-throat competitiveness. I also believed that a creative life was all about waiting around to get discovered. That wait went on for years.
So I quit.
I spent my days at a soul-sucking office job. Filmmaking became a dusty, long-forgotten dream, though I occasionally wrote while harboring the secret hope that some day I’d sell a screenplay.
I continued taking screenwriting classes; there I got ridiculed when I showed works-in-progress.
I left these classes a total perfectionist. Plot point X must happen on page Y! The perfect recipe for writing blocks. I quit writing too.
More than a decade later, a series of events and insights turned that ship around. I made a U-turn and went at it. Slowly at first, gaining momentum, and eventually full steam ahead.
Today I'm the filmmaker
that I always wanted to be
I’ve written, directed, produced and performed in award-winning shorts and feature films including 109 Billion Followers, Tomorrow Ever After, Foreign Letters, and more.
I didn’t find a magic pill that made all this easy, and I don’t have one to sell. I spent years gathering effective tools, growing my skills, learning from mistakes, and building a network. Those were the ingredients that made the work possible.
One thing I know for sure: it is possible.
As a filmmaker, I began teaching what I was learning, kind of by accident.
As a filmmaker, I began teaching what I was learning, kind of by accident.
While finally pursuing my creative dreams, I also needed to make a living but couldn’t find a job. I was even turned away from a dog-walking gig I interviewed for. Meanwhile, I was still a workshop junkie, learning anywhere I could. When I noticed that my colleagues kept turning to me for input on their work, an idea came to me: Why don’t I teach the writing class that I wish I could take?
This was 2006 and 2 people signed up.
Within a few years, word-of-mouth spread organically and those 2 students turned into a couple hundred. As I learned to direct and produce my own scripts, I began teaching my students how to direct and produce theirs. What started as screenwriting workshops became a one-stop shop for filmmaking.
And so began The Independent Film School.
By 2017, without any marketing, I had taught over two thousand screenwriters and filmmakers in New York City. In 2018, I began offering online courses.
I can't teach talent because it's always, already there.
What I can do is encourage you and offer the tools you’ll need to master the craft and bring your talent to fruition.
Many film schools take a sink-or-swim attitude. There’s this unspoken myth that if “you got it” then you’ll rise to the top; if you’re not “making it” then it’s because you don’t have what it takes.
This lie infuriates me. Besides being complete bull, it stunts and destroys artists before they ever get a chance to grow.
I’ve seen people time and time again create material that’s kind of blah who, with enough practice, encouragement, and learnable skills (yeah, I just made that word up), end up creating stunning works. For real.
In studying with us, you’ll put an end to creative blocks and procrastination. You’ll take risks, try things, learn, get better, give yourself permission to make mistakes, make those mistakes, adopt the skills you need to become a pro, and eventually become the writer and/or filmmaker that you knew all along you could be.
Your desire to write or create films is all the evidence we need to know that you have unique talents that are all your own.
What all of us need, myself included, are the support and tools to unleash our talents.
Ela Thier
* Oh, and just in case you’re wondering about it, I made this video on how to pronounce my name 🙂