Filmmakers consistently underestimate the potential of their work to their own detriment.

Many of us have some kind of ideal goal for our careers. We want to raise X amount of money. We want to make an A24 movie. We want to premiere at Sundance.

Those are all great goals to have, and I truly believe anyone with enough talent and work ethic can get there.

But not if your approach is to treat every other project along the way like a stepping stone, even if that’s what it eventually becomes in hindsight.

Years ago I remember helping out on a student film set. The filmmakers had a ton of resources from their school: gear, crew, locations, insurance, everything you would need to make a great movie.

The only thing they didn’t have was an appreciation for the opportunity right in front of them.

To them, it felt like this was just some insignificant short film that no one would see. Sure, they were trying to make it look and sound good, but they clearly didn’t go the extra mile, because deep down they felt like it would never be the thing that helped them “break in.”

I’ve seen that pattern emerge over and over again. Not just on student films, but on well-funded shorts and micro-budget features too.

For some reason, when filmmakers initiate their own projects, they tend to give them less legitimacy than when someone else is commissioning or funding them.

That mentality can be incredibly detrimental.

The vast majority of filmmakers who have landed funding for a big feature cut their teeth on much smaller projects first. Ones with tiny budgets, skeleton crews, and no production company attached.

But the difference is, they treated those tiny projects with the same gravity and enthusiasm as their eventual feature films.

They didn’t see those projects as too small to matter. They didn’t phone it in or treat it like a box to check on their filmmaker resume.

Whether it was a 2-minute short or an 80-minute DIY feature, they gave it 110%. Even when the odds of anyone seeing their work, or caring at all, were next to zero.

If there’s one thing that separates filmmakers who cut through the noise, it’s that level of care for their work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that this week. On Wednesday, I’m directing a short film I’m very excited about. It’s a genre film called Crow and it takes place in the world of hot yoga.

A decade ago, I might have thought about the project like a stepping stone. How can I make this into a feature? Who can I share this with when it’s done to turn it into something bigger?

But now, even after having made 4 features, I am not thinking about the “bigger picture.” I am thinking about this 6-minute short film and how to make it the absolute best it can possibly be.

I’ve rewritten the script from scratch multiple times and have done 7 drafts of the latest version. I am building props, testing gear, and going the extra mile with wardrobe and set design.

And I’m doing it because I know every project is what you make of it.

I could have convinced myself that the first draft was good enough. Or that I didn’t need to spend days testing lenses and gear to get the exact right look. And I may have still made a decent film.

But decent is simply not good enough.

For all of us, no matter what stage we’re at, we have to push ourselves to our creative limits. We can’t wait for someone else to tell us that our work is important.

I know filmmakers who have made studio-funded films that didn’t change their careers at all, and then (in some cases) went on to make shorts or micro-budget features that completely changed their lives.

You never know which project is going to hit. You can guess all you want, but you really never know.

That’s why you should treat every film like it’s your last.

Whether it’s your first or your 10th. Whether it’s a short or a feature. It doesn’t matter.

Any film, of any size and any length, has the potential to change everything.

But not if you treat it like a pit stop on the way to something better.

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