Seattle · a work in progress

Build a team. Shoot a film. Practice your skill.

Here's the whole idea. Someone raises their hand and says I want to shoot a film on a weekend. Other folks raise their hand and say things like I have a barn you can use or as an actor for the film. Once everything is gathered, we write a script, shoot the film in a day, edit and show it. That's it. Practice your skills by making a real film.

Tell me you're interested or read how it works

It's an early experiment.

The thing I keep coming back to

The people who most want a job on set usually can't do it yet. And that's fine. That's just how you learn a craft: by doing the job, maybe with a mentor.

Most of the ways into film quietly screen people out. You need the reel to get the gig, and you need the gig to build the reel. I wanted to make one place that does the opposite on purpose: it puts the first-timer right next to veterens in a low-stakes environment to practice your skills.

A first-timer learning the camera next to an experienced operator

It's really about the reps

Nobody gets good at a craft by reading about it. You get good by doing the real thing, over and over, until it stops being scary. The catch is that real sets can't afford to let you practice, so the chances to actually do the job keep going to the people who've already done it.

A CraftyBox weekend is a whole production with none of that riding on it: small, low-stakes, and built so that being new at your job is completely normal. It's somewhere to get the reps you can't get anywhere else. And you choose how big a step to take: run a department, share it, or shadow someone who's done it before. However you come in, you're on the same crew, and you leave with the same reps behind you.

Hands adjusting a light on a small film set

It puts the first-timer right next to the veteran, and by Sunday they've both made a film together.

How a production actually goes

One weekend to shoot. About a week end to end. Roughly six stretches:

  1. 1

    Assemble

    Someone post the production. You apply for the role you want (leading, co-leading, or shadowing) and say why. The host puts a crew together.

  2. 2

    Write

    A writers' room turns into a locked script by a deadline.

  3. 3

    Prep

    Breakdown, locations, gear, a call sheet, all sorted out and shared with the crew before the weekend.

  4. 4

    Shoot

    The weekend. The reason everyone showed up.

  5. 5

    Post

    Assembly, sound, color, and a finished cut.

  6. 6

    Debrief

    We confirm credits, the department heads sign off on their people, and we talk about what we'd each do differently. This part matters most.

Why it's worth a weekend

Mostly this: you spent a weekend doing the real thing, next to people who were doing it with you, and you came out the other side having actually done the job. That's the reps, that's the crew, and that's the whole reason to show up. Do a few of these and you've got real work behind you and people who'd crew with you again.

About safety, because it matters

This means strangers meeting strangers to make something in person. I don't take that lightly, so a few things are built in from the start:

Why "CraftyBox"?

Two things. Crafty is the craft-service table, the spot on any set where the whole crew actually mixes, no matter who outranks who. An apple box is the wooden crate you stand on to reach the shot. So: community, and a boost. That's the whole thing in a name.

A crew gathered around the craft-service table between takes

So that's it. I'm not a company and this isn't a startup.

It's early. I'm building it in the open and I'll be running the first production myself, probably in Seattle, because that's where I am. I don't have a date yet.

If any of this sounds like something you'd want in on, whether as a volunteer or as someone who wants to host their own, leave me your email below. I'll be onboarding people who express interest before I start the first production.

Grayson

Made with ♥ in Seattle