HeyJaredPhil Svitek’s Substack
The official newsletter of filmmaker, author, podcaster & 360 Creative Coach Phil Svitek.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 14
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- Sep 28, 2026
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- Aug 13, 2026
Latest issues
Stop Treating Successful People’s Advice Like a Blueprint: Success Survivorship Bias (opens the original)
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If you’ve ever watched any Hollywood award show, be it the Oscars, Emmys, or even music ones like the Grammys, then chances are you’ve heard someone give the grand advice to “never give up on your dream.” I certainly have. But recently, a friend of mine, Josh Macuga, posted a video on YouTube titled, “Why I Didn’t Make It In Hollywood.” It was an honest self-reflection as well as an examination of the demands of the entertainment industry as a whole.That got me thinking, as any creative who grow
Frustration (opens the original)
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This is a message I wrote to a dear friend of mine and I figured I’d share it here:For years we quarreled about the way things are—you seeing reality as it is, and me seeing an incongruity in the picture, never accepting what is. That has made me angry, depressed, bitter, and at times worse. You’d tell me I’m working myself up and conflating things. Fair. I was, and that’s the sensible response.However, recently, I finished reading the follow up trilogy to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, wh
My New Framework for Writing Better Episodes (opens the original)
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For years I’ve been watching monologues of all kinds—in award shows, on late-night TV, and so forth. One monologue that I look forward to regularly is Bill Maher’s New Rules. Even if I don’t always agree with him, I do find the format fun and engaging.Funnily enough, I finally realized that with my lessons, that’s what I’m basically doing: monologuing. … Read more
The Case for Slowing Down (opens the original)
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What if one of the things holding you back isn’t something you’re doing badly, but instead something you’re actually pretty good at? It’s something that’s served you for years, but you haven’t stopped to ask whether you still need to be doing it as much. Perhaps you built a routine because it solved a problem at one point in your life. It could be that you needed the practice or just wanted to prove to yourself that you could show up consistently. Whatever the reason was, the routine worked, so
Never Give a Distributor Your Film Forever (opens the original)
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Independent filmmakers spend years thinking about how to get a movie made. We obsess over financing, casting, production schedules, post-production, festivals, sales agents, deliverables, and all the other obstacles standing between an idea and a finished film. By the time the movie actually exists, you’re often exhausted, financially depleted, and desperate for the moment when somebody from the outside finally says, “We want it.” That is precisely when you need to be careful.Imagine spending th
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