Build a film career that actually works.
Join THE community of indie producers, filmmakers, and creators who are done waiting on Hollywood.
You've been watching the indie film model break for years. Filmmakers building like artists when they should be building like architects. One-off projects that drain capital, fail to find audiences, and leave investors burned.
You've also seen there's a different path. Films built like businesses. Distribution lined up before greenlight. Audiences that compound from one project to the next. Track 2, not Track 1.
Doing that alone is brutal. There isn't much public information about how it actually works, and most filmmaker communities aren't built around people actually doing it.
Craftsman Films is a working studio. We've made four profitable theatrical features in the last few years. Brotherhood is in production right now, releasing October 2026. Producer Fund I is deploying $10M across a slate of similarly-budgeted films. Everything we're doing, we're doing for real.
The membership is how we let other serious filmmakers into the room while we build it.
What happens in the room
At the core of the membership is our monthly two-hour group call on Zoom. We open with a 10-minute deep dive on a specific topic: financing, distribution, packaging, marketing, whatever the room is wrestling with that month. Then we open it up for office hours and Q&A. Most months we run one or two networking breakouts in smaller groups.
We give behind-the-scenes access to our actual films as we make them. Not curated PR clips. The real thing. What we're learning about the BondIt tax credit bridge as it happens. How we're structuring the September preview tour for Brotherhood. What a sponsor conversation actually sounds like at the $250K level.
You get a private podcast feed called Inside Craftsman Films that goes deeper than what we publish publicly.
Together we dive deep into the MOVIE framework, which is how we structure every project we make. The community is where you implement it on your own work.
You'll start with a complimentary copy of the Blockbuster book (with any annual membership), our playbook for demand-side selling for filmmakers.
[AUDIO CLIP: 30-second sample from a recent live call. "This is what the room sounds like."]
What members are saying
"I joined back in early 2018 because I was intrigued by Daren's pitch. He was building an email list and his message was one that I totally related to. He was writing about "the principles that he, and others, had used in their
lives, their relationships, and their businesses in order to succeed at reaching their goals".
I have learned the skills that will allow me to move forward with the three feature films I currently have in development. How to package them in order to raise the financing needed for production, how to market them, and ultimately how the investors will profit from them.
If you're a producer who is struggling to get their films funded and distributed, I couldn't recommend this membership more highly.
Steve Stubbs, Australia
"What initially drew me to Craftsman Films was the mission and overall philosophy around independent filmmaking. There are a lot of communities out there focused purely on hype, shortcuts, or “breaking in,” but this approach felt much more grounded in sustainability, ownership, and building a long-term career. I also really respect the emphasis on relationship-building and helping filmmakers bridge the gap between vision and viability.
I’d recommend Craftsman Films to indie producers and filmmakers who are serious about building a sustainable career and want to better understand financing, development, and the business side of independent film. Especially producers looking to make meaningful industry connections, sharpen their strategy, and gain insight from people actively working in the space rather than just talking about it."
Corbin Schweitzer, Washington USA
Two ways to be in the room:
1. The Fellowship: $19/month or $199/year
14 days free to try it. No commitment.
This is the on-ramp. The room of working filmmakers and creators implementing the MOVIE framework, comparing notes, asking better questions, and getting unstuck.
What you get:
- Monthly group Q&A call (2 hours, Zoom)
- The full Inside Craftsman Films private podcast
- Behind-the-scenes access to every film we produce
- Implementation support for the MOVIE framework with the community
- Complimentary copy of Blockbuster (annual members)
Annual saves you 2 months. $199/year versus $228/year on monthly.
2. The Craftsman Guild: $49/month or $495/year
By application only. Capped at 150 members.
This is the inner circle. People who don't just want to learn the model, they want to be part of building the new ecosystem alongside us. Most Guild members come from the Fellowship first.
Everything in the Fellowship, plus:
- Earliest access to projects in development
- A vote on which projects Craftsman Films produces next
- Weekly internal investor updates (the same letters our investors get)
- Complimentary 30-minute strategy call with Daren
Annual saves you 2 months. $495/year versus $588/year on monthly.
A few honest answers
Who is this for?
Filmmakers, producers, and creators who want to build profitable indie projects, not just make one movie and disappear. If you've already done a feature or two, you'll get more out of it. If you haven't, you'll save yourself years of expensive mistakes.
Who is this NOT for?
Aspiring screenwriters looking for notes on their script. Investors looking for a fund to deploy capital into (that's a different conversation: see Producer Fund I). Anyone hoping to network their way into a job at Craftsman Films.
What's the cancellation policy?
Cancel anytime, including during the 14-day Fellowship trial. No questions, no holds, no hassle.
Do I need to have a project in production already?
No. About half the room is in development on something. The other half is between projects, working on the next thing.
Can I just buy the book and skip the membership?
Yes. Blockbuster is available on its own here. The membership is for people who want to actually implement what's in the book inside a community of others doing the same.
One last thing
We're building a different kind of film studio. One that respects investors, treats audiences like adults, and refuses to make movies the industry wants us to make instead of movies that serve people by changing them for the better.
If that resonates, the Fellowship is $19 and 14 days free to find out if the room is the right fit. If you already know it is, the Guild is where the deeper work happens.
The path forward is more interesting with you in it.